pothos.org

We have lost Agesilaos. The world has lost him. I learned that he died yesterday, April 5th. To be honest, I'm struggling for words. Karl was a member of Pothos since 2002 but I never corresponded much with him off the forum until this past year or so, and most of that was me wagging a metaphorical finger at him and Karl laughing it off. He was his own man. He had a biting sense of humor and in private could (and often would) direct it at himself. He knew who he was and he knew he was not going to change. He was absolutely one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable members of Pothos and to say he will be greatly missed is an understatement. We've lost a valuable member and, for some of us, a good friend.

I learned of his death through Michael and said I would post first because neither of us were initially sure how to approach this. I am aware that this post should probably be in the Off Topic forum but I decided I did not want to relegate him to a forum known as such. Karl was always on topic and should remain so.

Once, quite casually in a PM, he referred to himself as a Viking. That's the image I have of him right now. Goodbye Karl.

Oh, God, that's terrible. RIP, and condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.

I am genuinely deeply sorry about that. Despite our somewhat adversarial relationship through this forum, he was actually very good at pointing out holes that needed plugging in theories.

Requiescat in pace

That's terrible news. I learned a lot reading his very informative posts - and enjoyed discussions with him the 2 years I write in this forum.

RIP Karl, condolences to his family and friends

Shall miss his humour and pointed logic greatly. Learned a great deal from his posts on aspects of history I'd never considered before.

Thoughts with his family and friends.

Nicely said Linda. I'm glad you volunteered for the short straw.

The place is already different and it won't be the same again. Karl's rather wicked wit has already been mentioned as well as his ability to pointedly prick thought bubbles disguised as theory. Traits that manifested themselves in an oft times adversarial style that brooked no manufactured evidence, flat assertions or failure to respect the sources. What has not been mentioned is the man's helpful, giving nature. One rarely writes anything for publication in a vacuum for one rarely has, or has access to, all the relevant source and scholarly material on the subject. My correspondence with Karl began with a request for such information. It was never a bother or a problem for Karl to scan and email scholarly articles not electronically available. These were not always in his possession and required trips to libraries. This help was not limited to papers and I was quite surprised, one day, to find several tranches of Bosworth's Historical Commentary on Arrian residing in my inbox; he'd found an ex library set going cheap and figured I'd like it. The entire work eventually lobbed and one can only imagine the time and effort involved in the scanning and emailing - and this was only one of such so delivered.

But not all was about history or sources. Ales - real and dark - frequented email banter. The inbox was given a tickle up as the Aussies went down at Edgbaston and then another as we collapsed in ignominy at Trent Bridge. Typically, Karl hedged in noting that he should be careful given the Rugby World Cup was not far off. He received his own back as the Wallaby phalanx pushed the English phalanx off the paddock. One of my biggest regrets was missing meeting up with Karl at the Harp in Covent Garden when in England back in 2011. Like finishing the "Chronology" thread, not something I can rectify now.

The site will miss him. I will miss him. I'm off to raise a pint of dark ale. Perhaps several.

Oh, no! That will definitely make a bad dent, here. One of the things I love about Pothos is seeing all you incredibly well-read people (and I mean this in the most complimentary way!) beating each other over the head with the primary sources! There's no way I can begin to catch up with the depth of knowledge here, but just seeing the scholarship is a wonder and a privilege. Obviously Agesilaos was a huge part of that.

Ave atque Vale. (I don't think he'd mind the departure from proper Greek!) And condolences to his family.

Matthew

I didn't ever think to feel a hole so big here in pothos. Only now I realize how we shall miss him, his humour, logic, wit, and - last but not least - his wide knowledge!
Requiescat in pace.

What a terrible loss. So sad. He responded to one of my questions a few months ago and I never found a moment to thank him, thinking I will do it later.
He will be so missed here. Condolences to his family.

I am very sorry to hear this. While I did not know him well, we interacted quite a bit, off and on, since he became active on Pothos. He knew his material, and I respected his intellect, even when we didn't agree. Not agreeing is, after all, the nature of scholarship.

He always struck me as someone able to stay on point, but also to brook no shit. That's a high compliment.

Karl's funeral is on 3rd May at 4.30 pm at Beckenham Cemetery & Crematorium, Kent. Thanks, Pauline, for helping me find out the details. I am away from home that day, but will try to light a candle.

I have arranged for some flowers to be sent to the funeral. Pauline has sent some too. It did not seem right that Karl's many contributions to the community, and the time and effort he put in to the research for his posts, should pass without tribute, so I have sent the flowers on behalf of everyone here. I hope that is ok.
Hopefully, somewhere between Valhalla and the Elysian Fields, Karl has met up with Alexander and his crew and they've enjoyed a few drinks together.

I am extremely grateful to both Alexias and Pauline for what they have done. The flowers on behalf of the site are, I'm certain, hugely appreciated. This even more so by myself.

I find myself in total agreement with Dr Reames' words. I'm glad that I acknowledged his contribution to my effort on Kynoskephalai recently and not so happy that the non inclusion of footnotes for my chapter of a forthcoming tome did not permit the nod to the work he did in aiding me in the writing of same to be acknowledged.

A lot of thanks, Alexias, for the flowers you sent in behalf of all of us. And I'm very grateful to you for your words too: you interpreted very well my feelings.

Though I haven't been able to keep up with the goings on here on pothos.org, as often as I'd like...this is truly sad news. I've been fortunate enough to banter back and forth with Agesilaos through the years and gain from his candor and wisdom. When this entire forum seemed against me on the silliest of points, Agesilaos alone, was willing to entertain my speculative extrapolations of the limited source material without the emotionalism and condescension.

A true scholar, ally, and friend has been lost.

R.I.P. Karl.

For the last time, friend...

later, Nicator

Today is the funeral of Karl



Thirteen verses

When you reach Heaven be polite
do not be sarcastic about their shiny wings
do not make fun of them
You go to the Lord
dont demand that He comes to you,
do not at once fight with your fellows and friends,
say good things about the field of asphodels
LIE,say ' I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL"
And the Lord shall be pleased
give you books, whiskey, smokes
and an Angel to your side to keep you safe,
to keep you safe
and love you for ever Karl


Pauline