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31 January 2026
A Guide to Roman Justice: Establishing Order in Your Community Cato the Elder

A strong household, like a strong republic, is built not on whims but on unyielding foundations of law. Without clear rules, men become no better than wolves. I offer here a simple framework, tested by generations of Romans, to establish justice concerning property, agreements, and personal harms. It requires no lawyers or elaborate courts, only sober-minded elders and the will to enforce what is right. Follow these precepts, and your community will prosper through order and mutual respect. Neglect them, and chaos will surely consume you.

How to Focus Your Will on What Is Within Your Control Marcus Aurelius

In the course of a man's life, he is beset by turmoil—the insolence of others, the frailty of the body, the whims of fortune....

On the Forging of Verse to Keep Memory Bright William Shakespeare

Hark, friends! Though our great Globe itself may dissolve, the words we craft can yet endure. Long ere the printing press gave thought its...

How to Stage a Simple Tragedy for Community Catharsis Aristotle of Stagira

A community, like an individual, must keep its soul in balance. Spectacle and entertainment for their own sakes can stir up base passions, but...

Water, sustenance & other basic needs
A Proper Method for Sowing Seed in Rows for the Prevention of Waste and Weeds Jethro Tull

It is a matter of plain reason that the old, slovenly way of broadcasting seed is an exercise in futility and waste. A husbandman throws his fortune to the wind, hoping some of it finds purchase. Most seed is lost to birds or falls upon its brethren, creating a desperate thicket where no plant can truly thrive. I have observed and proven that by planting in straight, equidistant rows, each seed is given its own territory. It receives its due share of light, air, and the fine, pulverised soil which is its true nourishment. Furthermore, this method permits the use of the hoe between the rows, allowing a man to destroy the weeds that would otherwise rob his crop of its sustenance. Abandon superstition and custom; embrace a system founded on observation and mechanical advantage, and you shall reap a harvest worthy of your labour.

Cellini's Method for Reading the Stones: Identifying Metal Ores Benvenuto Cellini

Before you dream of casting a Perseus or striking a fine coin, you must first learn the language of the stones. A fool sees...

On the Conveyance of Water: Building a Lasting Aqueduct Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

Water is the first necessity of life and the foundation of a worthy city. Without a pure and copious supply, there can be no...

Shelter, safety & security
On Felling and Seasoning Timber for Enduring Structures Marcus Vitruvius Pollio

As I have laid down in my volumes on Architecture, the three principles of sound building are Firmness, Commodity, and Delight. Of these, Firmness...

How to Construct a Thermoscope to Gauge the Degrees of Heat and Cold Galileo Galilei

It is my firm conviction that the secrets of the natural world are revealed not by blind adherence to ancient texts, but through direct...

A Scientist's Guide to the Safe Handling and Storage of Chemical Substances Marie Curie

In my work isolating the elements, I have learned that the substances of our world are not passive. They possess an energy, a nature, that demands our utmost respect and caution. To unlock their secrets is a great privilege, but it requires a disciplined mind and an orderly laboratory. Carelessness is the enemy of discovery; it leads to ruined experiments and, far worse, to personal harm. This guide establishes the fundamental principles for handling any substance, known or unknown. Adherence to these rules is not a burden but the very foundation upon which reliable, repeatable, and safe scientific inquiry is built.

Friendship, intimacy & social order
A Guide to Roman Justice: Establishing Order in Your Community Cato the Elder

A strong household, like a strong republic, is built not on whims but on unyielding foundations of law. Without clear rules, men become no...

A Method for Establishing Reciprocal Obligations in a Community Kong Qiu

A society without order is like an untuned instrument; it produces only discord. The wise understand that harmony is not accidental. It arises from...

How to Forge Pacts: A General's Guide to Securing Allies Hannibal Barca

Victory has many forms. A strong ally, secured without bloodshed, is a victory as great as any won on the field. The world may...

How to Identify a Flatterer in Your Council Aesop the Fabulist

I have seen in my time how easily a man with a piece of cheese in his mouth can be made to drop it...

New Authors
By the grace of Heaven, I commanded the grandest armadas ever to sail the seas, charting courses across vast oceans....
Hark, good gentles and fair maids! 'Tis I, Will Shakespeare, come to lend my quill to this grand enterprise. Should...
I am Vitruvius, a builder and engineer from the Roman world, and I understand the principles by which great structures...
I am Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War. My teachings reveal the path to victory not through brute...
I am Solon, once a lawmaker and poet of Athens. In these writings, I share the principles I used to...
I, Seneca, have navigated the treacherous currents of power and personal trial, emerging with the enduring wisdom of Stoicism. On...
Accomplishment, creativity & mastery
On the Forging of Verse to Keep Memory Bright William Shakespeare

Hark, friends! Though our great Globe itself may dissolve, the words we craft can yet endure. Long ere the printing press gave thought its wings, we held our laws, our lineage, and our greatest tales within the rhythm of the spoken word. The meter of a line is a vessel, a sturdy ark to carry truth across the floods of time. I shall teach you how to fashion this vessel, to turn flat fact into living poetry, so that what must be known may be easily learned, held fast in memory, and passed from one soul to the next upon the breath.

How to Stage a Simple Tragedy for Community Catharsis Aristotle of Stagira

A community, like an individual, must keep its soul in balance. Spectacle and entertainment for their own sakes can stir up base passions, but...

On the Shaping of a Tale: A Structure in Three Acts William Shakespeare

Pray attend, for all the world's a stage, and every story told upon it, be it by a fireside or in a great theatre,...

Philosophy, spirituality & enlightenment
How to Focus Your Will on What Is Within Your Control Marcus Aurelius

In the course of a man's life, he is beset by turmoil—the insolence of others, the frailty of the body, the whims of fortune....

How to Reserve Judgment and Preserve Your Reason Epictetus the Stoic

Friend, know this: we are not disturbed by events, but by the judgments we form about them. A man insults you; another takes your...

How to Command Scale and Light to Inspire Awe Phidias of Athens

I am Phidias. I do not merely carve stone or cast bronze; I shape the very soul of a space. When a man entered the Parthenon and gazed upon my Athena, it was not only her gold and ivory that struck him dumb, but the vastness of the hall and the celestial light that bathed her. This is no accident; it is a science of the spirit. I will teach you how to use the fundamental tools of the architect—scale and light—to make even a simple structure feel like a dwelling for the gods. We build not for ourselves, but for eternity, and a structure without a sense of the divine is just a pile of well-dressed stones.

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