Juhani Sarsila

Humanists look up to Hellas as the cradle of European culture. The book spans nearly five centuries of a later epoch of this worthy tradition. Starting with the awesome high-mediaeval Cathars, the exposition proceeds in chronological order. Eventually, we meet Giordano Bruno and Lucilio Vanini, both of them red-letter heretics. The work affords cognisance of a neglected branch of learning. History of morals in general, and that of the struggle of faith and reason in particular, provides in-depth insights into the allotted fate of dissentient man. A potentially fateful nexus appears to be interweaving between book and author. Organised religion is evermore based on the politically beneficial idea of anthropomorphism or metaphysical projection. For has Man not made God in his image?

The aim of this book is to discuss the quintessential struggle of faith and reason that invariably and perpetually manifests itself in the history of humanity. In west, technology, technolatria, is now seen as a substitute for desacralised Christianity. Ancients disliked «Faustian» technology and manipulation of the natural order of things. They branded Prometheus and Daedalus as evil-doers, for ‹novelty› or ‹innovation› then stood for hybris. The Greco-Roman Antiquity was markedly religious and political. Leaders and commoners had all to observe the sacrosanct cult. Thus, law and order were maintained, and change was precluded. The triumph of Christianity, orchestrated by Roman aristocracy, was to lead to intolerance and persecution even within the Orthodox Church. This book presents a contribution to the neglected branch of history of morals in a time when virtue has been lost, and moral disorder or vacuum has ensued. The study covers a very long March of Father Time, from Homer and Hesiod until the twelfth century of the Common Era.

Roomaa ei rakennettu päivässä. Tämä kolmen latinistin kolmikielinen (suomi, englanti, latina) kirja muistuttaa siitä, että roomalaiset ja roomattaret olivat näköisiämme ilossa, surussa ja intohimossa. Ihmiset tulevat ja menevät, niin hyvät kuin pahatkin, mutta elämän draama jatkuu ja ihmisyys kestää. He tekivät Rooman herättää eloon 34 vanhaa roomalaista. He nousevat esihistorian hämärästä ja kuningasajan taruista, toteuttavat tasavallan ihanteita mutta sortuvat myös kohtalokkaisiin paheisiin. He käyvät verisiä sotia, rakentavat uuden yhteiskunnan ja tekevät rauhantöitä, joiden perustalle nousee länsimainen kulttuuri. Rome was not built in a day. This book in three languages(english, finnish and latin) by three Latinists reminds us that the ancient Romans, men and women, were like us in joy, sorrow and in passion. People come and go, the good as well as the bad, but the drama of life continues and humanity remains. Makers Of Rome brings 34 ancient Romans to life. They emerge from prehistoric shadows and the tales of the Age of Kings. They realise republican ideals but also succumb to deadly vices. They wage bloody wars, build a new society and carry out peaceful policies that have laid the foundations of western culture.

Vanhat kunnon kreikkalaiset osoittautuivat ilmeisen hyviksi ennustajiksi sanoessaan, että ihmiset tulisivat puhumaan heistä kaikkina aikoina. Sanojensa ja tekojensa ansiosta helleenit ovat ansainneet pysyvän paikan Kleion, historian muusan temppelissä. Ne mainiot helleenit vie lukijan lähes tuhannen vuoden aikamatkalle. Hän kohtaa mm. lainsäätäjiä, kuninkaita, valtiomiehiä, runoilijoita, hulluja tai säkenöivän nerokaita filosofeja sekä ihmisen osaan paneutuneita näytelmäkirjailijoita ja tuimia tai julmia tai odottamattoman humaaneja sotaherroja. Antiikin retoriikan hengessä kirja pyrkii opettamaan, viehättämään ja liikuttamaan lukijaa. Ja kuten historian luojia aina, näitäkin suuria hahmoja seuraa joukko eloisia anekdootteja. Kirjan kaikkiaan 47 tarinaa kerrotaan kolmella kielellä: suomeksi, englanniksi ja latinaksi. Kuhunkin niistä liittyy päähenkilön taustaa selvittävä pieni elämänkertateksti.

This study approaches virtus as a moral value concept. The author argues that it is only through conceptual analysis that the meaning and value of virtus are given adequate illustration, and that philology should be regarded as a part of practical philosophy. The study covers Roman literature from the beginnings until Livy. During the Roman Republican Age, virtus was considered a man's contribution to his society and state, in terms of collectivism. Virtus ('manliness') was thought to be more real than any of its particular and transitory representations, i.e. individual male citizens. On the other hand, as an existentialist value concept, virtus at a relatively early stage denoted a man's intrinsic or ontic value or his true self, without regard to any worldly success whatsoever. The final analysis shows that virtus ('virtue') is congruous with or even synonymous to individualism. This book also presents a contribution to gender studies from the standpoint of a man.