LOVE OF HISTORY
Ancient
Morality of Money in Ancient Greece and Rome
How many times have you used terms loaded with moral judgement when you mention money? How many of you think that money is ‘evil’ or that debt is ‘disgraceful’? How many of you watched Benefits Street in 2014 and argued with disdain that you would never end up in this position? For those of you who do not watch tv, Benefits Street was a documentary series broadcast in Channel 4. It showed benefits claimants committing crimes, thieving and cheating. It was so successful (despite the opposition) t... »
Agro-Business in the Roman World
Have you ever considered that business may not have been that different 2000 years ago? Oh well, they did not have computers, internet and the digital economy but they still had a buoyant property market, they were trading across the seas and the lan... »
Direct Democracy versus Representative Democracy. Ancient At...
The impending Brexit caused a massive headache to UK citizens. I know that because my husband suffered a week long one immediately after the referendum! Today Brexit preoccupies most of the daily news. The one piece of news that attracted my attentio... »
What do Vladimir Putin and Constantine the Great have in com...
On the surface, there is no connection between today’s autocrat of Russia and the emperor of ancient Rome. A little bit of digging, though, reveals direct links between the two political figures; links that should not be ignored. As we are about to s... »
A comparison of the economic crisis of Greece in the 3rd cen...
When I published my monograph on the Roman Monetary System in 2012 I was accused that I did not tackle adequately the third century crisis. This was the most long lasting crisis in the Roman Empire that eventually led to an entirely new politi... »
Modern
“Race of Aces”: A Review by Craig Martin
John R Bruning’s Race of Aces is a fast-paced, exposé of the contest to become America’s top fighter ace. The result of over 30 years of research using a variety of primary and secondary sources including combat reports, unit and individual diaries and extensive interviews with survivors. The book is set in the Southwest Pacific Theatre of Operations (SWPA) following the fortunes of th... »
Philhellenism at the Onset of the Greek Revolution
In the first years of the Greek revolution the government of the major European governments had little sympathy for it. Those governments’ subjects however often took a very different view. Travelle... »
Eunuchs and Transsexuals and their political power
You probably already know that some transgender people chose to make a transition with the help of surgery in order to live life as transexuals. Sex re-assignment surgery or gender re-assignement surg... »
Medieval
Eunuchs and Transsexuals and their political power
You probably already know that some transgender people chose to make a transition with the help of surgery in order to live life as transexuals. Sex re-assignment surgery or gender re-assignement surgery is a phenomenon of the 20th and the 21st centu... »
A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding a Coat of Arms
Joe Shervell is an infographic designer with a love of medieval history and has just finished ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding a Coat of Arms’. He says “I’ve always been interested in heraldry and crests, and as I was research... »
Alexius Comnenus’ not so radical reforms
Alexius Comenus, whom I mentioned in previous blog posts, was not only interested in external danger. He also managed to reform a large part of the Byzantine society, despite the widespread opposition. Alexius initially was mainly interested in prom... »
Opinions/ Advice
Historian kills and mutilates his lover
I was shocked today to find out, in the morning news, that the Russian Professor Oleg Sokolov, a military historian of nineteenth century France, killed and mutilated his 24 year old lover. Apparently, the 63 year old professor entered a relationship with Anastasia Yeshchenko, while she was still hi... »
Post Augustum: NEW Roman Empire and Late Antiquity Journal
I would like to bring to your attention a new platform, Post Augustum, which is dedicated to the history of the Mediterranean World during the first Christian centuries, edited by a team of historians who specialise in the period. The platform aims to provide a constant update with articles, researc... »
Direct Democracy versus Representative Democracy. Ancient At...
The impending Brexit caused a massive headache to UK citizens. I know that because my husband suffered a week long one immediately after the referendum! Today Brexit preoccupies most of the daily news. The one piece of news that attracted my attention recently is the existing debate on the value of ... »
Archaeology
The American School of Archaeology in Corinth
Recently a few photographs appeared in the Facebook page of the American School of Archaeology at Athens. They were photographs of the diaries of the first American archaeologists who excavated Ancient Greek Corinth. The excavations started at the en... »
Ancient Artifacts from the Erotic Museum in Paris
If anyone is offended or under the legal age, should look away now! A few years ago I visited the Erotic Museum in Paris. The museum is a dark place hidden away from the eyes of mainstream tourists. I found out about it from another numismatist. For ... »
Underwater city in Zante
Antiquities are everywhere in Greece, under the streets, under the buildings, in the parks, on the mountains…everywhere. We find them, though, more rarely under the water. So, I get very excited every time new findings emerge. This is the case ... »
Coins
Memory and impression: A walk-through in the Peloponnese.
Tegea, 12–13 December 2019 The event is set to function as a herald of the temporary exhibition Memory and impression: A walk-through in the Peloponnese using ancient coins as a guide (to open in May 2020 at the Archaeological Museum of Tegea). The c... »
The power of the Roman state in the cities of Northern Turkey. The coin evidence
Pontus and Paflagonian Coinage in the Late Republic and the Early Empire Already before the annexation of northern Asia Minor by the Romans, the cities of Pontus (around 12 of them) produced their own bronze currencies, which circulated throughout th... »
Happy New Old Life!
Christmas is time for deep reflection on the past and happy thoughts for the future. At least for me! I always use the free time to understand better what I achieved so far, and what I would like to target in the future. For some disturbing re... »