Introduction

Over the years I’ve written a lot of things on a variety of subjects, and with time, I’ll post them here or make them available in other ways. For the moment, I’ll make note of a few things that are in various stages of progress:

The Patchwork Turtle, and Other Tales Celebrating Death

I wrote this collection of dark morality/fairy tales for children in 2011. I originally only illustrated the cover, but am currently illustrating each of the individual stories. In time I’ll make the collection available.

Libro W

Three parallel stories interweaving across time follow a modern-day student, a Renaissance prince, and a brilliant general from antiquity on the trail of one of Western Civilization’s most influential (and least-known) artifacts. Along the way, these unwitting detectives learn about the object’s true power (and how to temper it) from an unexpected source.

America’s Caesar

Even before America was established, its Founding Fathers were obsessed with the putative ideal of the Roman Republic. Indeed, many provisions of the US Constitution were put into place in order to create a government with all the perceived strengths (and none of the perceived weaknesses) of Republican Rome.

In this series of essays, I examine the basis for Republicanism in the United States. In particular, I discuss what appear to be contradictions in the interpretation, and application, of Roman ideals to the nascent American Republic. I focus on the especial role played by Julius Caesar—a man whose name in America is irrevocably associated with tyranny and the fall of Republican Rome—in influencing (paradoxically) the principles on which America was built. I close with an eye to the future and some remarks on the current political climate in American and how it perhaps relates (and doesn’t relate) to Late Republican and early Imperial Rome.

Translations

My love of translating began in high school, when I translated Caesar, Cicero, and The Aeneid from their original Latin. Given my love of languages and linguistics, I will occasionally translate a piece that interests me. At the moment, I am translating a 19th century work on the Vastese vernacular, which will be made available here when complete.