A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
This is the third piece of the fourth part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) looking at the lives of pre-modern peasant farmers – a majority of all of the humans who have ever lived. Last time, we started looking at the subsistence of peasant agriculture by considering the … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVc: Rent and Extraction
This is the continuation - the first of several - of the fourth part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) looking at the lives of pre-modern peasant farmers - a majority of all of the humans who have ever lived. Last time we discussed the survival requirements (in food … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVb: Working Days
This is the start of the fourth part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the structures of life for pre-modern peasants, who made up the majority of all humans who have ever lived. In the last few sections, we've looked broadly at how mortality, marriage and childbearing patterns … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVa: Subsistence and a Little More
Hey folks, Fireside this week! The new semester is starting up next week, so things may be a little more fireside-y than usual over the next few weeks, but I do promise we will get to the end of "Life, Work, Death and the Peasant" eventually. That said, since I am teaching Latin rather than … Continue reading Fireside Friday, August 15, 2025 (On Latin Pronunciation)
This is the back half of the third part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the patterns of life for the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of humans who lived in the past. Last week, we started looking at family formation through the lens of … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIb: Children and Childrearing
This is the first part of the third part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the patterns of life of the pre-modern peasants who made up the great majority of all humans who lived in our agrarian past and indeed a majority of all humans who have ever … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IIIa: Family Formation
This is the second part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the basic contours of life - birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death - of pre-modern peasants and their families. As we've discussed, pre-modern peasant farmers make up the vast majority of human beings in in the past. Last … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End
This is the first post in a series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd,IVe, V) discussing the basic contours of life - birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death - of pre-modern peasants and their families. Prior to the industrial revolution, peasant farmers of varying types made up the overwhelming majority of people in settled … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part I: Households
This week at long last we come to the clash of men and horses as we finish our three-part (I, II, III) look at the iconic opening battle scene from the film Gladiator (2000). Last time, we brought the sequence up through the infantry advance, observing that the tactics of the Roman arrow barrage and … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part III
This week we're continuing our three-part (I, II, III) look at one of film's most famous Roman battle sequences, the iconic opening battle from Gladiator (2000). I had planned this to be in two parts, but even though this sequence is relatively short, it provides an awful lot to talk about. As noted last week, … Continue reading Collections: Nitpicking Gladiator’s Iconic Opening Battle, Part II