Trophies in Classical Greece and Rome Greek ‘tropaia’ / Latin ‘trophaea’ – from the Greek ‘trope’ meaning a turning point i.e. the rout of an enemy. Originally a Greek practice of marking the point on a battlefield where the defeat of an enemy took place. The Greek tradition of erecting an enemy suit of armour …
Who was Emperor Zeno? Zeno was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 until 491. Born in Tarasis, Isauria (Asia Minor) in around 425 and originally known as Tarasikodissa. His father was called Kodisa and his mother was called Lallis. His father had a first wife, Arcadia, who had an …
What does Memento Mori mean? What does ‘Memento Mori’ mean? This is Latin phrase which translates as ‘remember that you (have to) die’ or sometimes just ‘remember death’. Memento Mori an important concept in Stoic Philosophy, a school of thought founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in 301 BC and of prominence in the …
Saigon Execution – A Photo that changed the Vietnam War On 1st February 1968, in Saigon near the An Quang Pagoda, Nguyen Van Lem (code name ‘Bay Lop’) was captured and brought before Chief of Police Nguyen Ngoc Loan. Lem was a Vietcong fighter holding the rank of Captain. He was engaged in the famous …
The Year of Living Biblically AJ Jacobs’ book ‘The Year of Living Biblically’ is described in the blurb as ‘One man’s humble quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible’. It chronicles the year of the author as he, raised as a secular Jew living in New York, discovers and tries to abide by …
In 1602 Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England, wrote a letter to the Emperor of China, in the hope of opening a up a trade route and starting friendly relations. Elizabeth entrusted the letter to George Weymouth, who had been hired by the East India Company to seek a northwest passage to India and China. …
Emperor Julian’s campaign against Persia in 363 AD Julian achieved the rank of Augustus on the death, aged only 44 years old, of Constantius on 3rd November 361. He had been acclaimed by the soldiers as Emperor in Lutetia (Paris) in 360, an event which was leading to civil war with Constantius but was …
The rise to power of Constantine the Great Constantine the Great is best remembered as the Emperor who did the most to turn the Romans into a Christian people and his reshaping of the Roman Empire through his sponsorship of the ‘Nova Roma’ in the east, Constantinople. Constantine was also a fighting leader who lead …
What is the meaning of ‘In Hoc Signo Vinces’? What is the meaning of ‘In Hoc Signo Vinces’? Traditionally translated ‘in this sign thou shalt conquer’, this is a phrase in Latin which in turn originates from the Greek ‘en toutoi nika’ or ‘in this conquer’. The phrase is historically linked to Constantine the Great, …