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Charles Freeman
Goodreads Author
Born
in England, The United Kingdom
Genre
Member Since
October 2009
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Charles Freeman
liked
Elizabeth Thacker's review
of
The Children of Athena. Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 250 BC - 400 AD:
"Really interesting and well researched"
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Charles Freeman
liked
Alan's review
of
The Reopening of the Western Mind: The Resurgence of Intellectual Life from the End of Antiquity to the Dawn of theEnlightenment:
"Great summary of how the world learnt to think again and the people involved in that evolution. The author brings his own interpretation on how that occurred and in the final chapter calls out pints of disagreements with others including Fukuyama "
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Charles Freeman
is now following Marijean Miyar's reviews
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Charles Freeman
has read
A.D. 381: Heretics, Pagans and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State
by Charles Freeman (Goodreads Author) |
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Charles Freeman
made a comment on
Phillip Sawyer’s review
of
The Reopening of the Western Mind: The Resurgence of Intellectual Life from the End of Antiquity to the Dawn of theEnlightenment
"
Thanks belatedly for this, Phillip. And the useful suggestion of Sprague- I will look it up. Nice review! Charles.
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Charles Freeman
made a comment on
Marijean Miyar’s review
of
The Reopening of the Western Mind: The Resurgence of Intellectual Life from the End of Antiquity to the Dawn of theEnlightenment
"
Thanks, Marijean. Reopening has not sold that well but reviews like yours will help it on its way. Much appreciated. Charles Freeman.
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Charles Freeman
made a comment on
Sajith Kumar’s review
of
The Children of Athena: Greek writers and thinkers in the Age of Rome, 150 BC–AD 400
"
Dear Sajith Kumar, Thank you so much for this full and penetrating review. This book has not got as good sales as we would like and I appreciate your
...more
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Charles Freeman
made a comment on
Amanda’s review
of
The Reopening of the Western Mind: The Resurgence of Intellectual Life from the End of Antiquity to the Dawn of theEnlightenment
"
Hi Amanda, You might enjoy the discussion on ARI Bookshelf of Reopening, which compares it to the bestselling Dominion which put the opposite view. (
...more
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Charles Freeman
made a comment on
Bryan Gardner’s review
of
The Children of Athena. Greek Intellectuals in the Age of Rome: 250 BC - 400 AD
"
Thanks for the good rating, Bryan. I am glad you enjoyed the book. It was difficult to do all the research on my subjects and I was surprised how much
...more
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“It was a mark of Constantine's political genius and flexibility that he realized it was better to utilize a religion(Christianity) that already had a well-established structure of authority as a prop to the imperial regime rather than exclude it as a hindrance.”
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“In his play Antigone, Sophocles summed it up: Wonders are many and none more wonderful than man . . . In the meshes of his woven nets, cunning of mind, ingenious man . . . He snares the lighthearted birds and the tribes of savage beasts, and the creatures of the deep seas . . . He puts the halter round the horse’s neck And rings the nostrils of the angry bull. He has devised himself a shelter against the rigours of frost and the pelting rains. Speech and science he has taught himself, and artfully formed laws for harmonious civic life . . . Only against death he fights in vain. But clear intelligence—a force beyond measure— moves to work both good and ill . . . When he obeys the laws and honors justice, the city stands proud . . . But man swerves from side to side, and when the laws are broken, and set at naught, he is like a person without a city, beyond human boundary, a horror, a pollution to be avoided.29 The”
― The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith & the Fall of Reason
― The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith & the Fall of Reason
“150 years later, Constantinople suffers an even worse fate. The emperor Justinian, faced with similar violence, the Nika revolt of 532, was encouraged by his wife, Theodora, to send in troops. Between 30,000 and 50,000 citizens are believed to have been massacred. It was the arbitrary exercise of this absolute power that was most unsettling. The fact that Justinian supposed himself to be a quintessentially Christian monarch made no difference. It was, after all, fully accepted that God might act punitively, and there were dozens of Old Testament texts to back the point. So why should his representative on earth be different? In any case, as the contemporary historian proposes, the king did not see it as murder, as the victims did not share his beliefs.”
― The Closing Of The Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason by Charles Freeman
― The Closing Of The Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason by Charles Freeman
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