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The Report of Wenamun & the Perils of Living in the Past
The Report of Wenamun (also known as The Tale of Wenamun or The Report of Wenamon) is an Egyptian literary work dated to c. 1090-1075 BCE toward the end of the New Kingdom (c.1570 - c. 1069 BCE). The piece was originally interpreted as an...
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Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI (l. 1754-1793) was the last king of France (r. 1774-1792) before the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution (1789-99). An indecisive king, his attempts to navigate France through the crises of the 1780s failed, leading...
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Saladin
Saladin (1137-93) was the Muslim Sultan of Egypt and Syria (r. 1174-1193) who shocked the western world by defeating an army of the Christian Crusader states at the Battle of Hattin and then capturing Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin all but destroyed...
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Civil Constitution of the Clergy
The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a law passed in July 1790 during the French Revolution (1789-1799), which caused the immediate subordination of the Catholic Church in France to the French government. An attempt to modernize the Church...
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The Battle of Abritus - Historic Gothic Victory Over Rome
The Battle of Abritus was an engagement fought between the armies of Rome under Emperor Decius (reign 249-251) and a coalition of Goths under the leadership of Cniva (circa 250 to circa 270?) in 251, resulting in a victory for Cniva and the...
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Romanos I
Romanos I Lekapenos (“the Ignorant”) was emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 920 to 944 CE. Of Armenian descent, he was a military commander who usurped the throne to rule as co-emperor with the rightful heir, but still minor, Constantine...
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Battle of Immae
The Battle of Immae (272 CE) was fought between the forces of the Roman emperor Aurelian (270-275 CE) and those of the Palmyrene Empire of Zenobia (267-273 CE) resulting in a Roman victory and, ultimately, the capture of Zenobia and an end...
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Vespasian - The Commoner Who Became Roman Emperor
Vespasian (9-79 CE) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE. Despite his low birth, he worked hard to rise through the ranks of Roman politics and eventually achieved prominence as a military commander. He came to power at the end of the brief...
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LGBTQ+ in the Ancient World
In the cultures of the ancient world, there was no need for designations such as LGBTQ+ because there was no difference noted between what is now defined as "homosexual" and "heterosexual" relationships. There was no "us" and "them" dichotomy...
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Roman Science
The Romans assimilated earlier Greek science for their own purposes, evaluating and then accepting or rejecting that which was most useful, much as they did in other fields such as warfare, art, and theatre. This assimilation of Greek thought...