By the end of the 8th century BC the Greeks had already colonised large parts of Sicily and Southern Italy. The reason behind such an expansion was undoubtedly profit: they were probably looking for new agricultural lands, trading ports and metals. Some of these colonies became very rich as they were exporting large quantities of agricultural produce back to mainland Greece. The outcome was the br... »
Herodotus, The Father of History or Blogging? Herodotus was a Greek historian that has been acknowledged as the Father of History ever since antiquity. Of course, the title does not reflect accurately the state of historical studies at the time, since other similar historians preceded him. The fact is the Herodotus was the first write to use prose in order to describe lengthy events; The Greek-Per... »
On October 9th, the first issue of a five-part monthly comics series set in ancient Sparta came to life. ‘Titled Three, it’s a fictional story centred on three fugitive helots set in the 360s BC. The author is the well-known UK comics author, Kieron Gillen, supported by the equally renowned comics artist Ryan Kelly and colourist Jordie Bellaire. The title purposely evokes the mythologised Sp... »
I am not certain why but for the last few weeks I have been fascinated with the Arabs and their impact in European cultures. I am predominately interested in the outcome of their contact with the Byzantines in the eastern Mediterranean. Many times I wondered how did the Arabs view the Christians? It is evident in the sources that Islam respected deeply both the Arabs and the Christians. After all,... »
Last Sunday BBC announced that Peter Capaldi will be the 12th Doctor Who! The announcement followed long weeks of speculation and betting; the second being suspended on Friday. I can assure you that the world rejoiced at the news and Capaldi’s name crossed the Atlantic! Shall we reflect for a second on the reasons for such overwhelming joy? I have no doubt that Mr. Capaldi is an excellent ac... »
Have you ever thought how the Arabs, a nomadic people, managed to rule the Mediterranean and beyond? How did they expand beyond their small (by comparison) region in the Middle East and occupied areas such as North Africa, Spain and the Eastern Mediterranean? Most scholars agree that one of the main factors that allowed the Arabic conquests was the tendencies towards their political unification an... »