April 2012

Historical Wonders – The Parthenon

 

There are many remnants of the past strewn across the world – wonders created by historical emperors, kings and religious leaders.  These often monumental structures are built to act as a legacy for the rulers or to gain glory for the people of the kingdom in which they are constructed.  The Parthenon, in Athens, is one such wonder, built by the Greek leader Pericles to honor the Goddess Athena and mark Athens as one of the greatest cities in the ancient world.  It is a wonder of engineering that cost a fortune and took more than 15 years to complete.  The Parthenon is widely considered to be the most important surviving structure of Greece’s history.

Roman Police vs. Roman Gladiators

 

In a somewhat ludicrous mix of the past and the present, Rome is seeing clashes in the streets between modern day police and ancient Roman gladiators.  The Italian city is known for its famous Coliseum, and one of the ways that people make money in the city is to dress up in gladiator costumes and pose for pictures with the tourists who come to see it.  This practice has been going on for many years, though recently it has come under fire from the government.

Officials are saying that the gladiators are engaging in unethical behavior, often offering to take pictures with tourists before informing them that there’s a charge involved.  In one particular incident an unaware tourist took a picture of a gladiator and was threatened when he didn’t cough up more than $100 for the privilege.  There are also several other reported cases of the gladiators attempting to charge visitors $50 or more and getting angry if the tourists resist.  Other complaints against the gladiators consist of not having permits and stalking tourists. 

Dinosaur Size Result Of Egg-Laying?

A new theory as to the immense size of dinosaurs (unseen since their extinction) may be in the fact that they were egg-layers.

The largest animal on the planet happens to be a mammal; the blue whale. Of course, on land the largest animal is significantly smaller; a the African elephant. For anyone that has grown up with a keen interest in the wild kingdom, there’s always been a mystery surrounding big animals. For instance, how is it that our largest animal today is still only a hundredth the size of some of the largest animals several hundred million years ago? To be sure, it adds to the allure of dinosaurs that nature no longer seems to suffer anything so grand in size. To explain why that may be, University of Zurich zoologist Daryl Codron studies the dinosaur’s egg.

The Varangian Guard

Loyal Viking Warriors

 

Ancient Rome's “Praetorian Guard” was an excellent example of what no emperor would ever want in his imperial guard- an elite and ruthless fighting force perfectly willing to overthrow emperors at will for its own ends. Of course, Rome eventually fell, but it was succeeded (in the eastern regions of what had previously been the Roman Empire) by the Byzantine Empire based in Constantinople.

Fire use 300,000 years older than initially believed

 

One of the most important debates among anthropologists studying the progression of man since the dawn of time is when man’s predecessors managed to first control fire.  The manipulation of fire was an event that altered evolution significantly and is widely considered to be the most important invention in history.  By understanding when fire came about, significant clues can be obtained that relate to many other aspects of how we, as a species, developed and came to be what we are today.  Now, new discoveries have been made which put a much earlier date on fire usage among our human ancestors.

Weathermen

The dangers of uniformity

 

Last week I wrote about the Baader-Meinhof gang, and this week I'm writing about the Weathermen. These two groups were never connected, and Baader-Meinhof was much more murderous, but they did have some things in common. These include fanaticism and a complete lack of humor or perspective, but those are really just symptoms. What these two groups really had in common was uniformity of thought.

War remains one of the biggest threats to history

 

The records of the past are constantly under threat, whether it come from people burning books, those who try to rewrite the past or archaeological sites that get caught in the crossfire of petty wars.  Many historical locations, especially those of a more distant past, were built as fortresses originally and thus make perfect places for soldiers to hide during their fights.  This often brings buildings which are thousands of years old under fire from guns and artillery.  The latest archaeological wonder to come under siege is the city of Timbuktu, located in northern Mali.

Mali has been a hotbed of violent activity as of late.  A coup recently overthrew the government and for many months there have been skirmishes in the north between government troops and separatists who have been attempting to establish their own independent state.  When the coup hit Mali, forces in the form of Tuareg rebels and Islamic fighters took control of Timbuktu.