Heraclitus was so wedged into my thinking in the early stages of ideation for this book, that he became an important character in it. He clearly was influenced by Zoroaster and there are strange analogies to Lao Tzu who was alive and about the same time, though it’s hard to imagine Chinese ideas penetrating to Asia Minor at that date (or vice versa). His emphasis on fire particularly struck me:īut then again, perhaps his ideas are familiar because they are so old, so embedded in our subconscious. It’s as if his ideas are more at home in the modern world than Plato and Aristotle (both popular in the Middle Ages). Unlike the other two, Heraclitus with his emphasis on change, equilibrium derived from opposing forces and illogicality seems to foreshadow Newton’s laws of motion, evolution, quantum mechanics and Gödel’s Uncertainty Principle. Plato and Aristotle have their place, but there is something special about Heraclitus. One of the first things that got me thinking deeper about how to flesh out the kernel of the idea for The Library of Lost Books, were the fragments of Heraclitus.īy turns dark and light, mysterious and crystalline, the fragments are a true classic of philosophy and history. I’m sure there would be tales and incidents implicating or insinuating involvement by prominent members of emperors’ inner circles and other famous incidents from mythology and history.īut most of all, I really would have enjoyed sitting down and enjoying another book full of colorful anecdotes and characters that only Suetonius could deliver. I think he might widen the definition of “famous whores” to include many other personages of questionable sexual ethics (from the male, old Roman point of view). I suspect there might have been a few names of women who practiced the world’s oldest profession, but knowing Suetonius, I suspect he would not dwell on these subjects too much. And it would have been nice to see what Suetonius had to say about “famous whores.” First, I would wonder who would make it on the list. With its lively pacing and attention to detail, 12 Caesars is a classic. There is Caligula appointing his horse as a consul, Nero murdering his mother, and Vespasian instituting a urine tax. There are tales of murder, debauchery, cruelty and cupidity that are hard to match in anything I’ve ever read. It’s a salacious romp through the misdeeds and vices of twelve Roman emperors. Twelve Caesars demonstrates that politics hasn’t changed much in over 2,000 years. Have you ever read The Lives of the Twelve Caesars? I you haven’t, you should. It’s a pity, I would have loved to see what was in it.Ĥ. It seems that a similar fate was in store for the Altan Debter. Somewhat the same fate befell the Yassa and, almost, The Secret History itself. It might have certain advantages (centralizing power with the khan’s inner circle), but it’s not the greatest method for preserving texts. It appears that the Mongols had the unfortunate habit of writing things down but keeping only a few secret copies. Apparently, some scholars think the Altan Debter was similar but according to one prominent Mongol scholar (David Morgan who wrote a great history of the Mongol empire), that simply isn’t so and it might have included quite a bit of unique material. It’s a sort of family history of Genghis and his compatriots that relates their years of struggle and eventual triumph. The Secret History is supposed to be a great read (at least the abridged version), but I’ve never read it. It’s supposedly similar to The Secret History of the Mongols, a history of the reign of Genghis khan and his son, Ogodei. Here’s one I really would like to read, the Altan Debter. Below are my selections for 5 through to number 1.ĥ. My choice for the greatest lost books number 10 through 6 can be found in an earlier post. When the idea first hit me it got me to thinking: what are the greatest lost books of all time? Of those tomes that went missing, those that were destroyed-which ones would we most want back? As promised just before I left, this post will finish off my list of the greatest lost books of all time.Īs I explained earlier, in The Library of Lost Books, I imagined a library where all the great lost books re-emerge to be looked over by a select group of librarians. I’m back from vacation and it’s time to get back to work.
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