It is a lesson that comes down to us from the Punic Wars that there must be one leader who is in charge of the military. You cannot involve the Senate or the legislature. Nor are military decisions reviewable by a court.
What happened during the three Punic Wars? The First Punic War between the ancient Romans during the Republic and the Carthaginians took place from 264 to 241BC. The Second Punic War took place between 218 and 201BC. The Third Punic War took place between 149 and 146BC. By the end Rome was master of the Mediterranean. But it was at a great cost. The whole Roman Republic had to be turned on its end. The system was deficient with two consuls elected to be in charge of the government. Both also wanted to be in charge of the army, and that didn’t work.
During the first two Punic Wars Rome almost got defeated because of such practices. The Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy. He won a decisive victory at Cannae in 216BC. That single battle made later battles in European history look tame. It made the Battle of the Somme in World War 1 look like child’s play. The Roman army was annihilated. They were trapped by Hannibal, surrounded by enemies, with no room for escape. Soldiers In the center of the trapped formation started to commit suicide and even bury themselves before they were slaughtered.
During the lead up to the Third Punic War one senator emerged as a leader, Cato the Elder, who drove his fellow senators on towards war. He ended every speech with the words, “Carthage must be destroyed.” Scipio Aemilianus was the general who finally stood there while Carthage burned and fifty thousand new slaves surrendered and were led out of the burning city in chains.
But the Punic Wars led directly to the end of the Roman Republic with the civil wars of Marius and Sulla and later Pompey and Caesar. It led to Caesar marching on Rome and to the Roman emperors. They needed a strong executive power to lead armies.
America should learn from this crisis in western civilization. If Trump calls a national emergency and sends troops to the border, it is not a matter for the legislature to contradict nor is it reviewable by the courts. The only proper review for such a military decision is the ballot box in 2020. You don’t want to run the risk of having an executive branch that is not strong enough. That could bring the government down as the Romans taught us long ago.
Dora Benley has three new thrillers set in Alaska. There are two new young adult thrillers and the sparkling conclusion to Unlocking Trinity called Ice Palace.
In the Northern Lights Mystery teenager Desiree Longfellow pushes her eggs around on her plate one morning as she waits for the police to show up. She’s being framed for murder and must escape out the back door when she sees the officers coming to arrest her.
In Murder in Homer Dora De Paul is on an Alaska cruise with her parents. She snaps a photo of the pretty blue bay with the snowcapped peaks in the background when suddenly a volcano starts to erupt. A black cloud spreads across the bay, and the passengers must flee ashore. Someone who has it in for her sabotages the cruise ship. Stranded on the shore of Homer, Alaska, what does Dora do?
In Unlocking Trinity the Ware’s little girl has been kidnapped by Hitler and forced to live with him at the Berghof. But when Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin Bunker on April 30, 1945, what happens to the child who has been indoctrinated as a Nazi, who has forgotten that English is her native language?
Her biological father, General Lord Edward Ware, must defy Eisenhower’s order to leave Berlin to the Russians. He must get to her before Stalin’s henchwoman does. It becomes a race to Trinity in the wilds of New Mexico in the birth trauma of the Cold War.
Alaska is a new setting for the Edward Ware Thrillers at War.
It shows up in the 1950s after Edward retires from the army after the end of
WW2.
The Ware’s little girl has been kidnapped by Hitler and
forced to live with him at the Berghof. But when Hitler commits suicide in his
Berlin Bunker on April 30, 1945, what happens to the child who has been
indoctrinated as a Nazi, who has forgotten that English is her native language?
Her biological father, General Lord Edward Ware, must defy
Eisenhower’s order to leave Berlin to the Russians. He must get to her before
Stalin’s henchwoman does. It becomes a race to Trinity in the wilds of New
Mexico in the birth trauma of the Cold War.
Who waits for Edward Ware in the Ice Palace in Alaska? He has been sent on a special mission by Churchill in the 1950’s, the old friend who is once again Prime Minister. Some Frankenstein-like creature lurks there from his past life.
Ice Palace is the epilogue toUnlocking Trinity, the volume of the Edward Ware Thrillers at War that takes Dora and Edward through the end of WW2.
The Ware’s little girl has been kidnapped by Hitler and forced to live
with him at the Berghof. But when Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin Bunker
on April 30, 1945, what happens to the child who has been indoctrinated as a
Nazi, who has forgotten that English is her native language?
Her biological father, General Lord Edward Ware, must defy Eisenhower’s order to leave Berlin to the Russians. He must get to her before Stalin’s henchwoman does. It becomes a race to Trinity in the wilds of New Mexico in the birth trauma of the Cold War.
Ice Palace is a special concluding segment to the novel Unlocking Trinitythat follows the Wares through World War 2. Ice Palace follows their further adventures in Alaska in the 1950’s. What are they doing in the future 50th state? Why do they trek that far? Find out.
The Ware’s little girl has been kidnapped by Hitler and forced to live
with him at the Berghof. But when Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin Bunker
on April 30, 1945, what happens to the child who has been indoctrinated as a
Nazi, who has forgotten that English is her native language?
Her biological father, General Lord Edward Ware, must defy Eisenhower’s order to leave Berlin to the Russians. He must get to her before Stalin’s henchwoman does. It becomes a race to Trinity in the wilds of New Mexico in the birth trauma of the Cold War.
Daniel Teran has completed a new cover illustration for Carthage Must Be Destroyed.
In Carthage Must Be Destroyed Gaius Antonius is inspired by the
leading senator and statesman, Marcus Porcius Cato. He turns his talent for
drawing into a map making expedition to Carthage where he manages to ferret out
a naval vessel as evidence that the Carthaginians are starting to rebuild their
fleet in the aftermath of the Second Punic War. They have finished with the
reparations that Rome imposed on them, and now have money to spare.
He and his mentor Cato return to the Roman Senate to get them to declare war when the map disappears. Gaius must chase the Carthaginian Princess Tanit across the Mediterranean and meet all sorts of unexpected hardships.
Will he make it in time, or will Princess Tanit and her relatives gain the upper hand against them? Find out in Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Dora Benley.
Murder at Hamlet’s Castlevisits such scenic sights as Corner Brook, Canada on the Bay of Newfoundland.
After narrowly escaping the von Wessels, Hitler’s chief spies, in Santa
Fe while on leave from Mid East Quarters in Cairo, Edward and Dora don’t know
where to go next and where to hide the Lawrence maps, key to world domination.
They have just been watching a production of Hamlet when they get a note
from Winston Churchill. He says that he and Clemmie got locked in the dungeon
of Hamlet’s Castle in Helsingor, Denmark. It was where the Danish army used to
be billeted in the Middle Ages. Churchill and Clemmie had to raise Hamlet’s
ghost screaming to be let out.
It just occurred to Winston it would be a perfect location to hide the
much sought after military maps. No one would ever suspect they were there —
and if they did they would never be able to escape with their lives let alone
the prize that Hitler has been seeking for years.
But after a
huge chase scene to get away from states they meet unexpected obstacles in the
castle in 1934. The mistress who keeps the place up turns out to be the perfect
Nazi spy in cahoots with Hitler and the von Wessels. Once again Dora and Edward
need to escape.
But this time they meet an unexpected ally in the famous Dane himself, Shakespeare’s most famous character. They uncover Hamlet’s secret notebooks that tell them just what they need to know. Others were cornered in this castle long ago. Hamlet tells them how he escaped in a tale that upsets all previous notions of the man, his character, and his fate.
The current promotion on the Cheops Books website is Mysterious Neighbor. Pre-order it on Amazon. See it in a Goodreads ad. Order a paperback copy from Cheops Books by using the Contact Us form at http://www.edwardwarethrillers.org.
Teenager
Madeline Anthony-Pratt climbs over the wall to her neighbor’s house one night
to retrieve her cat. Intruders appear. She hides in the shadows. They whisper
in a foreign tongue and hold out a Pepsi can with black crud on it. They light
a match.
Why are they
trying to blow up her neighbor’s house tonight? The men aren’t telling as the
match gets closer to the wick.
In Mysterious
Neighbor Madeline and her boyfriend, Drew, are left to deal with matters as
best they can, and even Drew can’t help much. He had just enlisted in the
military. No adults seem willing to help except the old lady next door, the
mysterious neighbor, who is being targeted by the thugs. She has all too much
to tell Madeline. And the teenager can count the seconds ticking away on her
life after she finds out the dangerous information the old lady has to impart
to her.
This is no ordinary plot. It’s bigger than 9/11 and far more devastating. It has been two thousand years in the making.
Thinking of Scandinavian scenery? Fjords? Glaciers? It should remind you of the Dora Benley historical thriller Murder at Hamlet’s Castle.
After
narrowly escaping the von Wessels, Hitler’s chief spies, in Santa Fe while on
leave from Mid East Quarters in Cairo, Edward and Dora don’t know where to go
next and where to hide the Lawrence maps, key to world domination. They have
just been watching a production of Hamlet when they get a note from
Winston Churchill. He says that he and Clemmie got locked in the dungeon of
Hamlet’s Castle in Helsingor, Denmark. It was where the Danish army used to be
billeted in the Middle Ages. Churchill and Clemmie had to raise Hamlet’s ghost
screaming to be let out.
It
just occurred to Winston it would be a perfect location to hide the much sought
after military maps. No one would ever suspect they were there — and if they
did they would never be able to escape with their lives let alone the prize
that Hitler has been seeking for years.
But
after a huge chase scene to get away from states they meet unexpected obstacles
in the castle in 1934. The mistress who keeps the place up turns out to be the
perfect Nazi spy in cahoots with Hitler and the von Wessels. Once again Dora
and Edward need to escape.
But this time they meet an unexpected ally in the famous Dane himself, Shakespeare’s most famous character. They uncover Hamlet’s secret notebooks that tell them just what they need to know. Others were cornered in this castle long ago. Hamlet tells them how he escaped in a tale that upsets all previous notions of the man, his character, and his fate.
See the new Cheops Books LLC ad for the following books: Armistice Plot, Paris Peace Plot, Old Faithful Affair, Egyptian Spy, and Mysterious Neighbor.
Teenager Madeline Anthony-Pratt climbs over the wall to her
neighbor’s house one night to retrieve her cat. Intruders appear. She hides in
the shadows. They whisper in a foreign tongue and hold out a Pepsi can with
black crud on it. They light a match.
Why are they trying to blow up her neighbor’s house tonight?
The men aren’t telling as the match gets closer to the wick.
In Mysterious Neighbor Madeline and her boyfriend,
Drew, are left to deal with matters as best they can, and even Drew can’t help
much. He had just enlisted in the military. No adults seem willing to help
except the old lady next door, the mysterious neighbor, who is being targeted
by the thugs. She has all too much to tell Madeline. And the teenager can count
the seconds ticking away on her life after she finds out the dangerous
information the old lady has to impart to her.
This is no ordinary plot. It’s bigger than 9/11 and far more devastating. It has been two thousand years in the making.
