But as Lester demonstrates through a wide-ranging reconstruction of the intellectual milieu of Renaissance humanism, Leonardo lived at a time when ancient texts commanded profound respect, and mastery of their nuances was considered an unequivocal sign of accomplishment.
Its nearly perfect squareness and north south orientation affirm the ancient Egyptians' command of surveying.
Ancient Troy commanded a strategic point at the southern entrance to the Dardanelles (Hellespont), a narrow strait linking the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea via the Sea of Marmara.
Rumors circulated that American troops were going to take control of the Bala Hissar, the ancient fortress that commands the heights of Kabul, where Marshal Fahim retains the few remaining heavy weapons and tanks in the city.
The inscriptions carved on ancient stones are commands aimed at future generations, ordering them to stop the clock.
Five-thousand-year-old cuneiforms can still be read with the naked eye and a command of ancient Semitic languages.
If you are of an income and an inclination to command an ancient vintage of Barolo, you will find Valentino to be much as it ever was.
In the silver mines at Laurium, in ancient Greece, the master miner commanded three gangs of labourers.
Nonetheless, for a significant portion of the globe, it is football's ancient antecedent, rugby, which will command center stage in the coming weeks.
She is as quintessentially feminine as the room is unabashedly masculine, with its full-length portraits of ancient military heroes "standing in commanding positions," Dr. Hite notes, and presumably meant to inspire Britain's business leaders.
