In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm | JSTOR Daily

In the last years BCE, Emperor Ai was enjoying a daytime nap. He was in his palace, in Chang’an (now Xi’an, China), hundreds of miles inland, wearing a traditional long-sleeved robe. Laying on one of his sleeves was a young man in his 20s, Dong Xian, also asleep. So tender was the emperor’s love for this man that, when he had to get up, instead of waking his lover, he cut off the sleeve…

Source: In Han Dynasty China, Bisexuality Was the Norm | JSTOR Daily

Recovering Palimpsests | crafty theatre

I’m thrilled! The future is here! The speculation of yesterday is the modus operandi of today! Early on in my blogging life, I pondered the loss of Menander’s comedies. How could the wor…

Source: Recovering Palimpsests | crafty theatre

REVIEW: Bridge | the Exhibitionologist

Part of Henry Aston Barker’s magnificent panorama of London from 1792, London from the roof of Albion Mills. Blackfriars Bridge, one of the great architectural achievements of Georgian London, was London’s newest bridge at the time and dominates the picture (© Museum of London)

It’s a well-known fact that without the River Thames, there would never have been a London. The Romans, who first founded Londinium in the first century AD, used the river to connect their new prov…

Source: REVIEW: Bridge | the Exhibitionologist

Barn conversion leads to amazing find of palatial Roman villa

It was the urge to avoid playing ping-pong in the dark that led Luke Irwin to make one of Britain’s most extraordinary archaeological discoveries in recent years. Without that compulsion, he might never have found out that he lives on the site of one of the biggest Roman villas ever…

Source: Barn conversion leads to amazing find of palatial Roman villa

Why Did the Viking Trading Town of Kaupang Totally Disappear? – ThorNews

The first trading towns in Scandinavia were established at the same time as the first Viking raids took place on the British Isles and the continent: Birka in Sweden, Hedeby and Ribe in Denmark and Kaupang in Norway.

“Kaupang”, which translates from “kaupangr” in Old Norse to “market” or “trading place” in English, was strategically placed in a narrow bay in Sikiringssal by the outlet of the Oslo Fjord, five kilometers northeast of Larvik in Vestfold.

Excavations confirm that the town was established in the years 780-800 AD, and for unknown reasons was abandoned about year 930.The trading place was divided into many small plots with…

Source: Why Did the Viking Trading Town of Kaupang Totally Disappear? – ThorNews

‘Hugely important’ iron age remains found at Yorkshire site | Science | The Guardian

Bronze bracelet with coral decoration discovered at the site in Yorkshire. Photograph: MAP Archeology

Almost 3,000 years after being buried, the remarkably well-preserved remains of 150 skeletons and their personal possessions have been discovered in a small market town at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.

The remains of the burial ground that contained skeletons of people from the middle-iron age Arras culture in Pocklington, east Yorkshire is being hailed as…

Source: ‘Hugely important’ iron age remains found at Yorkshire site | Science | The Guardian

The Great Persecution – If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

The first truly organised persecution of Christians came after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD under the Emperor Nero. Looking for a scapegoat in the devastating aftermath of the fire, he found it in the Christians. He would blame them for the fire because of their apocalyptic belief that Rome and the world would end by fire. This led to an active and organised campaign against them. The second and third centuries sporadically saw more of the same prosecutions, especially under the reign of Emperors Decius and Valerian. The last and truly terrible persecution of Christians occurred at the beginning of the fourth century. A general edict of persecution, under the authority of Emperor Diocletian, was published on February 24th, 303 AD. Interestingly, on the day before the edict was published, Diocletian ordered…

Source: The Great Persecution – If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

Watch the Destruction of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius, Re-Created with Computer Animation (79 AD) | Open Culture

A good disaster story never fails to fascinate — and, given that it actually happened, the story of Pompeii especially so. Buried and thus frozen in time by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the ancient Roman town of 11,000 has provided an object of great historical interest ever since its rediscovery in 1599. Baths, houses, tools and other possessions (including plenty of wine bottles), frescoes, graffiti, an amphitheater, an aqueduct, the “Villa of the Mysteries“: Pompeii has it all, as far as the stuff of first-century Roman life goes.

The ash-preserved ruins of Pompeii, more than any other source, have provided historians with a window into just what life in that time and place was like. A Day in Pompeii, an exhibition held at the Melbourne Museum in 2009, gave its more than…

Source: Watch the Destruction of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius, Re-Created with Computer Animation (79 AD) | Open Culture

Emperor Caligula is Murdered

January 24th 41 AD

Emperor Caligula is Murdered

The 3rd Emperor of the Roman Empire was a troubled youth named Gaius Julius Augustus Germanicus. We know him better as Caligula or “Little Boots”, a mad and depraved tyrant who ruled for four short years. Believing that he was a living God, he indulged in perverse and bizarre behavior that shocked the Roman populace. If we are to believe all that we read about him, he slept with his sisters and anyone really who taught his fancy, he devised awful new methods of torture, killed prominent Romans for no good reasons and according to legend fed his favourite horse, Incitatus, at his dinner table. The tale of Caligula’s mad affection for his horse went too far when he allegedly…

Source: What happened this month in history. | If It Happened Yesterday, It’s History

Not Just For Kissing: Medicinal Uses of Mistletoe (Past & Present) « The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice

Ah, December. That time of year when mistletoe springs up magically in entrance halls and doorways, driving unsuspecting individuals into an awkward embrace before they make a mad dash for the booze.

Today, we associate mistletoe with smooching; however, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, the poisonous, parastic plant has a long association with medicine, and in the past would have been recognized by doctors as a vital ingredient in the treatment of various disorders.

One of the first records of mistletoe being used medicinally comes from Hippocrates (460 – 377 BC) who used the plant to treat diseases of the spleen and complaints associated with menstruation. Celsus (25 BC – 50 AD) also describes using mistletoe in the fifth book of De Medicina. He mixed it with various organic or inorganic substances to create plasters and emollients, which he then used to treat…

Source: Not Just For Kissing: Medicinal Uses of Mistletoe (Past & Present) « The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice

Defending the Town

Ed Mooney Photography

I came upon these pair of bad boys standing guard outside the Town Hall on a recent family trip to Youghal in County Cork. Now whilst they are not per say, a normal Ruinhunting attraction, they do play an important role in the history of the town, which dates back to early Christian times when the likes of St. Corán and St. Declan of Ardmore fame were said to have established monastic settlements here during the fifth century. Youghal or Eochaill to give it its old name which means “yew wood” also became an important base of operations for our friends from the north whom established a Viking settlement here during the ninth century. By 864 A.D. the Viking fortress at Youghal had been destroyed by the local Deisi clan. Then in 1173 a great battle took place at sea, when a Norman fleet whom had just raided nearby Lismore…

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Recipe for an Ancient Craft: Building a Viking Bowyer’s Workshop Part II

ArchaeoFox: Exploring the World Through the Past

I stood outside the boathouse and with both hands, pressed against its enormous red doors; the flakes of paint coming off and sticking to my fingers as I entered. The bow staves we ordered the previous year had arrived the day before I left Lofoten, but I was assured that they were now safely tucked away somewhere in the boathouse; ‘somewhere’.

I walked inside, but the year had made me forget how big it was. Filled in every corner of its wooden walls were the artefacts of a museum’s long history. Many tar stained ropes looked down at me as I stepped over a couple of old rowing oars. They were leaning against a crooked table that was neatly set with rusty tools, a half closed bucket of paint and a Coke bottle, oranged from the linseed oil. I spotted the shape of a large, straw archery target that stood out from the shadows in the back; tattered…

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40 maps that explain the Roman Empire – Vox

Originally posted on Vox.

Two thousand years ago, on August 19, 14 AD, Caesar Augustus died. He was Rome’s first emperor, having won a civil war more than 40 years earlier that transformed the dysfunctional Roman Republic into an empire. Under Augustus and his successors, the empire experienced 200 years of relative peace and prosperity. Here are 40 maps that explain the Roman Empire — its rise and fall, its culture and economy, and how it laid the foundations of the modern world.

The rise and fall of Rome

In 500 BC, Rome was a minor city-state on the Italian peninsula. By 200 BC, the Roman Republic had conquered Italy, and over the following two centuries it conquered Greece and Spain, the North African coast, much of the Middle East, modern-day France, and even…

via 40 maps that explain the Roman Empire – Vox.

Northern and Southern dynasties: An introduction

China History SG

The Han dynasty was one of the early Chinese dynasty that enjoyed developments and progress. Plagued by various problems in the late years, the Han empire disintegrated and soon gave way to civil wars. A brief respite was achieved when Jin 晋 unified China for a short 37 years before the chaos and war returned.

Division and war was never a proud moment in Chinese history. The Chinese considered division as moments of weakness, preferring times of unification where the empire progressed to greater heights. Historians  observed a cyclic pattern of unification and division. It was seen as the norm that China should be unified. When China was fragmented, all the rulers saw it as their duty to bring it back together again. This could be the many reasons why most people knew very little about the period of Northern and Southern dynasties. It is an extremely complicated period, if you…

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The Paphos Mosaics of Cyprus

Weblog for Mary Coons

Today, their luxury vehicles, private jets and sleek yachts identify the rich and famous. But in the third century AD, the very rich – at least in Cyprus – showed off their wealth and influence with amazing mosaic floors that told stories borrowed from Greek mythology.

The entire city of Paphos, a seaport on the southwest coast of the Cypriot island, and the surrounding area, is on the UNESCO heritage list due to the exquisite mosaic remains discovered. UNESCO extended the area suggesting extensive remains are still buried underneath.

A farmer cultivating his field accidentally discovered the Paphos Mosaics in 1963. No one was aware there were mosaics in the area prior to his discovery. The excavations indicated a large and wealthy series of residences of the Roman period, the first of its type to be found not only in Paphos, but also in Cyprus as a whole. As more…

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