Diocletian, perhaps the only Roman emperor to retire voluntarily (he was the one who first split the empire into East and West), when receiving word that Maximian (his partner, who had been forced to abdicate as per their prior agreement) was urging him to come out of retirement, is said to have written that "if he could show Maximian the cabbages which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he should no longer be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness for the pursuit of power." (John Julius Norwich, "Byzantium: The Early Centuries, Knopf, 1988, p.34.) Norwich's trilogy on the Byzantine Empire is truly memorable, by the way.

Even when he is absorbed in practical matters that have life-or-death consequences, our ancient mariner maintains a sense of style; there is a subtle self-consciousness in his efforts to embody the old Hemingway-esque ideal of grace under pressure. He is a model of masculine virtue and he knows it.


The ancient Greeks believed that character should be revealed through action.

He told the story of an Indian nun who was

asked when a man could be certain of

safety on this road, and who sent back,

for answer, a little plate of ashes. For

the fight against passion was long and

fierce, and at any moment the conqueror

might become the conquered.

stains of life.


 | Vivekananda