Break

 I wanted to let you know that I will be taking a break for a while. I will have the rest of If for you then!
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Philopoemen

He went to Crete to fight because his country did not like him so well any more. His soldiers knew he was the one general that no one would fight! When he came back, he stirred up the soldiers a bit to get back at the people. I do not think he should of done that because trouble may arise from it. He may start a civil war! That would not be good for Rome.

More later,
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Philopoemen

Philopoemen was distinguished in all the theaters of Greece, but not without the secret ill-will of Titus Flamininus, a Roman consul. Titus made peace with Nabis, and Nabis was killed by the Aetolians. Things being in confusion in Sparta, Philopeomen laid hold of this, and coming upon them with an army, prevailed with some by persuasion, with others by fear, til he brought the whole city over to the Achaeans. As it was no small matter for Sparta to become a member of Achaea, this was met by infinite praise by the Achaeans. Accordingly, Sparta itself, who hoped the Achaeans would defend their freedom, sent a present to Philopeomen, and no man wanted to give it to him, but said: 'not I, but you', til they laid the office at last on Timolaus, with whom Philopeomen had lodged  at Sparta. Timolaus went, but could not give it, the same thing happening the 2nd time. But the 3rd time, with much ado, and faltering in his words, he acquainted Philopeomen with the good-will of the city of Sparta to him. Philopeomen listened obligingly and gladly; and then went himself to Sparta, where he advised them, not to bribe good men and their friends, of whose virtue they might be sure, but to buy of and silence ill citizens, who disquieted the city with bad speeches.

The men did not want to give Philopeomen the gift because of his honesty, which goes to show it was real, not faked.

More later,
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Philopoemen

Philopoemen when he was general himself, upon some new misdemeanor of the Lacedaemonians, he brought back those who had been banished, put, as Polybius writes eighty, according to Aristocrates, 350, Spartans to death, razed the walls, took away a good part of their territory and transferred it to the Megalopolitans, forced out of the country and carried into Achaea all who had been made citizens of Sparta by tyrants, except 3 thousand who would not submit to banishment. These he sold for slaves, and with the money, as if to exult over them, built a colonnade at Megalopolis. He is different now, and seems to have changed and become bad, not good! He is trying to get all credit for himself, and is being mean.

I do not think Philopoemen really is putting his country first. He is trying to win honor for himself, not his country! He is off track.

more later,
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Philopoemen - The End

Philopemon is in prison, having been captured, and he asks the man if the horsemen got off, and the man said yes, mostly, and Philopemon says" It is well that we have not been every way unfortunate" and he drinks a cup of poison! He died in a few minutes.
I think him has always cared for others, and wants to make sure that people were safe. However, he was often mean, too.

The End
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A study of Titus and Philopoemen

Titus                                                                                
Failings:  Ambition and greed for honor.  
Strengths: Caution, loyal to friends, merciful, generous.
       Philopoemen 
Failings: Obstinacy, greed for honor, and Ambition, lack of caution, often mean and cruel. (See my posts on him.)
Strengths: Valour, did many brave things, had it in him to command, in or out of office.

A bit about them: Titus was not in battle, but he did command his men well. Do you think he should get less credit for having his army ready made? I don't think so. He could have wrecked the whole thing, even though it was already there. Have you ever seen a well-run organization have a change in management, and the whole thing goes downhill? That could have happened. He still had to run it well. Just having it there did not make it easy.
Philopoemen was very brave, but he often put himself first. He was often very mean to conquered people. He did have to build his army up, and keep it going, and he had to have a lot of courage, more so than Titus, to oppose Rome. He was not nice, however, and did not act with discretion in war, but wasted away his life by acting prematurely. He prodigalled away his life, by acting with haste, not like Titus, who acted with caution, as did Fabius, yet Titus moved, and did fight many battles. So I think better of Titus. Titus was kind, and combined the good points of Fabius with the good points of a "fights lots of battles" general. If you want to learn more about Philopoemen, look at my posts about him, under the label "Plutarch." I wrote them a long time ago, so they are not the best. However, Philopoemen was very honest. He changed, however, and was very mean to the Spartans.

The End
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If, Part 2

If you can wait, and not be tired by waiting,
Be lied about, don't deal in lies, 
Be hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good or talk to wise,


More later,
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Titus Flamininus

Titus is getting old, and he has a fault of pride. When he went to a country as an ambassador, he was not happy when he found that Hannibal was there. Hannibal was old, and was harmless. But it angered Titus to find him still alive. He filled the tunnels that Hannibal had made for escape with men, and Hannibal killed himself. The Romans were greatly angered, and got mad at Titus. They compared him to a man who had won many victories against Hannibal, and had been kind to him as well. I think that Titus should have controlled his anger, but the Romans should have reacted that way. Titus was brave, and he had done many great things, too. It was not one man who had defeated Hannibal, but many men.

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If, a poem by Rudyard Kipling-Part One

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust your self when all men doubt you,
Yet make allowance for your doubting too,

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Titus Flamininus

The Senate gave Titus the position of Censor, only given to ex-consuls. It was a very honorable position to have. He had friends all over, in different Greek States and other nations, and they gave him many honors, for he was just, kind, and honest. He was able to say things with grace and firmness at the same time.
 An example: A man once got rather drunk at a supper party, and then danced in women's clothing. He then asked for Titus' help with a big important issue, and Titus answered that he was surprised that a man could do such things, and yet get drunk and silly.
Another time, when one state's ambassadors were listing the divisions of the army with long, hard words to another state's ambassadors, he said to the ambassadors that these were just people armed in different ways. 

Here is one of the few blots on his career:
He had a rather nasty brother, and a man named Cato, a censor, removed this man from office, and did some things that made Titus think that Cato wanted to give him dishonor. This was not so, but Titus got mad about it, more so since this was his brother. This is one of the few blots on his career. I think he shouldn't of gotten mad, because his brother did some pretty bad things, and he probably would have done the same thing had the positions been reversed.

More later,
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Even More Good Books

I should put this one first: The Bible.
Galileo and the Magic Numbers
Winston Churchill's History of World War 2
Did you know that Winston Churchill has more words in print than Dickens and Sir Walter Scott combined?!

The End
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M.A.A.N.- Act 4, Sn. 2

Note: When the watch heard Borachio and Conrad talking, they became suspicious. (Act 3, one of the last scenes.) So they arrested Borachio and Conrad, and then here in this scene are questioned.

End of Note
The master constable, Dogberry, is not that bright. He doesn't understand how to question a person. The Sexton, after some denial as to guilt by the 2 men, asks the watch what they heard to make them arrest these two men, and one of the watch says that they heard the men talk about the money they got for deceiving Claudio and Don Pedro. The men are bound, after some struggle, and they take the men to Leonato.

More Later,
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More Good Books

Here are some more good books to read:
Kim by Rudyard Kipling
Men of Iron
A Little Princess
Swiss Family Robinson
Robinson Crusoe
Swallowdale (Swallows and Amazons forever!)
Swallows and Amazons


More next time!
Bell  

Titus Flamininus

The Aetolians are trying to stir up trouble, not by themselves, but by helping Syria. Rome sent a consul and Titus as his lieutenant,to help the Greeks. The Syrians were defeated in a battle at Thermopylae, on the spot of a great battle between the Greeks and the Persians many years ago.
Titus helped them to renew their trust in Rome, and he made things right with the consul. The consul is not behaving, and he married a young girl. He is an old man.
Titus helped the gild to escape with her friends, and the consul wanted to kill all of her people. Titus stopped him, and in gratitude the people made songs in his praise,and dedicated buildings to him.
 So happily ends this part of the story.

More later,
Bell