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It was all very well pocketing other people’s valuables and roistering at rum parties, but life on a pirate ship involved a surprising amount of hard work. Pirates were first and foremost sailors and in the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730...

In 1508 CE the Pope commissioned the celebrated Florentine sculptor and painter Michelangelo (1475-1564 CE) to paint scenes on the ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. The walls of the chapel had already received decoration from some...

The greatest party ever thrown in antiquity is the inaugral event thrown by Ashurnasirpal II (r. 884-859 BCE) in 879 BCE at the completion of his new city of Kalhu which was attended by almost 70,000 people who were served, among other treats...

The world's oldest love poem is The Love Song for Shu-Sin (written circa 2000 BCE), composed in ancient Mesopotamia for use in part of the sacred rites of fertility. Prior to its discovery in the 19th century and its translation in the 20th...

The Book of the Duchess is the first major work of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE), best known for his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales, composed in the last twelve years of his life and left unfinished at his death...

After defeating Darius III at the battle of Issus in November 333 BCE, Alexander marched his army (about 35,000-40,000 strong) into Phoenicia, where he received the capitulation of Byblus and Sidon. Tyrian envoys met with Alexander whilst...

During the reign of the emperor Justinian I (527-565 CE), one of the worst outbreaks of the plague took place, claiming the lives of millions of people. The plague arrived in Constantinople in 542 CE, almost a year after the disease first...

Jerusalem, a holy city for the adherents of all three great monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) was conquered by the armies of the First Crusade in 1099 CE. The Muslims failed to halt their advance, as they were themselves...

Achilles The hero of the Trojan War, leader of the Myrmidons, slayer of Hector and Greece's greatest warrior, who sadly came unstuck when Paris sent a flying arrow guided by Apollo, which caught him in his only weak spot, his heel. Adonis...

Women in ancient Egypt had greater rights than in any other civilization of the time. They could own land, initiate divorce, own and operate their own business, become scribes, priests, seers, dentists, and doctors. Although men were dominant...