In 407 B.C. and again in 405 B.C.. the Spartans in alliance with their old enemies, the Persians, destroyed two Athenian Fleets. Although Athens had suffered defeats before, notably in Sicily in 415 B.C., they had always managed to rally and beat back the Spartans. This time, however, Athens could not make up the losses. […]
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The fusion of Greek and Roman culture
The more I read about him, the more I’m convinced that it was Hadrian who fused Greek and Roman culture and made it the cornerstone of Greco-Roman/Western civilization. I’m reading (casually) a book called “Monumentality and the Roman Empire: Architecture in the Antonine Age,” by Edmund Thomas, and he claims Hadrian built or rebuilt a […]
Local Government in Anglo-Saxon England
Originating in eighth century Wessex, the Anglo-Saxon shire system would replace the Roman Provinces as the British standard of local government. Throughout the eighth and ninth centuries the system gradually expanded to cover the whole of England. A Shire which usually took its name from its principle city was governed by an Eldorman, a noble […]
Would slavery have ended even without the Civil War?
To answer to my question – I think that the answer is “yes”. The bigger question is when it would have ended, and how this would have come about. I believe that slavery was being phased out in European countries even before the Civil War began, and as this sentiment swept the West it would […]
Baa! Moving the sheep during World War I
At the beginning of the Great War, plans were put afoot for the Army to move, by road, all the sheep from the farms of the southern counties of Sussex, Kent and Surrey to Salisbury Plain in order to keep them safe should the Germans invade England. One junior officer, given this task, queried the […]
The History of Sanitation
One of the things I love about history is that it’s easy to become fascinated with otherwise mundane topics. An interesting show (on National Geographic, I think) which chronicled the history of sanitation is one such example of this, and I’ll try to recount it here. As urban areas developed, good sanitation was a must, […]
Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans
Joan was born of a peasant family of Domrémy in eastern Champagne, a village where the peasantry has suffered particularly severely from the three way civil war between the Armanacs, the Burgundians and the English. Through flight, the loss of animals, and the general lack of law and order, the peasants had little regard for […]
The Babylonian Bride
Marriage customs in Ancient Babylon Ancient Babylonia was a society, which, although it did not know coinage, was extremely wealthy due to their outstanding skill in barter and trade. The fertile lands along the Euphrates were ideal for the growing of more than sufficient crops for the population, and soon a profitable trade system sprung […]
Most historically-significant battle
What is the single military battle with the most far-reaching effects and consequences? What battle, if it had come out differently, would have had the most profound change on the march of history? No brainer for me: Teutoburg Forest. This ended Roman excursions into Germania. From then on, Europe was divided into to camps: Romantic […]
