Ireland is synonymous with several things, many imaginary, such as leprechauns or St Patrick banishing all of the island’s snakes. A more real thing associated with Ireland is stout, the black-colored, bitter-tasting ale consumed there for centuries and exported worldwide. And of all the brands of stout that one might come across, none is as […]
How The Guinness Brewery Signed A 9,000-Year Lease Read More »
When Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th of March in 44 BC, his adoptive heir and eventual political successor, Octavian, was just eighteen. Within weeks the young man was striving to gather military force to his cause as other allies of Caesar’s, such as Marc Anthony, scrambled for positions of power in the vacuum
What Life Was Like for Children in Ancient Rome Read More »
Perhaps the most peculiar aspects of Christianity today are the divisions within it. For instance, hundreds of different branches of Protestantism originated from the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. But few would dispute that Lutheranism, Calvinism, Presbyterianism, Anabaptism, or one of the other major branches of Protestantism effectively share the same origins as Roman
How the Great Schism of 1054 Split Christianity Read More »
History is littered with traitors who sold their countries or families for personal gain. But unfortunately, for some people, greed and power overrule loyalty. Every country has fallen prey to someone who has switched sides for their gain. It doesn’t matter if it’s money or political power promised to them. People have seen fit to
Ten of History’s Most Notorious Traitors Read More »
One of the significant advantages any historian of ancient Rome has is a wealth of written material that has survived from 2,000 years ago to help explain to us what the remains of the Roman Empire mean. For instance, we know how the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum ended up buried under volcanic ash because
What Was the Purpose of a Roman Dodecahedron? Read More »
There are over thirty major bridges over the River Thames in London today. This is quite a small number for a city of nearly ten million people. Londoners, though, primarily get around their city on the underground rail system. Otherwise, many more bridges would be needed to facilitate weekly hundreds of thousands of more cars
Where did the London Bridge Nursery Rhyme Originate? Read More »
The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which followed it controlled most of the Mediterranean world for over half a millennium. That’s twice the length of the time that the United States has existed. At its height in the second century AD, Rome’s power extended from southern Scotland in the north-south to the Sahara Desert
How Roman Military Tactics Won Them Their Empire Read More »
On the 28th of June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Empire of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in the streets of Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist by the name of Gavrilo Princip. A diplomatic crisis between Austria-Hungary and Serbia followed, which escalated in early August into Europe’s major powers declaring war on each other.
How Were the Leaders of WW1 Related? Read More »
Between the third century BC and the fifth century AD, the city of Alexandria, named after Alexander the Great and sitting at the mouth of the River Nile Delta in northern Egypt, was one of the greatest cities in the world. While Rome grew to become the political center of the Mediterranean world, Alexandria was
What Happened to the Lighthouse of Alexandria? Read More »
Medieval European history is full of notable characters, from Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer who discovered North America approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus, to William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who conquered most of Britain in the eleventh century, to Frederick Barbarossa, the German ruler who established his authority over much of Central
Why is Charlemagne Known as the Father of Europe? Read More »
