14 Comments
User's avatar
John Howell's avatar

Love this. As a connected thinker, I believe collecting "miscellaneous" items is a creative way to arrive at innovation. Especially in the anecdotally rich field of the classics. Cf. Herodotus. More please.

Expand full comment
Honor Cargill-Martin's avatar

I'm so glad you like it. And I completely agree re. innovation! There have been so many times where some bizarre snippet has made me look at the things I'm working on in a totally different way, and there's nothing more exciting.

And Herodotus - my god what a treasure trove! Shall we get into the giant gold-digging ants at some point, or is that a box best left closed...?

Expand full comment
John Howell's avatar

I mean, is there really anything “random?”

Expand full comment
John Howell's avatar

Herodotus is a gold mine of “random” info that can suddenly change your world view.

Expand full comment
Adrian Kavanagh's avatar

Feeling Parmenion's pain - a classic example of a totally awkward moment

Great read as always Honor - I never fail to learn something new from your articles

Expand full comment
Honor Cargill-Martin's avatar

That is so lovely to hear thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the articles because I have so much fun writing them.

Honestly Parmenion gets such a rough ride. The poor man is only trying to be pragmatic in the face of his embryonic, ego-crazed commander, and things only get worse for him from here...

Expand full comment
Rose Marie Szulc's avatar

👏

Expand full comment
Ines Chamarro's avatar

I like your idea of Field Notes! I may start copying you, as until now I mostly rely on collecting random information inside my head and wait till I have sufficient pieces to detect the shape of the jigsaw.

Expand full comment
Honor Cargill-Martin's avatar

Please do! It's so satisfying to see the puzzle slowly start to fill out!

Expand full comment
Studying History's avatar

"Collecting these miscellanies" or connecting the dots of history as I like to call it, is my favourite thing in this world!

Awesome read!

Expand full comment
Honor Cargill-Martin's avatar

Oh that is a wonderful way to put it! And particularly true, I think, of ancient history, where so many of our dots are randomly spaced out in the void of information we've lost...

Expand full comment
Glenn Ebo Perry's avatar

Honor,

It’s 1983, and a deucedly clever pair of Yanks are living very well, indeed, on the 15-to-1 FF to dollars exchange. It means Le Menu Gastronomique at L’Auberge Bourgignonne in Beaune is ten bucks.

But the most astonishing surprise of the trip was entering Trier to find the Porta Nigra, part of the Roman city where Constantine’s mother, Saint Helen, kept a piece of the True Cross in her basilica.

We toasted Helen repeatedly with very good Luxembourger Riesling and drove on to Paris in exaltation.

Vita nostra brevis est.

Glenn Ebo Perry

Expand full comment
CCT's avatar

Love this

Expand full comment
John Howell's avatar

Love this. As a connected thinker, I believe collecting "miscellaneous" items is a creative way to arrive at innovation. Especially in the anecdotally rich field of the classics. Cf. Herodotus. More please.

Expand full comment