What are you currently reading?

[AnotherSpin]

I was referring to the 71 scrolls & other books -- not "manuscripts" -- better known as "the books", or biblia, as stated. The most complete collection of descriptions of life in antiquity, mostly written & read in Greek, the lingua franca of the Hellenistic & Roman world.

«Manuscripts» - that's exactly the word you used. I still can't understand which collection of texts you're referring to. Could you provide a link or more detailed information about the source?

Edit: Perhaps you mean the Dead Sea Scrolls? But there are hundreds of them, and the main languages are Aramaic and Ancient Hebrew, not Greek.

Edit 2: If you're talking about New Testament manuscripts in Greek from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE that aren't part of the Qumran corpus, there are hundreds of them, so the number 71 definitely doesn't apply. Well, it seems my memory from university history courses has reached its limits here... :-)

[AnotherSpin]

Xenophon wrote also a book about Socrates, which might be more faithful to his character and thought than Plato's account.

Yes, I have read Xenophon's biography of Socrates too. I am more attracted to the image conveyed by Plato nevertheless

[AnotherSpin]

I really want to read Plutarch, too, but I'm not sure what edition to get. Most of the classic reprint houses break them up into separate Roman and Greek lives, and it seems the only complete translation of all of the lives is the (presumably antiquated) Dryden, which in any case does not seem easy to get.

I've still got a complete edition of Plutarch's Parallel Lives in a rather splendid Russian translation—early 20th century, I'd say. Back in the first decades after the Bolshevik Revolution, the old school of translators was still very much alive. Plutarch, to my mind, makes for some of the most engaging reading when it comes to biographies. And that paired structure—one Greek, one Roman—really does the trick. The contrast sharpens everything beautifully.

[JBS]

«Manuscripts» - that's exactly the word you used. I still can't understand which collection of texts you're referring to. Could you provide a link or more detailed information about the source?

Edit: Perhaps you mean the Dead Sea Scrolls? But there are hundreds of them, and the main languages are Aramaic and Ancient Hebrew, not Greek.

Edit 2: If you're talking about New Testament manuscripts in Greek from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE that aren't part of the Qumran corpus, there are hundreds of them, so the number 71 definitely doesn't apply. Well, it seems my memory from university history courses has reached its limits here... :-)

The Catholic Bible has 73 books, the Eastern Orthodox Bible has 76, the Ethiopian Bible 81, the Protestant Bible 66. None of them have 71 books.

And of course the Hebrew Bible has 24 books*, none of them written in Greek.

So what does Christo mean?

*Samuel, Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles are each considered a single book, as are the Twelve Minor Prophets.

[AnotherSpin]

The Catholic Bible has 73 books, the Eastern Orthodox Bible has 76, the Ethiopian Bible 81, the Protestant Bible 66. None of them have 71 books.

And of course the Hebrew Bible has 24 books*, none of them written in Greek.

So what does Christo mean?

*Samuel, Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles are each considered a single book, as are the Twelve Minor Prophets.

If I've understood @Christo correctly — and I quote, "including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything" — and if he does indeed mean just one person, then the identity in question seems rather plain. Unless, of course, we've quite missed the mark in interpreting our colleague's words. That's always a possibility.

Still, it does seem a stretch to call the New Testament the most complete account of life in antiquity. The classical authors of Greece and Rome give us far richer and more detailed portraits. If it's daily life and character we're after, we might do better opening up Menander or Aristophanes, Theophrastus, Athenaeus. Or Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Plautus. Seneca and Cicero, too, have much to offer.

And no doubt, if I give it another moment's thought, a few more names will come drifting back

[Florestan]

Some interesting essays therein.

[Mandryka]

I really want to read Plutarch, too, but I'm not sure what edition to get. Most of the classic reprint houses break them up into separate Roman and Greek lives, and it seems the only complete translation of all of the lives is the (presumably antiquated) Dryden, which in any case does not seem easy to get.

Loeb.

[JBS]

Loeb.

Loeb's edition of the Lives runs to 11 volumes. And they're $30US each.
The Moralia takes up 17 volumes.

[JBS]

I really want to read Plutarch, too, but I'm not sure what edition to get. Most of the classic reprint houses break them up into separate Roman and Greek lives, and it seems the only complete translation of all of the lives is the (presumably antiquated) Dryden, which in any case does not seem easy to get.

The Modern Library edition is in two volumes, and uses the Dryden version as revised and edited in the 19th century by Clough.

[SimonNZ]

Directing me to a surprisingly large number of musicians I'd either overlooked or never been exposed to. Including the astonishingly good 1929 Jabbo Smith recordings I've been playing tonight.

[AnotherSpin]

I just couldn't resist—another page-turner with badass Americans outsmarting and overpowering those nasty Russian bastards. Patterson's a master; the book flew by, and I couldn't put it down. Even the occasional nonsense didn't spoil the fun—like ex-Moscow cops suddenly helping the Americans, or, even better, the hero's main sidekick turning out to be a former FSB agent. Come on. Patterson could've done a bit of research—there's no such thing as a former FSB. That's not a job, it's a DNA code.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Wade Davis - Magdalena: River of Dreams.

[DavidW]

I picked this up at the library book sale. Very engaging read, I didn't know this true story before.

[SimonNZ]

Some of the most comprehensive descriptions of the latter -- including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything -- can be found in the Classical-Greek collection of 71 manuscripts known as 'the books', biblia. Recommended.

Was reminded of this today as I've started reading Mary Beard's SPQR where she says she is going to use scenes from the life of Cicero as a framing device and speak of how Cicero would have understood the older history as she goes back, because, she says, he is the person from antiquity of whom we have the fullest and clearest understanding.

[Mandryka]

I'm about to goto a seminar on The Shield of Achilles.

Anyway I thought I'd mention it in case anyone has any thoughts about said shield.

Then first he forged a strong and mighty shield
And covered it with artful decorations
He put a shining, glittering triple border
Around it and attached a silver strap.
Then on the centre of the shield itself
Through his extraordinary skill he fashioned
Numerous images as decoration.

On it he made the earth, the sky, the sea,
The sun that never wearies, the full moon,
And all the wondrous stars that crown the sky-
The Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion
The mighty warrior, and the Great Bear,
Known as the Wagon, which revolves in place,                                                      610
The only constellation never washed
By Ocean's streams.

And on the shield he set
Two cities full of people. Both were splendid.
In one were weddings, feasts, and brides escorted
Out of their chambers through the town by torchlight
With noisy wedding songs. The dancing boys
Were whirling round and round, and pipes and lyres
Were making music loudly for the dancers.
Women stood in their doorways, marvelling.
The crowd assembled in the marketplace.                                                          620
And there a quarrel rose between two men
About a payment for a murdered man.
One made a public vow of full repayment,
The other man refused to take the price.
Both came before a judge to get a verdict.
The crowd was helpful and supported both.
The clear-voiced heralds kept the crowd in order.
The councillors sat on their polished stones,
A holy circle. In their hands they held
The heralds' staffs. Each councillor in turn                                                            630
Leapt up with staff in hand and gave his judgement.
Two pounds of gold lay in the midst of them,
A gift for him whose judgment was the fairest.

Around the other city sat two armies
In shimmering armour. The besiegers held
Divided views about their strategy.
Some wanted to destroy the lovely city,
Others to share out all the wealth it held.
The citizens had not surrendered yet.
They planned to ambush the besieging army.                                                        640
Their little children and their loving wives,
Along with men whom age had overtaken,
Stood to defend the wall. The other men
Marched forward led by Ares and Athena,
Both made of gold and dressed in golden clothes,
Both beautiful and tall, as gods should be,
Equipped with arms and armour, fit for war.
The human fighters under them were smaller.
The reached the spot they thought the best for ambush,
A river where the herds went down to drink,                                                          650
And waited there. Their bronze arms shone.  They sent
Two scouts to look for sheep and ambling cattle,
Who soon arrived, led by two herdsmen, piping
Happily, with no thought of any trick.
The raiders saw their target and attacked
From both sides and cut off the herd of cattle
And fine fat flock of bright white sheep, and killed
The herders.  When their comrades, who sat gathered
Before the meeting place, heard the commotion
Among the animals, at once they mounted                                                        660
Their chariots behind their high-hoofed horses
And galloped to the riverbank, and there
They fought each other, hurling spears of bronze.
Mingled with them were Mayhem and Aggression
And deadly Doom, who held one man alive,
Fresh-wounded, and another still unharmed,
And by his feet she dragged a third man, dead,
Through the cacophony.  Around her shoulders
She wore a cloak red with the blood of men.
The mortals fought as if they were alive,                                                            670
And dragged away the bodies of the dead. 


And on the shield he set a fallow field
Of soft, rich farmland, wide and triple-ploughed.
Numerous ploughmen worked the field and drove
Yoked animals and turned them back and forth.
Whenever they had circled round and reached
The field's edge, someone came to them and set
A cup of honeyed wine into their hands.
They kept on trekking up and down the furrows,
Longing to reach the end of the deep field.                                        680
The earth grew black behind them as if ploughed,
Though it was made of gold. It was amazing.

And on the shield he put a master's precinct,
Where workers reaped the crop with sharpened sickles.
Some armfuls fell together to the ground
Along the furrow, and some sheaves were gathered
and bound with ropes by labourers. Three people
were there to bind the sheaves, and children followed,
scooped up the sheaves of corn and cradled them
and gave them to the adults to bind up.                                                690
The master stood in silence with the workers,
Straddling a furrow with his staff in hand.
His heart was glad.  Beneath a tree, the heralds
Worked to prepare a feast. They bustled round
And butchered an enormous ox.  The women
Mixed plentiful supplies of bright white barley
To make a supper for the labourers.

And on the shield he set a spacious vineyard,
Heavy with clustering grapes.  The fruit was black,
The vines, fine gold, staked all the way across                                          700
With silver posts.  Around the vineyard ran
A ditch of blue enamel, and round that
He formed a fence of tin.  A single path
Ran through it, for the harvesters to use
When they were gathering the crop of grapes.
Unmarried girls and innocent young boys
Carried the honeyed fruit in braided baskets.
Right in the middle of them all, a child
Strummed on a well-tuned lyre- enchanting music-
And sang the Linus song in high, clear tones.                    710
They clapped in unison and skipped behind him,
Calling and dancing as they joined the song.

And on the shield he set a herd of cattle.
He forged the straight-horned cows of gold and tin.
Mooing, they lumbered from the yard to graze
Beside the gurgling river and lush reeds.
Four golden herdsmen went beside the cattle,
And nine swift dogs tracked closely at their heels.
Among the cattle farthest up ahead
Two terrifying lions seized a bull,                                                            720
Who bellowed loudly as they dragged him off.
The dogs and men ran after, but the lions
Ripped off the big bull's hide and ate his entrails
And gorged on his black blood. Too late, the herdsmen
Set on the dogs, who were afraid to bite
The lions.  They came very near and barked
But kept away from them.

And on the shield
The famous god whose legs are bent created
A wide expanse of pasture for white sheep,
With shepherds' huts and sheds and roofed enclosures,                          730
Within a lovely valley.


And upon it
The famous god whose legs are bent created
A dancing area, like that once made
By Daedalus in monumental Cnossos
For Ariadne with the lovely braids.
Handsome young men and pretty teenage girls,
Worth many oxen as their marriage price,
Were dancing, holding one another's hands.
The girls wore silky dresses, and the boys
Delicate tunics doused in olive oil.                                                                740
The girls held lovely garlands and the boys
Had gold knives hanging from their silver belts.
Sometimes they circled round on skilful feet,
Easily- as a potter sits and tests
His wheel between his hands to make it run.
Sometimes they moved in lines towards each other.
Many spectators stood around and watched
The dancing and enjoyed its charm and beauty.
Two acrobats whirled in between the dancers
And led them in the dance. 

At last, he placed                                                                                        750
The mighty river Ocean all around
The rim of that well-fashioned, sturdy shield.                       

[AnotherSpin]

Russian spy ring at the heart of the British Establishment. A well-written, intelligent book. I will recommend it without reservation.

[T. D.]

Russian spy ring at the heart of the British Establishment. A well-written, intelligent book. I will recommend it without reservation.

Thanks. This does look good. I used to read a lot of spy fiction (and slightly lesser amounts of detective/crime stories), but mostly go for non-fiction these days. The bar for spy fiction is thus set pretty high, but Beaumont should clear it.

[SimonNZ]

I'm about to goto a seminar on The Shield of Achilles.

Anyway I thought I'd mention it in case anyone has any thoughts about said shield.

I remember reading that and thinking the shield must be the size of a Diego Rivera mural.

And that if it could have that level of delicate intricate work you wouldn't want to have it all messed up with one days worth of sword strikes.

[T. D.]

Russian spy ring at the heart of the British Establishment. A well-written, intelligent book. I will recommend it without reservation.

I just read the first 75 pp. free on Google Books, and am sufficiently impressed to order the book on Kindle so I can finish.
Excellent spy story, the only caveat is that Beaumont is by no means a prose stylist. The writing is not bad, but very much in a "just the facts, ma'am" style without elegant flourishes.

It's the first in a series: the second title A Spy at War was published a few weeks ago.

[AnotherSpin]

I just read the first 75 pp. free on Google Books, and am sufficiently impressed to order the book on Kindle so I can finish.
Excellent spy story, the only caveat is that Beaumont is by no means a prose stylist. The writing is not bad, but very much in a "just the facts, ma'am" style without elegant flourishes.

It's the first in a series: the second title A Spy at War was published a few weeks ago.

I came to Beaumont's book immediately after reading Patterson whom I also mentioned earlier in this thread, as well as a few other novels in the genre over the past few weeks. Beaumont's prose struck me as markedly more refined, and his characters far more believable, realistic, even, if one may expect that from a spy thriller. The Russians are portrayed with rare authenticity, which is certainly not always the case. And — without revealing too much — the story and its resolution are refreshingly unconventional, avoiding the tidy conclusions so typical of the genre.

I'm quite looking forward to the next instalment, which, by all indications, may be set partly in Ukraine. One hopes the author brings the same nuance and credibility to that setting.

My flat in Odesa is on the main street, and when I'm there, usually a couple of times a month, I often spot expats or English-speaking visitors at the cafés below, even during these past couple of wartime years. Many of them don't look like typical tourists. Now I find myself wondering whether I might have seen Beaumont among them by chance