Why Gilgamesh Still Matters
December 26, 2025
Sumerians created a system of writing that was robust enough for literature more than 5,000 years ago. It was initially used to record inventories and
Walking on Sacred Ground in Pisa
March 21, 2025
A lot of the people who take selfies by Pisa’s leaning tower miss the Campo Santo, but it’s one of the stateliest buildings I’ve ever
Lesser-known Cultural Treasures in Pisa
March 19, 2025
So it leans, big deal. They practically charge you a Lambo to go to the top, but I knew that there is much better stuff
Finding Your Place in the Middle Ages
February 19, 2025
People in the 13th century classified their world so that every being had its place in a universal system. Their world included some strange creatures.
Teaching Plato and Aristotle to Dance; How to Liberate Yourself from Western Philosophic Assumptions
January 9, 2025
Alfred North Whitehead wrote that the European philosophical tradition, which America has inherited, is mainly a series of footnotes to Plato. Other philosophers have given
Early Western Philosophers in Each Others’ Footsteps toward India and back to Greece
January 2, 2025
After the first known Greek philosophers (in Meletus) speculated about the basis reality, Parmenides and Empedocles expanded mental horizons further beyond the visible world
Ancient Western Philosophy Stepping toward India and Landing back on Greek Soil
December 21, 2024
The first known Greek philosophers focused on aspects of the physical surroundings that people could observe with the eyes and measure. This befit the natural
Multiple Worlds in the Way; Roman Roots of Christianity
October 7, 2024
Many people in the Roman Empire by first century CE were looking to metaphysical realms for meaning and well-being. Its magnificent forums left a lot
Medieval Roots in Ancient Rome
October 1, 2024
She can be sweet or cruel depending on her mood. That’s a pretty capricious goddess to place in the center of the universe, but this
Ambiguities of Empire; Ancient Romans’ Mixed Feelings about Glory
September 23, 2024
Most ancient Greeks saw the world in ways that reflected their intimate city-states. Most of their views were human-scale and proportioned. Romans in their early