This week I stumbled across the name Demosthenes. The claim was made that he was one of the greatest orators that ever lived. I decided to see if I could find some of his speeches and came across a collection of some of his speeches. I was successful and checked a book out that covered some of the speeches that he gave between 354-330 BC.
In the introduction Demosthenes is credited as being an inspiration for orators like Cicero and the authors of the Federalist Papers. And I had never heard of him before.
As with many orators his speeches revolved around the political issues of his day. Many of them centered around the dangers posed by Phillip of Macedon. A couple of the themes that stood out to me were his focus on the importance of liberty and his disdain for oligarchy.
Overall it was a semi interesting collection of speeches that provided a glimpse into the past. Perhaps they would have been more impactful if I was more versed on Athenian history or heard them delivered.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday 1:00AM
Behind a large mahogany desk in an oversized office hung a portrait. The recess lighting in the room was such that this portrait was always a glow in light, even when the rest of the room was dark. Much like a painting of a medieval king this figure stood arrayed in all his glory. It would be the first thing anyone entering the office would notice. The gold frame only added to eye catching portrait.
If an individual were so inclined they could look about the office and find twelve other portraits of the man. The portrait behind his desk was the most recent and the most grand. Also above the door to exit the office was another portrait of the man. The first and last thing anyone would see when entering or exiting the office was his face.
In addition to his portraits, one would also find his name etched on all of the stationary in the room. If you needed to borrow a pen, that would have his name on it to. There could never be any mistaking who this office belonged to.
Currently two men occupied the office. The man who owned the office and the man ...
