Electrum Magazine - Why The Past Matters

Philosophy
Moral Law

19 hours ago

Roman marble bust of Aristotle,2nd c. CE, Palazzo Altemps, Rome (Image in public domain) By Walter Borden, M.D. – “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.” —Aristotle (Politics 1.2.1253a31-37) I. History of Justice Aristotle speaks of law and justice. Law means […]
Archaeologia
The Etruscans: Singular Features of Culture and Technology ? A Few Thoughts

4 weeks ago

1 “Sarcophagus of the Spouses” Etruscan Terracotta Couple, Louvre, ca. 510 BCE (Photo P. Hunt, 2025) By Patrick Hunt – One of the most fascinating cultures of the ancient Mediterranean is the Etruscan world. This culture is well-represented in major global museums, and the better the museum, the better represented are […]
Art, Artifacts of Material History
Caravaggio: Possible Effects of Lead Poisoning

2 months ago

Ottavio Leoni, Caravaggio portrait sketch early 17th century,. Biblioteca Marucelliana, Firenze By Leslie Ilic – Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known universally as Caravaggio, was a genius Baroque painter. Much of his life, and certainly his death, is shrouded in mystery, due to the lack of contemporaneous accounts of his activities. […]
Artifacts of Material History
Ancient Egyptian Ropes

4 months ago

Three-strand rope of palm fiber exhibited in the Royal Ontario Museum, from Deir-el-Bahri, New Kingdom (ca. 1567-1085 BCE) Image public domain By Garth C. Hall – Ropes (more generally, “cordage”) were critically important tools in Egypt’s ancient progression through the pre-Dynasty period all the way to modern times. The artistry […]
Archaeologia
Hannibal Barca and Map-Based Storytelling

4 months ago

Have you ever read a historical treatise and wished it was integrated into an interactive map, allowing you the ability to visualize the story geographically?
Classics, History, Roman heritage
Polybius, the Historian’s Epitome

5 months ago

Polybius sculpture, modern (image courtesy of Britannica) By Carole Hyde – What would we do without Polybius to tell us of Hannibal’s march to Italy? This historian of Rome overlapped in life (ca. 200-118 BCE) with Hannibal by twenty years; with the Carthaginian’s threat still a living memory, Polybius had […]
Artifacts of Material History
Huguenot Silversmiths in Britain

6 months ago

Trafalgar Silver Vase, ca. 1806, estate of Lord Cottesloe (Image courtesy of Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge) By Timothy J. Demy – Artistic trends and movements do not arise in a vacuum; they are birthed and shaped by the intellectual ideas, religious and cultural values, and current events of the era in […]
Philosophy
Character: Thoughts About US[a] (Musings of a Philosophic Psychiatrist)

7 months ago

Heraclitus (6th-5th c BCE) and Shakespeare (images in public domain) By Walter A Borden, M.D. – “Character is destiny”. This is a simple, enigmatic aphorism written by the Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 540-480 BCE). It is a powerful message for all peoples, a message for then and now, as […]
Literature
Lord Byron: Poet, Politician, Protector

8 months ago

Lord Byron, Portrait detail by Phillips, 1813 By Sara Olsen – Ovid: Metamorphosis XV.153 : “All Things Change; Nothing Perishes” George Gordon Byron, whom we can now call an influencer of the 19th century and beyond to the present, was born in London, England, in 1788 to Catherine Gordon Byron […]
Photo Essays
Pausing to Look and Remember

9 months ago

Cover image of Tony Hall book D-Day: Operation Overlord, 1993, Smithmark Books (Image in public domain) By Timothy J. Demy – I walked the beach alone. It was an early Sunday morning and for several hundred yards on either side of me there was no one. No sound, except for […]