December 17: Hearing Patterns

First flight of the Kitty Hawk

One of the things about watching movies or TV shows multiple times is that certain phrases stick: they come back to you, triggered by odd connections your brain makes between the quotation and current experience. So today, looking through the list of events, I found three that provoked such echoes: In 1790, Spanish officials were… Continue reading December 17: Hearing Patterns

December 9: Peter Fourier

Statue of Peter Fourier, polychrome, 18th century at the Abbey Church of Moenmoutier

One of the lesser known saints on the Roman Catholic calendar has his feast today: Peter Fourier. Fourier did not hold a high episcopal office, nor was he a prolific writer; he attracted my attention in the list of events, births, and deaths for December 9 because he promoted education. He was born in 1565… Continue reading December 9: Peter Fourier

December 8: Horace

Horace reading his poetry to Maecenas, painting by Fyodor Bronnikov, 1863 Odesa Fine Arts Museum

Yesterday, we described briefly how Cicero’s philosophy, rhetoric, and insight into human nature influenced Martianus Capella, Augustine, and Petrarch. Today, we look at another Roman author, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, born December 8, 65 B. C, the Latin lyric poet who was Cicero’s and Vergil’s contemporary during the upheaval that ended the Roman Republic and began… Continue reading December 8: Horace