A Mixed Bag - My Chapter Quotations

Not really sure why, but over the course of writing my first book, I added what I thought were interesting/appropriate quotations to the beginning of my chapters, before then also adding a couple at the beginning of the book itself… It started off as an almost entirely academic pursuit, as seen in the quotations used in ‘Book I’, but as can be seen below, there is now an undercurrent of ‘how many “subject appropriate” quotations can I get from different or even silly places”…?

Worst book ever.

Niall Harrigan (18:19, Tuesday, 2 November, 2010)

By some strange fatality, we find the gods more propitious

when we are at war than when we are at peace.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus

(Livy, Ab Urbe Condita III.19)

From Gibraltar to Gaza, the inhabitants shared with the eastern provinces a common loyalty to the Roman emperors, a common piety, a common idiom in ornament, a common stable coinage.

Brown, P. The World of Late Antiquity. London (2006) 158

The Persian nation is wicked, dissembling, and servile, but at the same time patriotic and obedient. The Persians obey their rulers out of fear, and the result is that they are steadfast in enduring hard work and warfare on behalf of their fatherland.

Mauricius, Strategikon XI.1

For it yields very little and uses up vast sums.

Cassius Dio, Roman History LXXV, 3.2–3

(on the Romano-Persian conflict)

‘Is it thus, O wretch, that you have governed the state?’

‘No doubt you will govern it better’.

Heraclius and Phocas before the latter’s execution

(John of Antioch, Hist. FGH V:38)

That kingdom belongs to me, and I shall enthrone Mauricius’ son, Theodosius, as emperor. Heraclius went and took the rule without our order and now offers us our own treasure as gifts. But I shall not stop until I have him in my hands.

Khusro II

(Sebeos, History ch.24)

I pursue and run after peace. I do not willingly burn Persia, but compelled by you. Let us now throw down our arms and embrace peace. Let us quench the fire before it burns up everything.

Heraclius’ ultimatum to Khusro II, 6 January 628

(Theophanes, Chron. AM 6118)

Once the Arabs were a wretched race, whom you could tread under foot with impunity. We were reduced to eating dogs and lizards. But, for our glory, God has raised up a prophet among us . . .

Brown, P. The World of Late Antiquity. London (2006) 193

What could be more lamentable and more terrible to those upon whom they fell? To see how a people, coming from the desert and barbaric, run through land that is not theirs, as if it were their own; how they, who seem only to have simple human features, lay waste our sweet and organised country with their wild untamed beasts.

St Maximus the Confessor

(Laga, C. 'Judaism and Jews in Maximus Confessor's Works. Theoretical Controversy and Practical Attitudes,' Byzsl 51 (1990) 177-188 (186))

God helping him, [Heraclius] discovered, that his empire would be laid waste by circumcised races.

Fredegarius, Chron. 65

‘Farewell; a long farewell to Syria.’

Heraclius

(Michael the Syrian, Chron. II.424)

There is scarcely any important event in history of which the accounts are so vague and so discrepant as the capture of Alexandria. The whole history of the irruption of the Saracens into the [Roman] empire is indeed dark and obscure: but of all the events of this dark period the conquest of Egypt is the darkest.

Brooks, E.W. 'On the Chronology of the Conquest of Egypt by the Saracens,' ByzZ IV (1895) 435-444 (435)

In the first and last years of a long reign, the emperor appears to be the slave of sloth, of pleasure, or of superstition, the careless and impotent spectator of the public calamities. But the languid mists of the morning and evening are separated by the brightness of the meridian sun; the Arcadius of the palace arose the Caesar of the camp; and the honour of Rome and Heraclius was gloriously retrieved by the exploits and trophies of six adventurous campaigns...

Gibbon, E.  The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol I-VI. London (1776-1788) V.46 on Heraclius

Under his reign and that of his predecessors, the conquerors of the East were the trusty servants of God and the people; the mass of public treasure was consecrated to the expenses of peace and war; a prudent mixture of justice and bounty maintained the discipline of the Saracens, and then united, by a rare felicity, the despatch and execution of despotism with the equal and frugal maxims of a republican government.

Gibbon, E.  The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol I-VI. London (1776-1788) V.51 on Umar

The grandson of [Khusro] was betrayed by his servant, insulted by the seditious inhabitants of [Merv], and oppressed, defeated, and pursued.

Gibbon, E.  The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol I-VI. London (1776-1788) V.51 on Yazdgerd

I shall not cease from the struggle with Constantinople until I force my way into it or I bring about the destruction of the entire dominions of the Arabs.

Sulayman, Umayyad caliph 715–717

(Chronicle of Zuqnin)

In the name of God, and praise to Him. The earth is God’s; He causes to inherit of it whom He wills among His servants, and the result thereof is to them that fear Him . . . Build, and God bless you!

al-Mansur, Abbasid Caliph

(ordering the foundation of what would become Baghdad on 30 July 762)

(al-Tabari 622)

What difference does it make by what pains each seeks the truth? We cannot attain to so great a secret by one road...

Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, Relationes III.10

My words should and can be brief, lest by dwelling on your great deeds

‘Laudatio Turiae’ ILS 8393

…you need… to reveal not only what was said or done but also in what manner, and… to explain all the reasons, whether they be of chance or intelligence or impetuousness, and also to give not only the achievements of any famous protagonist but also his life and character.

Cicero, De Orat. II.15.63

…for history ought not to transcend the truth, and truth is adequate for honourable actions.

Pliny the Younger, Ep. VII.33.10

Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men

Cassius Dio LXXVII.15.2 on Septimius Severus’ advice to his sons

The one who benefits from a crime is the one who committed it.

Seneca, Medea 500

For it yields very little and uses up vast sums.

Cassius Dio LXXV.3.3 on Roman conflict over Mesopotamia

Hail, king! for so thou art: behold, where stands

The usurper’s cursed head: the time is free…

MacDuff (William Shakespeare, Macbeth Act V Scene VIII Lines 56–57)

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834–1902)

If you want the Logos Doctrine, I can serve hot and hot. God begat Him, and before he was begotten, he was not.

A paraphrasing of Arius’ jingle by Sayers, D.L. The Emperor Constantine: a Chronicle. London (1951) 119

The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.

Kurt Cobain

…join your fellow-soldiers and entrust yourselves to me, so that we can move against the barbarians and liberate ourselves…

Alexander the Great

(Pseudo-Kallisthenes, Historia Alexandri Magni I.15)

It is folly to suppose that the war can be brought to a conclusion by sitting still, or by prayers, the troops must be armed and led down into the plain, that you may engage man to man. The Roman power has grown to its present height by courage and activity, and not by such dilatory measures as these, which the cowardly only designate as cautious.

Marcus Minucius Rufus on the Fabian Strategy

(Livy, Ab Urbe Condita XXII.14)

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.

Aristotle, Politics II.6

Deep are the wounds that civil strife inflicts

Lucan, Belli Civilis I.32

Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst

Martial, Epigrams III.42

We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.

Zeno of Citium

(Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers VII.23)

In particular, I studied History, which adds flavour to moral instruction by imparting pleasurable knowledge of past events, spurring the reader by the accumulation of examples to follow the good and shun the bad.

William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regnum Angolorum II prol. I

Among those seeking power there is no middle ground except either triumph or complete failure.

Tacitus, Histories II.74

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.

Cersei Lannister

G.R.R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones Ch.45

[Cato] makes speeches in the Senate as if he were living in Plato’s Republic, instead of this sewer of Romulus.

Cicero, Letters to Atticus II.1.8

One person’s “barbarian” is another person’s “just doing what everybody else is doing”.

Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others (2003)

Remember … the ABC I taught you when dealing with the Romans.

A: accept nothing

B: believe nobody

C: check everything

Laidlaw, R. Theoderic: Imitation of an Emperor. Edinburgh (2008)

There is something behind the throne greater than the king himself.

Sir William Pitt (House of Lords, 1770)

New Rome will be destroyed

By the attacks of new vandals.

God always remains silent.

Stojanovic, Circling (1978‑87)

Every once in a while, the lion has to show the jackals who he is.

Uncle Mike, Poolhall Junkies (2002)

After three years had passed, the Lord took the infant, the pious emperor Leo, into His eternal kingdom; and he went to the land of his fathers, and left the empire to his father.

Vita Danielis Stylitae 67

My family is my strength and my weakness.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Barzini’s dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia, Moe Greene, Strachi, Cuneo. Today I settle all Family business.

Michael Corleone to Carlo Rizzi, The Godfather (1972)

Rumours of war from distant frontiers … Victories were still being won, but against increasingly fearsome opponents. The waves crashing against bulwarks of Persian power appeared to be growing more violent with every passing year. Whole tribes of people, whole nations, were on the move.

Holland, T. In The Shadow Of The Sword: The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World. London (2012) 69

It’s the ones who believe in gods who make the trouble.

Tyrion Lannister

G.R.R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire:

A Dance with Dragons, Ch. 27

What has the emperor to do with the church?

Optatus, Against the Donatists III.3

Who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard.

James Howell

There were, moreover, still other emperors in the west before this time, but although I know their names well, I shall make no mention of them whatsoever. For it so fell out that they lived only a short time after attaining the office, and as a result of this accomplished nothing worthy of mention.

Procopius, Bellum Vandalicum VII.15‑17

Men regard its nature and cause as divine from ignorance and wonder.

[Hippocrates], On the Sacred Disease 1

Queenie: ‘Just tell me one thing. Is her nose as pretty as mine?’

Blackadder: ‘Oh, no, no … ma’am.’

Queenie: ‘ Oh good, because otherwise I would have cut it off. And then

you would have to marry someone without a nose and that

wouldn’t be very nice, would it?’

Blackadder: ‘No, ma’am.’

Queenie: ‘ Imagine the mess when she’s got a cold! Yuck!’

Blackadder: ‘Well, quite ma’am.’

Blackadder II: Episode 1 ‘Bells’

The popes in Old Rome on the far western fringe of the Empire, the kings of the barbarian West, monks in cloisters as far away as Britain – all dated important events by the reigns of the emperors in Constantinople. Diminished though its territorial sway might be, Constantinople was still center of the world in the mind of the Early Middle Ages.

Head, C. Justinian II of Byzantium. London (1972) 6

If you believe you are the city on the hill, the world’s best hope, it is tempting also to believe that outside your boundaries are barbarians.

Linda Colley

By ancestry, I was born to rule.

Nelson Mandela

Wars not make one great …

Yoda

(Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980)

the [Greek] peninsula was in fact lost to Byzantium

Ostrogorsky, G. History of the Byzantine State. Oxford (1963) 3

thanks to a lack of good sense, Justinian broke the peace with Abd al-Malik.

Theophanes, Chron. AM6183

What has the emperor to do with the church?

Optatus, Against the Donatists III.3

Many changes took place at this time; changes in the governmental machinery of the provinces, changes in the peasantry, and in the laws and customs of land-holding.

Head, C. Justinian II of Byzantium. London (1972) 81

He that is taken and put into prison or chains is not conquered, though overcome; for he is still an enemy.

Thomas Hobbes

Traitors who prevail are patriots; usurpers who succeed are divine emperors.

Gore Vidal

I know how men in exile feed on dreams of hope.

Aeschylus, Agamemnon line 1668

I believe in being everlastingly on the warpath.

Carrie Nation

If there is to be reconciliation, first there must be truth.

Timothy B. Tyson, Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story (2004)

Off with his head!

The Queen of Hearts, Lewis Carroll’sAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland

 Capital saviour

An Isaurian lion

Smasher of Icons?

@haiku_history

History is a discipline widely cultivated among nations and races. It is eagerly sought after. The man in the street, the ordinary people, aspire to know it. Kings and leaders vie for it. Both the learned and the ignorant are able to understand it. For on the surface history is no more than information about political events, dynasties and occurrences of the remote past, elegantly presented and spiced with proverbs… the inner meaning of history, on the other hand, involves speculation and an attempt to get at the truth, the subtle explanation of the causes and origins of existing things, and deep knowledge of the how and why of events.’

Ibn Khaldūn, Muqaddimah foreword (Rosenthal, F. translation, 1958)

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

Sir Winston Churchill

Enemies of the Imperium, hear me. You have come here to die. The Immortal Emperor is with us and we are invincible. His soldiers will strike you down. His war machines will crush you under their treads. His mighty guns will bring the very sky crashing down upon you. You cannot win. The Emperor has given us his greatest weapon to wield. So make yourselves ready…

Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander

(Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade)

A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day Simba, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king.

Mufasa, The Lion King

‘But what do we have left, once we abandon the lie?’ Varys replied. ‘Chaos? A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.’

‘Chaos isn’t a pit … Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them.’

Varys and Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish,

Game of Thrones S03E06 ‘The Climb’

Playing cat and mouse is generally only fun for the cat.

Jim Butcher

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

Attributed to Alexander the Great, but possibly Anonymous

An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one that crumbles from within, that’s dead. Forever.

Helmut Zemo, Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Salvation lies not in the faithfulness to forms, but in the liberation from them.

Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

Law and Order

Be merry! We meet again, at the turn of the tide. A great storm is coming, but the tide has turned.

Gandalf the White, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

You cannot be the leader of the free world and sit on the sidelines and tweet and think you’re going to get the job done.

Kevin McCarthy

In-laws can be outlaws that disrupt your peace and happiness.

Anonymous

‘Almost to the point of no return

Everything will burn, baby burn’

‘Burn, Baby, Burn’

Ash (written by Tim Wheeler)