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What’s really difficult, rather, is to be willing to see or understand what one doesn’t want to.
“The Spartans impressed their opponents by entering battle with their armour polished to a brilliant shine, garlanded as if taking part in a religious celebration, their bodies anointed with oil as if in an athletic competition, and their long hair–mark of an adult Spartiate male–carefully combed and dressed”
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
“To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated, regimented, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, evaluated, censored, commanded; all by creatures that have neither the right, nor wisdom, nor virtue”
― Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism
― Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism
“The Spartans’ unusual aggression probably arose from the atypical dual kingship, which would have set two ruling families against each other in efforts to be acclaimed the best in warfare, manliness, policy, and wealth.”
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
“The idea of descent from twins obliged the two Spartan houses to tolerate each other’s existence. We do not know what historical accident actually produced Sparta’s unusual dual kingship.”
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
“The tight Spartiate oligarchy, the habitual privacy among messmates, periodic expulsions of foreigners from Lacedaemon (xenēelasia),32 and Spartans’ devotion to ‘laconic’ speech–their peculiar form of eloquence, substituting pithy responses for lengthy discussions–produced a security-minded secretiveness unusual in ancient Greece. Spartans could keep their own counsel. This, combined with a native penchant for deceit and craftiness, made the ruse de guerre a common feature of Spartan warfare.”
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
― Sparta At War: Strategy, Tactics and Campaigns, 550–362 BC
Austin James’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Austin James’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
7,995 books
|
424 friends
329 books
|
147 friends
258 books
|
71 friends
11 books
|
2 friends
38 books
|
268 friends
28 books
|
9 friends
11 books
|
99 friends
34 books
|
8 friends
More friends…
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