Mark Rizk Farag > Recent Status Updates

The 'miraculous' early Islamic expansion we learned about in Arabic school Islamic lessons certainly seems less miraculous when holding in mind the fight to the death the Persians and Romans were engaged in for aeons before it, and the degeneration of the Roman military.

Iconoclasm is so hard to understand as an Orthodox Christian reading in the 21st century.

It is fascinating to read about church fathers such as Athanasius, John Chrysostom and others from a secular, historical perspective.

St Shenoute, an 83 year oldcoptic monastic saint travelling all the way across the empire to smack a 'heretic' over the head with a bible is objectively hilarious 😅😂

One of the things I love about this book, is that we get a continuation of the narrative history of the Western Roman Empire, above and beyond almost any other book I have read.

Thus we learn about Gothic rulers of the Western Empire, such as Alaric and Theodric, about the Vandal kingdom in Africa and how these changes and degenerations affected European society.

We never learnt that there was a North African Roman emperor in school (Septimus Severus).

Then again, we never learned about Elagabalus, who is reported to have demanded a vagina be made for him, paraded his meteor God into Rome and danced non stop according to Cassius Dio!

Gaius Gracchus is an absolutely fascinating and underrated figure in Roman history.

His worldview, struggle and eventual murder make the prospect of reading about class struggle in Ancient Greece and Rome all the more compelling.

While the imaginative genius of the author cannot be described, its limitations do shed light on the limits of the Western imagination inasmuch as:
1. The cultures living in the desert must be savagely violent, highly religious and inevitably divided.
2. The perspectives we get are always imperialist/imperial adjacent or neutral. The anti imperial/colonial perspective in this book is implied but never covered deeply

THIS WAS THE BOOK ON ANCIENT ROME I NEEDED AHHHHHHH

Managing to compellingly write a story this epic, with world building of an entire new continent and a new ensemble of characters is spectacular

A book like this potentially being dated is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead, it can provide insight into potential differences in racialisation, conditions of people of colour and even psychological theory.

'Unlike many later colonialists, these conquerers saw the stupidity of terrorising or even exterminating local populations.'

TALK YOUR SHIT KING 😂👌🏼🙏🏼

This Demetrius guy really built a FOURTY METRE TALL seige tower? 😂

Imagine being the soldiers he expected to get on there man!

While I love this series, I still need someone to explain why the chapters are all 60 pages long 😂

Having only encountered Seleuceus and his Successors as eternal enemies of the Ptomelies (and in the book of Maccabees) it's crazy to read that he took refuge in Ptomeley's Egypt to escape Antigonus!

Sweeping statements, choppy prose, names in abundance.

Far more brutal than the first book, but also has better prose and a plot that is easier to follow!

I love that this book does not provide a hagiography of Alexander, and that alongside is strategic brilliance and personal bravery, we get information about his bloodthirsty behaviour and murder of friends such as Parmenio.

Brilliantly written so far and the maps and battle diagrams really help a lot!

Thank God there are 9 more of these books 👌🏼🔥

A brilliant historical work so far, and it's excellent to learn about Philip prior to Alexander.

This may be one of my favorite fantasy series, and this is based on what is considered one of the weakest books in the series!

I don't want to sound uppity, but this reads like a fiction rather than a non fiction book!

'For can anything be sweeter than to find you are so dear to your wife, that this makes you dearer to yourself?'

Reading Seneca is like drinking honey or syrup!

Kruppe is spectacular 😭.

Not recommended as an audio book, too dense!

Much better written and far less frustrating (so far) than I was expecting. Beautiful prose, and you can tell it was written by a historian!

Though very subtle and not at the forefront, this book does contain interesting and contrasting portraits of masculinity.

A slow burn, with emotional resonance, compelling characters and class consciousness.

The author writes the perspective of children so vividly, realistically and resonantly. The only thing I can compare it to is The Little Prince!

'Roman women were by far allowed more Independence than their Greek and Near Eastern Counterparts...'. Says the author before proceeding to compare them to the wildly repressive Athenian society to prove her point.

No thought is given to the 'Near Eastern' women. The Ancient Egyptians and the Arab women of the time arguably had far more independence, and even held political office (which roman women never did).