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...
Lisa Hutchins
Sep 25, 20232 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Sep 18, 20233 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Sep 11, 20232 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Sep 4, 20231 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Aug 28, 20232 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Aug 21, 20232 min read
Modern Gladiatorial Combat
Competitive team sports are strangely similar to ancient stadium fighting (see second image below). Minus the tiger, of course--unless...
Lisa Hutchins
Jul 31, 20231 min read
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...
Lisa Hutchins
Jul 29, 20232 min read