Matthew Fox

This book offers an enlivening and sophisticated analysis of the pervasive use of historical myth in some of the best-known writers of the Late Republic and Augustan periods - from Cicero in the De Republica and the first book of Livy to Propertius IV and Ovid's Fasti. The chapters on prose narrative uncover an uneasy tension between the desire for accurate historical representation and the legendary character of traditional stories. In the light of modern theories of historical truth, the book argues that the narrative itself expresses a kind of belief in myths, and that this belief is in turn conditioned by historical circumstance. In this way, the accounts of Rome's regal period in both prose and verse bear witness to the uncertainties and upheavals at the end of the republic. At the same time, Dr Fox argues for a more sophisticated relationship between political and textual reality, and concludes that interpretations of political subversion need to be balanced by the sense of destiny and desire for the reinterpretation inherent in recounting the origins of Rome.

Names, describes, and celebrates a religious transformation in the making that the author predicts will pave the way toward a spiritual renaissance powerful enough to heal the earth

Meister Eckhart was 13th-century mystic, prophet, feminist, declared heretic and early advocate of creation-centred spirituality. This tradition affirms humanity's potential to act divinely and it embraces life - living and dying, growing old and sinning, groaning and celebrating - as the creative energy of God in motion. For Eckhart to be spiritual is to be awake and alive; creation itself was for him the primary sacrament that begins from the spring of life or the heart. Eckhart's pathway and that of the creation tradition is a simple way. It demands no gurus, no fanciful methods, no protracted exercises or retreats. This is why he called it a 'wayless' way that is available to everyone and why he points out that the person who has found this way needs no other.