Search Results for: Ancient City
What is a Nation
The existence of a nation is a daily plebiscite. ~ Ernest Renan In 1882, the one-time seminarian turned positivist historian, Ernest Renan, delivered his influential lecture “What is a nation”. That the question even arises is a sign of modernity and Renan’s ultimate answer seems far from the answer of … Continue reading
Bonfire of the Vanities
One cannot possess the virtues, while remaining obsessed with lusts and the “satisfaction of life”. And where there is lawlessness, someone must lay down the law. Continue reading
Call to Empire
As for the “pagan” unity of the two powers, spiritual and temporal, far from signifying their confusion, it implied the supreme right that, in conformity to the tradition of the “solar race”, the spiritual authority has and must have at the center of every normal State. Continue reading
The Misunderstanding of Paganism
Next section ⇒ In order to illustrate some of the points made recently, we have invited an old friend, Tony Ciapo, to provide translations, with commentary, of some of Evola’s works from Sintesi di dottrina della razza,Defesa della razza, and Evola’s commentary on the Fascist movements of the first half of the … Continue reading
Solidarity and Continuity
Auguste Comte was a 19th century French philosopher, although seldom read today. He called his philosophical system Positivism and he is rightly regarded as the founder of sociology as a science. Dismayed by the French revolution and its aftermaths, Comte was motivated to put the civilization of the Middle Ages … Continue reading
The Owl of Minerva
philosophy can only understand a cycle at its end. Hence, it is not helpful at its beginning, so anyone who is now engaged in the “battle of ideas” can hope for little more than a pyrrhic victory. Continue reading
Hungry Ghosts
The ancient Greeks and Romans buried the dead with clothing, utensils and arms. “They poured wine upon his tomb to quench his thirst and placed food there to satisfy his hunger.“
It was important to bury the dead so they would they would have a dwelling place. The soul with no tomb was a wandering spirit, vainly seeking the repose it crazed (we still say “may he rest in peace”). As a wandering ghost, he could never find the offerings and food it needed. He became malevolent, tormenting the living, bringing disease, ravaging harvests and frightening them. Continue reading
Archaeology of the Soul
this path is not for the man with a pedigree but rather for the Twice-born, or noble man. This path is not for the man with a degree, but rather for the man of power. This path is not for the specialist, but rather for the genius. Continue reading
Priest and King in Rome
These king-priests were inaugurated with a religious ceremonial. The new king, being conducted to the summit of the Capitoline Hill, was seated upon a stone seat, his face turned towards the south. On his left was seated an augur, his head covered with sacred fillets, and holding in his hand the augur’s staff. He marked off certain lines in the heavens, pronounced a prayer, and, placing his hand upon the king’s head, supplicated the gods to show, by a visible sign, that this chief was agreeable to them. Then, as soon as a flash of lightning or a flight of birds had manifested the will of the gods the new king took possession of his charges. Continue reading
Romans and Spartans at War
The Spartans remain immovable, their shields placed at their feet, without even putting themselves on the defensive against the arrows of the enemy. They await the signal of the gods. At last the victims offer the favorable signs; then the Spartans raise their shields, seize their swords, move on to battle and are victorious. Continue reading