Lisa Hutchins
- Jan 13
- 1 min
The World Is Too Much With Us
I present you with a poem by William Wordsworth. The World Is Too Much With Us The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and...
130
Lisa Hutchins
- Jan 2
- 1 min
Geese Make the Best Watch Dogs
Word comes that a prison in Brazil has decided to use a gaggle of geese to help prevent prison breaks. The geese patrol a green space...
130
Lisa Hutchins
- Dec 26, 2023
- 2 min
My Favorite Films About Ancient Rome
Here are four of my favorites. I've saved the best for last. (Trigger warning: all feature extreme violence.) The 1959 version of Ben-Hur...
130
Lisa Hutchins
- Dec 20, 2023
- 1 min
Why the Romans Feared and Hated Germanic People
Tough as they were, Roman soldiers considered Germanic tribes to be otherworldly, uncivilized, and unspeakably savage. This excellent...
200
Lisa Hutchins
- Dec 18, 2023
- 1 min
In My Next Lifetime
Sure ain't gonna happen in this lifetime, but I swear the goal won't get by me in the next one. "All the Wild Horses," a superb film...
100
Lisa Hutchins
- Dec 9, 2023
- 3 min
What Was Awe Inspiring About Rome? Part 2: Freedom of Religion (*for the most part)
Because those of us in the Western world are used to hearing stories about Christians being fed to the lions, perhaps we can't imagine...
150
Lisa Hutchins
- Dec 8, 2023
- 2 min
What Was Awe Inspiring About Rome? Part 1: Persistence
Contrary to popular belief, the Romans got defeated plenty of times on the battlefield. But here's what made Rome different from other...
150
Lisa Hutchins
- Oct 24, 2023
- 2 min
Thank Heaven for the Rise of Punctuation
IFYOUWERELIVINGINROMANTIMESYOUDHAVETOWRITELIKETHISALLTHETIME Imagine having to read the text above. This is what you'd be facing if you...
90
Lisa Hutchins
- Oct 6, 2023
- 2 min
Noise and Vandalism
This guy. For the last two nights, this lovesick fellow has been just outside our house bugling all night long, seriously disturbing my...
110
Lisa Hutchins
- Sep 26, 2023
- 5 min
The Worst of Rome
Not many goody two-shoes back in the days of ancient Rome, especially before the coming of Christianity. Here are, in my opinion, the...
110
Lisa Hutchins
- Sep 25, 2023
- 2 min
Bird Brain: The Emperor Who Loved Chickens
Think you've got a good thing going with your backyard chickens? You probably don't have anything on Emperor Honorius. Most historians...
210
Lisa Hutchins
- Sep 18, 2023
- 3 min
Pony Up: When Roman Horses Were Small
Take a look at the Roman charioteer above with one of his horses, from a 3rd century mosaic tile. Notice how the man's head is level with...
90
Lisa Hutchins
- Sep 11, 2023
- 2 min
Going Berserk
Whether the berserker is beneath humanity as an animal, above it as a god, or both, he is cut off from all human community when he is in...
110
Lisa Hutchins
- Sep 4, 2023
- 1 min
Jerk Drivers Have Always Been Jerks
See this? Here's a guy speeding through Pompeii's city streets, about to splash these women with dirty water and mud. Maybe he's got...
80
Lisa Hutchins
- Aug 28, 2023
- 2 min
No Stirrups for You, Rome
Did the Romans use stirrups on horseback? Um, no--not in the West, anyway. Although you commonly see riders using stirrups in movies...
00
Lisa Hutchins
- Aug 21, 2023
- 2 min
Romans Were OK with Homosexuality...For the Most Part
With ancient Rome, the issue--when there was one--was in the details. Read on. Before Christianity, homosexuality was commonly practiced...
50
Lisa Hutchins
- Jul 31, 2023
- 1 min
Modern Gladiatorial Combat
Competitive team sports are strangely similar to ancient stadium fighting (see second image below). Minus the tiger, of course--unless...
10
Lisa Hutchins
- Jul 29, 2023
- 2 min
The Baleful Dog Star
"Blazing as the star that cometh forth at Harvest-time, shining forth amid the host of stars in the darkness of the night, the star whose...
110
Lisa Hutchins
- Jul 23, 2023
- 2 min
How the Collared Dove Conquered America
As I write this in late July, a pair of Eurasian collared doves are calling in my backyard. They've raised a family in the trees behind...
100
Lisa Hutchins
- Jul 10, 2023
- 1 min
Horse Takes a Sabbatical for Eight Years, Returns Home as if Nothing Happened
Photo by the Bureau of Land Management via Wikipedia You have to love this story. Eight years ago, Shane Adams of Utah was camping in the...
80