When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Aristotle (2.3.6, 3.8.1)
- Demosthenes (2.6.6)
- Cicero (2.6.6)
- Dionysius Halicarnassensis (2.7.1)
- Lucius Junius Brutus (3.7.10)
- Socrates (3.7.10, 4.8.9)
- Cato the Younger (3.7.10)
- Sir Thomas More (3.7.10)
- Homer (3.8.1)
- Didymus (3.8.1)
- Eustathius (3.8.1)
- John Duns Scotus (3.8.1)
- Ramus (a.k.a. Pierre de la Ramée) (3.8.1)
- René Descartes (3.8.2)
- Pierre Gassendi (3.8.2)
- Epicurus (3.8.2)
- Polydore Virgil (3.8.4)
- Plato (4.8.9)
- The Aeneid (4.12.3)
- Horace (4.12.6)
Historical References
- Alexander the Great (3.7.7)
- Hannibal (3.7.8)
- Julius Caesar (3.7.9-10)
- Pompey the Great (3.7.9)
- Brutus (3.7.10)
- Epaminondas (3.7.10)
- Brutus (3.7.10)
- The Spartans (3.8.3)
- Heliogabalus (3.8.3)
- Agesilaus (3.8.3)
- the Battle of Actium (3.8.9)
- Mark Antony (3.8.9)
- Augustus (3.8.9, 4.12.6)
- Publicola (3.8.9)
- Agrippa (3.8.9)
- Charles V of France (4.3.2)
- the Glorious Revolution that began the reign of William and Mary in 1689 ("Revolution under the Prince of Orange") (4.5.2)
- The War of Spanish Succession ("the long war with France") (4.5.2)
- Hernán (Ferdinando in the text) Cortéz (4.12.6)
Pop Cultural References
- Niagara Falls (2.8.4)
- Phaëton, God of the Sun (2.8.13)
- Herman Moll, Dutch mapmaker (4.11.3)