A note concerning the historical
accuracy of my writing.
As Dan Carlin puts it, I am not a
historian, I'm just a fan of history.
There are
assertions I make in my letters to Cicero that you as a reader may
disagree with, certain character judgements that you might think
excessive, or ill informed. That's fair. This project is intended
to tell the story of my study of these ancient texts, and as such,
should be considered as an 'opinion in progress'. If I seem to
praise one man's actions excessively, or heap scorn upon another
without consideration of deeper qualities, I beg your indulgence,
each letter is a single step on a long journey of discovery.
Sometimes I am fully aware of my bias, and lay in with one side of an
argument for the purposes of exposition, with the full intention of
countering my own arguments in some later letter. Sometimes my one
sided opinions are the result of simple ignorance, expressing an
emotive response to some segment of a text without knowing the full
details or counter evidence. As I read more and more, I hope to
share these mistakes with the honest desire to seek the truth where
it can be found, and to correct, and re-correct my opinions as I go.
So if we shadows have offended,
think but this and all is mended:
that you have but slumber'd here,
while these visions did appear
and this weak and idle theme,
no more yielding than a dream.
Gentles – do not reprehend
if you pardon, we will mend.
I pass as a shadow
among shadows, holding in my hands the paper monuments of history,
only desirous to inspire, to excite, to stir in your hearts and minds
some passing interest in the subject which for me burns with all the
brightness of Vesuvius, and while I live, I seek only to understand,
and to participate in these tales of heroism and drama that unfolded
two thousand years past.
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