Channel Title: Sun of Antiquity Channel Description: "Many brave men lived before Agamemnon; but all are overwhelmed in eternal night, unwept, unknown, because they lack a sacred poet." Horace The Wisdom and Virtues of Antiquity have much to teach and inspire the modern world that is devoid of purpose and resilience. <video> Age of Nero | The Turbulent 60's of the 1st century Description: In the fall of AD 66 the Jews combined in revolt, expelled the Romans from Jerusalem, and overwhelmed in the pass of Beth-Horon a Roman punitive force under Gallus, the imperial legate in Syria. A revolutionary government was then set up and extended its influence throughout the whole country. Vespasian was dispatched by the Roman emperor Nero to crush the rebellion. He was joined by Titus, and together the Roman armies entered Galilee, where the historian Josephus headed the Jewish forces. Josephus’ army was confronted by that of Vespasian and fled. After the fall of the fortress of Jatapata, Josephus gave himself up, and the Roman forces swept the country. On the 9th of the month of Av (August 29) in AD 70, Jerusalem fell; the Temple was burned, and the Jewish state collapsed, although the fortress of Masada was not conquered by the Roman general Flavius Silva until April 73. Nero 666: The Number of the Beast Ms. Pagels places the book in the context of what she calls “wartime literature.” John had very likely witnessed the skirmishes in A.D. 66, when militant Jews, aflame with religious fervor, prepared to wage war against Rome for both its decadence and its occupation of Judea. She deepens her assessment of the Book of Revelation by opening with a troubled personal note. “I began this writing during a time of war,” she says, “when some who advocated war claimed to find its meaning in Revelation.” Because he feared reprisals, John wrote this condemnation of Rome in florid code. He “vividly evokes the horror of the Jewish war against Rome,” Ms. Pagels writes. “Just as the poet Marianne Moore says that poems are ‘imaginary gardens with real toads in them,’ John’s visions and monsters are meant to embody actual beings and events.” For example, most scholars now agree, she says, that the “number of the beast,” 666, spells out Emperor Nero’s imperial name. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/books/revelations-by-elaine-pagels.html NERO'S WAR I: THE BLUNDER OF CESTIUS GALLUS? One of the great puzzles of the Judaean War is the event that set it in motion: the expedition to Jerusalem by the legate C. Cestius Gallus, in September–October of A.D. 66. Until that time, as we have just seen, Judaeans had been in conflict only with the largely Samarian auxiliary (Chapter 4). Now Cestius marched south with a reported force of 30,000, anchored in the Twelfth Legion, with auxiliaries and regional allies from the north plus ad hoc recruits (War 2.499–502). Within two months, most of that being travel time, he was back in Antioch, disgraced and disconsolate after losing an alleged 5,300 men. Even if the real number were much smaller, he suffered a serious humiliation. No one could doubt that this would swiftly be avenged. Judaeans began preparing for that retaliation (War 2.562–79). But how did Cestius come to such grief? What was he intending, and was he so utterly incompetent to see it through? Assuming that Judaea was already in open revolt against Rome and that Cestius’ objective was to crush Jerusalem, analysts have found his behaviour baffling. His apparent dithering en route and abrupt departure from Jerusalem, capped by the catastrophic ambush in the Beit-Horon pass, have seemed evidence of staggering ineptitude. The successful ambush gave an incalculable boost to Judaean morale (War 3.9). And because it clearly demanded revenge, more than any other single event it created the Judaean-Roman War. Josephus’ formulaic repetition of “the blunder(s) of Cestius” brings this episode into the orbit of “the Varian disaster” (clades Variana) of A.D. 9, in which an emeritus legate of Syria lost three legions and his own life in Germany. Cestius lived long enough to suffer the ignominy, but not long enough to redeem his reputation. A generation later Tacitus reflects that “he suffered varied fortunes and met defeat more often than he gained victory” (Hist. 5.10). </video> <video> Alexander | The God King Documentary | Son of Zeus Description: "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.” ― Mary Renault, Fire from Heaven Alexander wanted to rival Perseus and Heracles, since he was descended from them both, and was also seeking to trace his birth back to Ammon, just as mythology traces that of Heracles and Perseus to Zeus. He therefore set out for Ammon in this frame of mind, with the intention of finding out more exactly about his origins, or of claiming he had found out. Hellenistic Culture and the influence of Greek language, philosophy and culture on Jews and early Christians. Hellenism, refers to the spread of Greek culture that had begun after the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century, B.C.E.The conquest by Alexander, which brought Greek culture to the middle eastern territories. And then, subsequent to that, the Roman imperial expansion. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin Achilles and Alexander the Great - Age of Heroes Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. “Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.” Aristotle "The art of living well and the art of dying well are one." Epicurus The Iliad is essentially about the question what it means to be an aristocrat: one has to be a brave warrior, one has to be pious, one has to be generous, and most of all, a leader. " we'll stand in the Lycian front ranks and meet head on the blazing fires of battle, so then some well-armed Lycian will say, 'They're not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It's true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines - but they are strong, fine men, who fight in the Lycians' front ranks.' Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I'd not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let's go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves." [Iliad, 12.307-330 Soldier, Priest, and God: A Life of Alexander the Great Whatever we may think of Alexander--whether Great or only lucky, a civilizer or a sociopath--most people do not regard him as a religious leader. And yet religion permeated all aspects of his career. When he used religion astutely, he and his army prospered. In Egypt, he performed the ceremonies needed to be pharaoh, and thus became a god as well as a priest. Babylon surrendered to him partly because he agreed to become a sacred king. Alexander the great documentary - When men were gods Divine men in history Alexander's relationship with the ancient deity known as Zeus-Ammon is one of the great mysteries of his life. Zeus was considered the ruler of the Olympian gods in ancient Greece and Macedon. Amun, called "Ammon" in Greece, was the parallel "king of the gods" in the religion of ancient Egypt. By Alexander's time, Zeus-Ammon was a well-known deity in Greece - basically a hybrid of these two chief gods. </video> <video> Hercules | Son of Zeus | God Man cut Description: Hercules | Son of Zeus | God Man cut Heracles, one of the most famous Greco-Roman legendary heroes. Traditionally, Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene (see Amphitryon), granddaughter of Perseus. Zeus swore that the next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of Greece, but—by a trick of Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera—another child, the sickly Eurystheus, was born first and became king. When Heracles grew up, he had to serve Eurystheus and also suffer the vengeful persecution of Hera; his first exploit was the strangling of two serpents that she had sent to kill him in his cradle. </video> <video> Strong as Gods | Alexander's Macedonian Soldiers Description: #shorts #alexanderthegreat The Macedonian soldiers who had survived this far with Alexander had to be some of the most experienced and hardened warriors in history not only with the various battles they faced but also with the various terrain and lands they traveled through. </video> <video> Alexander the great leadership - Scars from the Front - So come, battle on with me Description: Alexander the great leadership lessons - Leading from the Front "I do not have a single part of my body, at least in front, that does not have scars; there is no weapon, that is used closely, or that it is launched from afar, of which it does not bear the mark. Moreover, I have been wounded by the sword, hand in hand; with arrows, I have been hurt from a catapult and many times I have been hit with stones and clubs." “These scars on my body,” he declared, “were got for you, my brothers. Every wound, as you see, is in the front.” "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.” ― Mary Renault, Fire from Heaven So come, battle on with me - The Iliad ‘They’re not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It’s true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines—but they are strong, fine men, who fight in Lycians’ front ranks.’ Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I’d not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let’s go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves.” Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. Achilles and Alexander the Great gods and heroes the age of heroes Alexander - Come Macedonians </video> <video> Achilles and Priam - I admire your Courage Description: Priam to Achilles: "I fathered the bravest men in the land of Troy, yet not one remains alive." The Wisdom, Courage, and Virtue of Antiquity have much to teach and inspire the modern world that is devoid of purpose and resilience. Courage is the ultimate virtue as it is the foundation for all other virtues. With courage life expands, without courage it shrinks. Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. My Homeric Cries - Nietzsche "In Basel, I stood undaunted Yet solitary there — God have pity, And I cried out: Homer! Homer! Thus annoying everyone. They go to church and then go home And laugh at the loud crier. Now I no longer mind it; The finest audience Hears my Homeric cries And is quietly patient withal. As a reward for this exuberance Of kindness here is my printed thanks." Nietzsche "In Basel, I stood undaunted" (1869) Nietzsche acquired a position on the classical philology faculty at the University of Basel. The Swiss university offered Nietzsche the professorial position, and he began teaching there in 1869, at the age of 24. *Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy " we'll stand in the Lycian front ranks and meet head on the blazing fires of battle, so then some well-armed Lycian will say, 'They're not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It's true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines - but they are strong, fine men, who fight in the Lycians' front ranks.' Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I'd not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let's go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves." [Iliad, 12.307-330 “Achilles is among the Homeric figures who experiences the most pain. And it is important to make clear that the ‘eternally striving youth’, with the radiance of his power and beauty, is also for us, on the threshold of Western culture, the figure who felt the most pain, a figure who is capable of great suffering,” writes Walter Schadewaldt. And while the Iliad is indeed the story of Achilles’ anger, it is also the song of his sorrow. The Iliad: As he was thus pondering, the son of Nestor came up to him and told his sad tale, weeping bitterly the while. “Alas,” he cried, “son of noble Peleus, I bring you bad tidings, would indeed that they were untrue. Patroclus has fallen, and a fight is raging about his naked body—for Hector holds his armour.” A dark cloud of grief fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with dust from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely face, and letting the refuse settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung himself down all huge and hugely at full length, and tore his hair with his hands. The bondswomen whom Achilles and Patroclus had taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with their limbs failing them for sorrow. Antilochus bent over him the while, weeping and holding both his hands as he lay groaning for he feared that he might plunge a knife into his own throat. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother heard him as she was sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father, whereon she screamed, and all the goddesses daughters of Nereus that dwelt at the bottom of the sea, came gathering round her. "*** "Jesus wept." — Gospel of John, 11:35 "Jesus wept" (Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, edákrysen o Iesoús lit. "Jesus shed tears") is a phrase famous for being the shortest verse in the King James Version of the Bible. This verse occurs in John's narrative of the death of his friend Lazarus. Achilles Wept The Iliad - Homer Greek Warrior Culture Antiquity Brave Courage Roman and Greek Virtue Alexander the Great and Achilles The Iliad "But when Achilles was now sated with grief and had unburdened the bitterness of his sorrow, he left his seat and raised the old man by the hand." Achilles, seated, and Priam, crouched at his feet, cry at length, the one for Patroclus and Peleus, the other for Hector. Once Achilles has worn out his sorrow, the desire for tears leaves, at the same time, his heart and his body. </video> <video> Shadows and Dust Description: We mortals are but shadows and dust “Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.” Aristotle "The art of living well and the art of dying well are one." Epicurus The Iliad is essentially about the question what it means to be an aristocrat: one has to be a brave warrior, one has to be pious, one has to be generous, and most of all, a leader. " we'll stand in the Lycian front ranks and meet head on the blazing fires of battle, so then some well-armed Lycian will say, 'They're not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It's true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines - but they are strong, fine men, who fight in the Lycians' front ranks.' Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I'd not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let's go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves." [Iliad, 12.307-330 </video> <video> Roman Imperial Theology and Christian Theology | Dr. John Dominic Crossan Description: Suetonius reports that when the Roman Emperor Vespasian was dying he said, "Vae, puto deus fio" which can be translated "Woe is me. I think I'm turning into a god." Caesar and Jesus | John Dominic Crossan and Jesus | The Empire of Rome and The Empire of God - The hybrid mix from the ancient clash of civilizations of Rome and Jerusalem. Hellenism and Judaisam. John Dominic Crossan :"Why did we call Jesus 'lord'? In the Roman world, Caesar was lord, so if you call Jesus lord, Caesar ain't, and it becomes high treason. What was the alternative vision for the world that Jesus and Paul had, and why did it get them killed?" John Dominic Crossan was originally drawn to the priesthood because "God had the most interesting game in town". Augustus deposited his will at the House of the Vestals in Rome. He died on August 19, and on September 17 the Senate enrolled him among the gods of the Roman state. Roman religion had many gods and spirits and Augustus was keen to join their number as a god himself. This was not unusual: turning political leaders into gods was an old tradition around the Mediterranean. There was also precedent in Roman history – Aeneas and Romulus, who had helped found Rome, were already worshipped as gods. Having fought his way into power, Augustus used religion as a tool to protect his position and promote his political agenda. A piece of heaven An important part of this strategy involved religion. The Emperor of Rome was already the most powerful man on earth, but this wasn’t enough. Augustus wanted a piece of heaven too: he was determined that his people would see him as their supreme spiritual leader. At his death, Augustus, the ‘son of a god’, was himself declared a god. His strategy had worked. Early in his reign, Halley’s Comet passed over Rome. Augustus claimed it was the spirit of Julius Caesar entering heaven. If Caesar was a god then, as his heir, Augustus was the son of a god and he made sure that everybody knew it. Controversial scholar and former priest John Dominic Crossan has never shied away from uncomfortable questions of faith. JOHN Dominic Crossan may be one of the world's leading New Testament scholars but he doesn't hide behind academic language. Think, for a moment, about the first-century world of Jesus... Religion scholar John Dominic Crossan, in GOD AND EMPIRE, a study of the early Christian movement as well as empire, posits a broader understanding of empire than most and contrasts it with his understanding of the kingdom of God as championed by Jesus and Paul. For Crossan, empire and civilization are essentially equivalent. Civilization itself, he writes, "has always been imperial -- that is, empire is the normalcy of civilization's violence." I have always thought of the historical Jesus as a homeland Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. I have always thought of the historical Paul as a diaspora Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. For me, then, within Judaism within the Roman Empire has always been the absolutely necessary matrix rather than the annoyingly unnecessary background for any discussion of earliest Christianity. You can see that three-layer matrix, for example, in the sub-titles to the first and last books above. For the historical Jesus, The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant, emphasizes Rome, Judaism, and Jew. The Apostle Paul Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom, emphasizes Jew, Rome, and Judaism. Whether you start or end with the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire is always there." John Dominic Crossan https://faithandreason.org/ Incarnation was not invented by Christianity. Caesar and Alexander before him were Sons of God. The Jesus as God theology was a revolution not by a man as a Son of God but what TYPE of man could be a son of God. It was also a counter narrative to what type of man could be a Messiah for the Jews. Alexander and Jesus both had later claims that their Fathers were God. Alexander and Jesus also died around the same age, one as an Imperial King in Babylon and the other as a usurper against the Roman empire in Jerusalem. A son of God who was not a conquering King. A messiah who was not a man of power but a man of suffering and tragedy. This was the counter narrative of Christianity to the incarnation theology in the ancient world. Suetonius on the Roman Emperor Vespasian: Not even when he was under the immediate apprehension and peril of death, could he forbear jesting. For when, among other prodigies, the mausoleum of the Caesars suddenly flew open, and a blazing star appeared in the heavens; one of the prodigies, he said, concerned Julia Calvina, who was of the family of Augustus; and the other, the king of the Parthians, who wore his hair long. And when his distemper first seized him, "I suppose," said he, "I shall soon be a god." </video> <video> Alexander | The Heart to Fight #alexander #alexanderthegreat Description: Alexander | The Heart to Fight #alexander #alexanderthegreat </video> <video> The Time of Achilles | Gods and Heroes Description: "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector tamer of horses. Let them say, I lived in the time of Achilles." The Wisdom, Courage, and Virtue of Antiquity have much to teach and inspire the modern world that is devoid of purpose and resilience. Courage is the ultimate virtue as it is the foundation for all other virtues. With courage life expands, without courage it shrinks. Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. My Homeric Cries - Nietzsche "In Basel, I stood undaunted Yet solitary there — God have pity, And I cried out: Homer! Homer! Thus annoying everyone. They go to church and then go home And laugh at the loud crier. Now I no longer mind it; The finest audience Hears my Homeric cries And is quietly patient withal. As a reward for this exuberance Of kindness here is my printed thanks." Nietzsche "In Basel, I stood undaunted" (1869) Nietzsche acquired a position on the classical philology faculty at the University of Basel. The Swiss university offered Nietzsche the professorial position, and he began teaching there in 1869, at the age of 24. *Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy " we'll stand in the Lycian front ranks and meet head on the blazing fires of battle, so then some well-armed Lycian will say, 'They're not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It's true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines - but they are strong, fine men, who fight in the Lycians' front ranks.' Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I'd not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let's go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves." [Iliad, 12.307-330 “Achilles is among the Homeric figures who experiences the most pain. And it is important to make clear that the ‘eternally striving youth’, with the radiance of his power and beauty, is also for us, on the threshold of Western culture, the figure who felt the most pain, a figure who is capable of great suffering,” writes Walter Schadewaldt. And while the Iliad is indeed the story of Achilles’ anger, it is also the song of his sorrow. The Iliad: As he was thus pondering, the son of Nestor came up to him and told his sad tale, weeping bitterly the while. “Alas,” he cried, “son of noble Peleus, I bring you bad tidings, would indeed that they were untrue. Patroclus has fallen, and a fight is raging about his naked body—for Hector holds his armour.” A dark cloud of grief fell upon Achilles as he listened. He filled both hands with dust from off the ground, and poured it over his head, disfiguring his comely face, and letting the refuse settle over his shirt so fair and new. He flung himself down all huge and hugely at full length, and tore his hair with his hands. The bondswomen whom Achilles and Patroclus had taken captive screamed aloud for grief, beating their breasts, and with their limbs failing them for sorrow. Antilochus bent over him the while, weeping and holding both his hands as he lay groaning for he feared that he might plunge a knife into his own throat. Then Achilles gave a loud cry and his mother heard him as she was sitting in the depths of the sea by the old man her father, whereon she screamed, and all the goddesses daughters of Nereus that dwelt at the bottom of the sea, came gathering round her. "*** "Jesus wept." — Gospel of John, 11:35 "Jesus wept" (Greek: ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, edákrysen o Iesoús lit. "Jesus shed tears") is a phrase famous for being the shortest verse in the King James Version of the Bible. This verse occurs in John's narrative of the death of his friend Lazarus. Achilles Wept The Iliad - Homer Greek Warrior Culture Antiquity Brave Courage Roman and Greek Virtue Alexander the Great and Achilles The Iliad "But when Achilles was now sated with grief and had unburdened the bitterness of his sorrow, he left his seat and raised the old man by the hand." Achilles, seated, and Priam, crouched at his feet, cry at length, the one for Patroclus and Peleus, the other for Hector. Once Achilles has worn out his sorrow, the desire for tears leaves, at the same time, his heart and his body. </video> <video> Alexander the Great crosses the Hindu Kush (Historian Michael Wood) Description: Michael Wood follows the footsteps of Alexander the great and makes his way through war-torn Afghanistan on a dramatic march with pack horses over the Hindu Kush Mountains. "Nothing put him off," said Arrian. "Starvation, the freezing cold, nothing -- he just kept coming on and on. And in the end his enemies were struck with fear and amazement." (In the Spring of 329 BC, Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush from Gandara to Bactria in order to pursue the Persian leader Bessus.) At Kabul, Michael finds himself in the middle of a siege of the city by the fundamentalist Taliban. Hiring horses for the camera equipment and armed guards to ward off ambushes, he sets off to follow Alexander's trail, 20,000ft up in the Hindu Kush Mountains, to make it through the Khawak Pass and Central Asia. Alexander's intelligence would have informed him that supplying his army was out of the question on those routes. That left him one obvious alternative -- the Khawak Pass. This is the eastern route rising up on a gentle gradient. It was used by Tamerlane, Genghis Khan and other invaders of India. This was the route we decided to take...We pushed on up the long slope, as the wind started to course down between the hills. Sixteen kilometres up from Ao Khawak, at a little under 4000 metres, we reached the summit. In thin air and a chill wind, we were surrounded by snow streaked peaks with creamy white clouds coming over the tops. The last few metres drew us on to see the view the Greeks had seen all those years before. Again, there was that eerie feeling of standing on the very spot where Alexander had stood. He knew at that moment he had got through, that his gamble had paid off. The Pass had been undefended. Below us, the road snaked down, still sunlit towards northern Afghanistan and the Oxus, beyond which lay the great plains of central Asia. "Nothing put him off," said Arrian. "Starvation, the freezing cold, nothing -- he just kept coming on and on. And in the end his enemies were struck with fear and amazement." Standing shivering on the top of the Khawak Pass, it was easy for us to see why. Once again Alexander had shown that left any chance he would take it. - Michael Wood https://www.salon.com/1998/01/08/pass_5/ Alexander, setting out from Persepolis some time in 330, resumed the pursuit of Darius, whose murdered body he found near Shahrud. Then, after a delay in the region of the Caspian, he turned south into Seistan and, according to Arrian,​5 marched in deep snow through the land of the Arachotai. This brings us fairly to the Hindu Kush. Arrian says nothing of winter quarters (although he gives the season); but we learn from him that Alexander stopped long enough at the foot of the Hindu Kush to found a city. Strabo says​6 that Alexander passed through the land of the Paropamisadae after the setting of the Pleiades, established winter quarters below the Hindu Kush, where he built a city, and thence crossed the range into Bactria in fifteen days. We learn from Arrian​7 that Alexander crossed before the snow was yet out of the passes. Alejandro Magno The Hindu Kush crossed, Alexander went to Bactra, crossed the Oxus in pursuit of Bessus </video> <video> Alexander | Under the Shade of Swords #history #war #empire #alexanderthegreat #warriors #stoicism Description: Pax Alexandri | Under the Shade of Swords #history #war #empire #alexanderthegreat #warriors "Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords." Sahih al-Bukhari “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” ― Thucydides "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Shakespeare "In light of the current situation, there is no other way out. It is like riding on the back of a tiger and finding it hard to get off. The only way out is to kill it." Wen Jiao </video> <video> Alexander and Bucephalus - Warrior King and War Horse #history #war #battle #soldier #horse #stoic Description: Alexander and Bucephalus - Warrior King and War Horse #history #war #warhorse #battle #soldier #horse Alexander the great leadership lessons - Leading from the Front "I do not have a single part of my body, at least in front, that does not have scars; there is no weapon, that is used closely, or that it is launched from afar, of which it does not bear the mark. Moreover, I have been wounded by the sword, hand in hand; with arrows, I have been hurt from a catapult and many times I have been hit with stones and clubs." “These scars on my body,” he declared, “were got for you, my brothers. Every wound, as you see, is in the front.” "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.” ― Mary Renault, Fire from Heaven So come, battle on with me - The Iliad ‘They’re not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It’s true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines—but they are strong, fine men, who fight in Lycians’ front ranks.’ Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I’d not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let’s go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves.” Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. Achilles and Alexander the Great gods and heroes the age of heroes Alexander - Come Macedonians Bucephalus is probably the horse depicted in the Alexander Mosaic, which was uncovered at the Roman site of Pompeii in the House of the Faun that was probably based on a 4th century B.C.E. wall painting. Alexander rode Bucephalus until the horse's death at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 B.C.E. In his honor, Alexander named a local city, Bucephala (sometimes identified with the modern Jhelum, in the Punjab province of Pakistan), after him. Horses were generally important in the ancient Greek world, used not just in warfare, but also in hunting and athletic competitions and as symbols of wealth and status for members of the elite. </video> <video> Wrestling with Thanatos | Achilles and Alexander Description: "I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.” ― Mary Renault, Fire from Heaven “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin Achilles and Alexander the Great - Age of Heroes Buried beneath post modernism, the enlightenment, the reformation, and Monotheism is the time where Gods were Warriors and Warriors were Gods. Where Courage was the ultimate virtue that made all other virtues possible. “Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.” Aristotle "The art of living well and the art of dying well are one." Epicurus The Iliad is essentially about the question what it means to be an aristocrat: one has to be a brave warrior, one has to be pious, one has to be generous, and most of all, a leader. " we'll stand in the Lycian front ranks and meet head on the blazing fires of battle, so then some well-armed Lycian will say, 'They're not unworthy, those men who rule Lycia, those kings of ours. It's true they eat plump sheep and drink the best sweet wines - but they are strong, fine men, who fight in the Lycians' front ranks.' Ah my friend, if we could escape this war, and live forever, without growing old, if we were ageless, then I'd not fight on in the foremost ranks, nor would I send you to those wars where men win glory. But now, a thousand shapes of fatal death confront us, which no mortal man can flee from or avoid. So let's go forward, to give the glory to another man or win it for ourselves." [Iliad, 12.307-330 </video> <video> Gladiator - The Spaniard Description: The Spaniard. The plot is set when Rome's empire sprawled from Africa to England. The empire had conquered a sizeable chunk of the world, and that included an array of different nations. Maximus says that his home is "in the hills above Trujillo." Today, Trujillo is an autonomous town in the Province of Cáceres, on the western side of Spain. Maximus is a loyal soldier, right down to his bones. And, at the beginning of the film, he reveals that he's been away from his family for over two years while faithfully fighting for the Roman Army. Clearly, his home is nowhere near the part of Germania where his character is during the movie's opening. This is also depicted via the long and arduous journey he has to take to get home once he escapes death and knows his family is in danger. He seems to have been geographically from Spain, prompting his allegiance to the empire it belonged to during the timeline of this epic. Virtus in the Roman world was often cited, by the Romans themselves, to be their defining attribute that allowed them to conquer the Mediterranean. This code included the sacred duty “not to flee” battle and to hold formation. Minucius, according to Livy, established the meaning of virtus as it pertained to him and the Senate: “Rome’s power grew by action and daring – not by these do-nothing tactics, which the faint-hearted call caution.” Virtus represented “Roman excellence,” It is clear is that the term virtus characterized the ideal behavior of a Roman. Universally, the term described the noble and traditional qualities that played a central role in life, be it war, politics, domestic, social and business relationships. The virtues extend to all realms of life, public and private. Those who write about virtus during antiquity clearly associate the deeds and actions associated with this term as being responsible for the greatness of Roman accomplishments, and central to the construction of the ancient Roman self-image. The significant importance of virtus to Roman cultural identity is eloquently emphasized by Cicero, “Cling fast to (virtus), I beg you men of Rome, it is a heritage that your ancestors bequeathed you. All else is false and doubtful, ephemeral and changeful; only virtus stands firmly fixed, its roots run deep, it can never be shaken by any violence, never moved from its place.” Pliny was wise in writing, “we need example more than we need rule. Fear is an unreliable teacher of what is right. Men learn better from examples, which are particularly good because they prove that what is taught can actually be done.” Likewise, the great instructor Quintilian wrote, “could there be better teachers of courage, justice, loyalty, self-control, frugality, or contempt for pain and death. </video>

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"Many brave men lived before Agamemnon; but all are overwhelmed in eternal night, unwept, unknown, because they lack a sacred poet."
Horace

The Wisdom and Virtues of Antiquity have much to teach and inspire the modern world that is devoid of purpose and resilience.

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