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The Ancient Wall as a Cultural Barrier
The great wall of china is the most monumental barrier ever created in the ancient world. It is easily the most popular image we associate with the ancient Chinese Empire itself, but it has become so mythologized by in our imagination that we don’t realize it was actually the most extreme cultural barrier ever created. It’s sole purpose was to separate two groups of people, those who were civilized, and those who were not. Read Full Story »
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Language and Identity in the Roman Empire
The most detailed records we have of ancient Europeans come to us from early Greek historians who describe the various tribes and peoples that lived at the periphery of their known world...These “Barbarians”, a term coined by the later Romans because of the beards they wore, were bereft of any value and systematic forms of civilizations that existed in the Greek world. Read Full Story »
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Largest Anglo-Saxon treasure since Sutton Hoo, discovered in England
Experts say the collection of gold and silver pieces, completely reshape our understanding of the Dark Ages. The find containing almost fifteen hundred gold and silver items thought to date from the 7th or 8th century, staggering archeologists with it’s unparalleled in size and may be worth millions. Read Full Story »
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Vampires & Vikings: The ancient origins of “True Blood’s” more interesting residents
Last week's 5.3 million viewers of HBO’s True Blood prove that cannibalism, drinking blood, running around naked in the woods, still haven't lost their appeal. Read Full Story »
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Illustrating the New World Through a European Lens
The Native Americans that paddled out to the first ships to come ashore in the New World were part of a momentous meeting. The peoples of the Americas, descendants of the last of man's migrations eastward, had developed civilizations long isolated from Western influence. Read Full Story »
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Ancient Rome on Film, Part 1: From Spartacus to the Fall of the Empire
With the recent announcement that Starz, a successful cable network, was promoting a new version of Spartacus, fans of the sword and sandals genre everywhere are foaming at the mouth. Read Full Story »
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Ancient Rome on Film, Part 2: The Empire Strikes Back, from Gladiator to Spartacus Blood and Sand
For nearly 3 decades, the sword and sandal genre would be dead forever, becoming formulaic and grand spectacles that lost at the box office... Read Full Story »
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The Origins of Halloween Part 2: The Day the Dead Return, Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico
In Mexico the dead walk with the living, and the brides of death meet their otherworldly companions to bring them treats and blessings on the night after Halloween... Read Full Story »
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The Origins of Halloween Part 1: Samhain and the Celtic Time of Spirits
Did you know that the Jack O’ Lantern is actually thought to represent a severed human head captured in battle? An that in Mexico, some people sleep on the graves on their ancestors on the night before Halloween? Read Full Story »
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Did you know?
A Pharaoh never let his hair be seen he would always wear a crown or a headdress called a nemes (the striped cloth headdress made famous by Tutankhamen’s golden mask