The Roman Army hires a former Legionnaire to hunt down a courier and intercept a letter he's

carrying from the Apostle Paul.

But when this mercenary overtakes the courier, something happens that either he or the

Empire could have ever predicted.

This is the plot of the latest novel from writer Stephen Pressfield entitled A Man at Arms.

Pressfield is the author of numerous works of both fiction including Gates of Fire and

the Tides of War and nonfiction including the War of Art and the Warrior Ethos.

On today's show, Stephen explains why he decided to return to writing a novel set in the

ancient world after a 13-year hiatus from doing so and why he chose to center around

one of Paul's epistles in the threat the Roman Empire perceived in the growing movement

of Christianity.

We discuss how the protagonist of a man at arms and telemon embodied the archetype of

the warrior and a philosophy of dust and strife and yet exhaustive the archetype and is

ready to integrate something else into it, a philosophy of love.

Stephen explains how the journey telemon is on, applies all artists, entrepreneurs and individuals,

and the transition we almost make from the first half of life in which we're discovering

our gifts and honing our skills to the second half of life in which we figure out what those

gifts and skills are for.

After shows over, check out our show notes at a-wim.is slash man at arms.

Stephen joins you now via clearcast.io.

Alright Stephen Pressfield, welcome back to the show.

Hey, Brad, it's a pleasure to be here.

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