In 1810, by which time he had built an empire that spanned most of continental Europe, if the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, wanted to get a message from Paris to Rome, he couldn’t send it any faster than the Romans were able to nearly 2,000 years ago. By the first and second centuries AD, […]
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In many ways, the First World War was a more horrific experience for those who fought in it than the much bloodier Second World War. While the savagery of the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1944 was immense, at least the soldiers there were constantly on the move in a rapidly shifting conflict. The same
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The thirteen colonies, also known as Colonial America, were established during the 17th and 18th centuries. Under British rule, the colonies were located along the eastern coast of the modern-day United States. Over time, the colonies grew and flourished as they began stretching across the rest of the Atlantic coast. When the American Revolution came
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In Monty Python The Life of Brian, a film set in Roman Judaea around the time of Christ, there is a scene where the film’s main protagonist, a reluctant messiah called Brian, is selling snacks at the local amphitheater. His goods were unusual, to say the least, and included larks’ tongues, wrens’ livers, chaffinch brains, and
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Gucci, the word today, evokes the concept of high-end fashion as soon as one hears it. Few people aren’t familiar with the Italian luxury handbag and footwear company. Indeed, today the company has approximately 500 outlets worldwide and generates over ten billion dollars in sales annually. And the family behind it has even become the
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There is a tale about how the famed Spartans of Ancient Greece brought their children into the world. Whenever a child was born, it was brought quickly before the Gerousia, the council of 30 men who essentially ruled the city-state. The Gerousia would then decide if the child was healthy or not worthy of being
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Throughout history, there is no shortage of instances where people have turned to mass slaughter to facilitate their political ends and remove rivals from the scene. Many of these are well known. For instance, in 1934, Adolf Hitler purged the leadership of the SA, including the head of the paramilitary force Ernst Rohm, once he
What Actually Happened At The St. Brice’s Day Massacre? Read More »
Within the complex system of Roman religion and mythology, few figures were as significant as the Vestal Virgins. These were intertwined with the entire creation myth of Rome itself. The legendary founders of the city, Romulus and Remus, were said to have been raised by a she-wolf on the banks of the River Tiber. Still,
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The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe saw the peak of absolutism. Monarchs such as Frederick II of Prussia, Charles VI of Austria, and Peter the Great of Russia ruled with immense power over their respective kingdoms. But it was in France where absolutism reached its zenith under Louis XIV, the Sun King. And of
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The Romans built arguably the greatest empire of pre-modern times. But, of course, there were bigger empires than it. For example, the Mongol empire was much more extensive. But these other great empires were often short-lived and unstable, and the people who lived in them did not acquire a decent standard of living. By contrast,
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