Did the Ancient Greeks REALLY not see the color blue? The Historians Craft 2021-12-09 | There is a popular internet myth that the Ancient Greeks had no word for the color blue. But, how true is this really?SOURCES:Colorblind: the use of Greek color terminology in cultural linguistics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. FunkeThe Aegean Bronze Age. Dickinson
Ben Shapiro Doesnt Understand Why Rome Fell The Historians Craft 2024-10-20 | Why did the Roman Empire fall? When did it fall? This is a question that has bedeviled historians and archaeologists for centuries, and arguably there isn't any end in sight for the search for that answer. Rome is an obsession of the modern world--if we can figure out why the Roman Empire fell, then we can save our own civilization.Ben Shapiro, an American political commentator, recently put out a video exploring why the Roman Empire fell, and suggests that Rome and the present day United States resemble each other to a degree. Ben Shapiro lists the usual factors of degeneracy and licentiousness caused by wealth, a lack of civic virtue, and inflation as being among the prime causes for the collapse of Rome. This video is a response to that and broadly outlines, economically, what actually happened, drawing on the scholarship of medievalists SOURCES:Barbarian Migrations & the Roman West, 376 - 568, Guy HalsallThe Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, Kyle HarperImperial Rome AD 193 to 284: The Critical Century, Clifford AndoImperial Rome AD 284 to 363, Jill HarriesExploring the Economy of Late Antiquity, Jairus BanajiThe Inheritance of Rome, Chris WickhamFraming the Early Middle Ages, Chris Wickham#facts #benshapiro
What did the Romans think about the Nuragic ruins of Bronze Age Sardinia? The Historians Craft 2024-10-18 | The Nuragic Civilization of Bronze Age Sardinia is one of the most mysterious of all the Bronze Age civilizations to exist, in large part because we have plenty of archaeology, but no writing. Their structures & megaliths--the Nuraghe--exist today, and they existed during the time of the Greeks & Romans. So, what did the Romans think about them?
Did Ancient Civilizations Have Their Own Ancient Civilizations? The Historians Craft 2024-10-12 | In history class we all learn about "ancient civilizations", like Greece, Persia, Babylon, and Rome. Recorded history, however, starts several thousand years prior to Greece or Rome, for example, being around. So, what did they know about the past? Did ancient civilizations have any ancient civilizations of their own?Sources:A History of the Ancient Near East, Marc Van De MieroopA History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75, Paul-Alain BeaulieuReign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, Paul-Alain BeaulieuBabylonian Archaeologists of the(ir) Mesopotamian Past, I. J. Winter
Was There A Hittite Trojan War? | A short look at the textual evidence The Historians Craft 2024-05-15 | The Trojan War is one of the mainstays of classical mythology, and formed a major part of the educational curricula for Ancient Greece and Rome. Whether or not it actually happened has been debated by archaeologists and historians for over two centuries, along with whether or not the Iliad, and Odyssey, should be considered historically accurate at all.There are textual sources beyond the Greek epics, however. Hittite documents make frequent mention of the city of Wilusa, identified with the Greek Ilios, or Troy, and which is almost certainly the archaeological site of Hisarlik.This has led some to wonder if perhaps there was a Hittite version of the Trojan War, or if the Hittites played a part in the Trojan War.SOURCES:The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction, ClineThe Trojans and their Neighbors, Bryce
When did Egyptians stop being able to read hieroglyphs? And why? The Historians Craft 2024-05-09 | Egyptian Hieroglyphs are one of the most well known writing systems from the ancient world, and they were employed for over three thousand years, from the Old Kingdom period through the Roman era. Now, though, they are no longer used as a script. So when, and why, did they die out? SOURCES:The Final Pagan Generation, WattsThe Rise of Western Christendom, BrownThe Oxford Handbook of Roman Egypt, Riggs
How Historically Accurate is the Iliad? A Short Introduction The Historians Craft 2024-04-27 | The Iliad is one of the great epics of Ancient Greece. It tells, at least in part, the story of the Trojan War, and it appears to contain valid elements of the Bronze Age world. Which has led scholars to debate whether or not the Iliad is historically accurate, and whether or not the poet Homer was a real person. This video briefly investigates the subject. Sources:A History of the Archaic Greek World, HallThe Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction, ClineAncient Greece, Roberts et al
Why is there a hole in the Arch of Septimius Severus? The Historians Craft 2024-04-24 | The Arch of Septimius Severus was constructed to commemorate two conflicts waged against Parthia in the 190s. But why is there a hole in it, and who put it there?
The Gunung Padang Controversy & Why it Matters The Historians Craft 2024-04-21 | Gunung Padang is a megalith located on the island of Java, in Indonesia. Recently, it has attracted attention for not only being featured on Graham Hancock's Netflix show, Ancient Apocalypse, but also because a paper published in October of 2023 claims that it is 27,000 years old. But, is it really, and if it isn't, how do we know that?
Why Troy Might Still be Lost, and how it went missing in the first place The Historians Craft 2024-04-19 | The archaeological site of Hisarlik is generally believed to be the site of the a city that Hittite documents call Wilusa, and which Greek sources call Troy. Certainly during the Greco-Roman period it was known as Troy, but today some archaeologists are not so sure. And, for that matter, if Troy was so well known during the Roman period, how did it go missing anyway?SOURCES:The Trojans and their Neighbors, BryceThe Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction, ClineDigging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik, Cline & Rubalcaba
The Boring Truth about the Salting of Carthage - it isnt what you think The Historians Craft 2024-04-17 | After the fall of Carthage in the Third Punic War, in 146 BC, it is popularly believed that the Romans salted the earth around the city, so that nothing would ever grow there again. This is, however, not the case. So what really happened?
Was Troy Destroyed by the Sea People? A Short Look at an Intriguing Hypothesis The Historians Craft 2024-04-15 | SOURCES:The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction, Cline1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed, ClineThe 'Mycenaean' Sword at Hattusas and its Possible Implications, ClineThe Trojans & their Neighbors, Bryce
The Fort Builders of Stone Age Siberia | Amnya Cultural Complex The Historians Craft 2024-04-11 | Common wisdom about societal development holds that normally, monumental and defensive architecture are features of complex civilizations, usually based around agriculture. Recently however this picture is starting to change. The discovery in 1987 of the Amnya Complex in Siberia has revealed a fortified settlement apparently constructed during the Stone Age by hunter-gatherers. Reevaluated in the early 2000s, the site of Amnya is dated to about 6100 BC, with full habitation dating to about 6000-5900 BC. It was later abandoned and reoccupied at some point during the fourth millennium BC. Amnya, more properly known as Amnya I, is one of at least eight sites in Western Siberia dating to the Stone Age, and serves as evidence that complex structures and probably a complex society was developed by hunter-gatherers in the area, well before agriculture was introduced to the area SOURCES:The World's Oldest Known Promontory Fort: Amnya and the acceleration of hunter-gatherer diversity in Siberia 8000 years ago, Piezonka et al
Child Sacrifice in Ancient Carthage The Historians Craft 2024-04-05 | The civilization of Carthage stood as the great rival to Rome for empire and Mediterranean hegemony. They are one of the most fascinating, but also one of the most difficult classical civilizations to study, in large part due to a lack of evidence. What textual sources survive, however, mention a rather grim religious practice—child sacrifice. At one point it was thought that this was simply anti-Carthaginian propaganda. But, in 1921, a large cemetery was discovered holding the remains of charred bones, often of infants. What was the Tophet of Carthage, and did they really engage in this practice?SOURCES:An Archaeological History of Carthaginian Imperialism, PilkingtonCarthage Must Be Destroyed, MilesAging cremated infants: the problem of sacrifice at the Tophet of Carthage, Smith et alCemetary or sacrifice? Infant burials at the Carthage Tophet, Smith et al
Romans in the Americas? | The Tecaxic Calixtlahuaca Head The Historians Craft 2024-04-01 | #TecaxicCalixtlahucaHead#PreColumbian#RomanThere are plenty of crazy theories about Pre-Colombian contact between the Old and New Worlds (excepting the Norse who we do definitely know came to North America at least once). There is, however, an artifact which maybe, possibly, suggests a one-off Roman discovery of the Americas. SOURCES:The Roman Head From Tecaxic-Calixtlahuaca, Mexico: A Review of the Evidence, Hristov et al The “Roman Figurine” Supposedly Excavated at Calixtlahuaca, SmithThe Calixtlahuaca Head, McCollochReply to Peter Schaaf and Gunther A. Wagner’s “Comments on ‘Mesoamerican Evidence of Pre-Colombian Transoceanic Contacts’”, Hristov et al
Warrior Women - Were They Real? | Amazons, Scythians, & Sauromatians in Myth & History The Historians Craft 2024-03-29 | The idea of female warriors or warrior women is a staple across much of science fiction and fantasy, with examples ranging from Xena, to Wonder Woman, to Katniss. Warrior women featured as a trope in ancient cultures and mythology as well, perhaps none so much as the famous Amazons of Greek and Roman legend. Archaeologists and historians have long wondered if there was indeed something to these stories. This is where the Scythians and Sauromatians come in! Greek texts (and some others, such as Persian) tell us that the Amazons lived initially in Pontus, but that they eventually moved to the Pontic-Caspian steppe. This was where the Scythians, and later the Sauromatians, lived. It’s probable that legends about warrior women and the Amazons were reinforced and grew due to the presence of the Scythians, who apparently had female warriors of their own. The presence of warrior women in Scythian and Sauromatian culture was disputed for an extremely long time. However, the excavations of Scythian kurgans and the sequencing of DNA in those graves has essentially confirmed the presence of female warriors in Scythian culture, and their presence continues to grow. SOURCES:The Scythians, Barry Cunliffe, esp. chapter 5The Eurasia Steppe, Warwick Ball, esp. chapter 4Scythian Archers of the 4th century BC, Marina DaraganNew Investigations of Scythian Kurgans & their Periphery in the Lower Danube Region, Polin et alTomb Containing Three Generations of Warrior Women Unearthed in Southern Russia, MachemerDifferent Gentes, Same Amazons: LiccardoWomen Warriors & the Amazon Myth, Vovoura
The Other, (sometimes) Forgotten Great Walls The Historians Craft 2024-03-28 | Probably everyone is familiar to some degree with the famous Great Wall of China. There are, however, other "Great Walls", of varying length and duration of use. This short video will briefly explore a few, but by no means all, of them.Walls and fortifications have always been a staple of military history and its adjacent fields--after all, it would be rather difficult to talk about a "military revolution" in Early Modern Europe without taking into consideration the development of defensive and offensive architecture. More recently though, there has been interest in other branches of history, like borderlands history, as to the function of walls in marking off defined cultural spaces.So, this video will explore several of these other "Great Walls" of history. We start with the Amorite Wall, otherwise known as the Wall of Mardu, constructed in the ancient near east and which unfortunatley no longer survives. From there we move onto a massive series of earthworks in Nigeria known as Sungbo's Eredo, a structure which has elicited fascination since its discovery. Next up are the Bosporan Wall and the Cheolli Jangseong (The Great Wall of Goguryeo), both designed to fend off nomads (the Scythians and Khitan respectively). The Red Snake of Gorgan, built by the Persians to help counter the Huns, and the Long Wall of Quang Ngai, in Vietnam are next, both of which survive only in fragments. The video closes with a Roman defensive structure--the Wall of the Julian Alps--and the Serpent, or Snake (or Dragon) Walls in Ukraine.MUSIC CREDIT:Echoes of Time by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300029Artist: http://incompetech.com
When 50,000 Soldiers Vanished: What Happened to the Lost Army of Cambyses? | Four Competing Theories The Historians Craft 2024-02-29 | In 522 BC (or thereabouts), the Persian Emperor Cambyses II sent an army of 50,000 men to subdue a temple at Siwa Osis, and crush an Egyptian rebellion. Famously, according to Herodotus, our only source, the army disappeared, swallowed by a sandstorm. But, what really happened to the Lost Army of Cambyses II?SOURCES:“Petubastis IV in the Dakhla Oasis: New Evidence about an Early Rebellion Against Persian Rule & its Suppression in Political Memory", Olaf Kaper
Bianili-Urartu: The Iron Age Civilization Lost to the Greeks & Romans (and everyone else!) The Historians Craft 2024-02-26 | SOURCES:The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia, McMahon & SteadmanThe Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, vol. IV, Radner et alEcology & Empire: The Structure of the Urartian State, ZimanskyXenophon & the Urartian Legacy, Zimansky
Did Rome Have a Barbarian Emperor? | An Introduction to Theodoric & the Ostrogoths The Historians Craft 2024-02-03 | ...
What Happened to the Last Emperor of Rome? | The Fate of Romulus Augustulus The Historians Craft 2024-01-31 | The deposition of Romulus Augustulus at the hands of Odovacer famously, or perhaps infamously, is seen as the end of the Western Roman Empire (usually). But, Romulus Augustulus was allowed to live, so what became of the Last Emperor of the Roman Empire?
Contextualizing Elagabalus | A partial response to Metatron The Historians Craft 2024-01-27 | #elagabalus #metatron #rome Bassianus, better know as Elagabalus, was one of the most infamous Roman emperors. In the modern day, Elagabalus is often held up as an ancient example of an lgbtq individual, and some sources do paint the emperor in that light. But, those sources are often hostile and limited in nature. So what can actually be said about Elagabalus?Here is Metatron’s video on the subject:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lI3Ek8bO8uk
Where was the Lost Kingdom of Yam? | An Ancient Civilization Swallowed by the Desert The Historians Craft 2024-01-19 | One of the most enduring problems in Egyptology is the location of Yam, a kingdom that the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom traded with. What specialists know about this civilization come from a handful of lines in a few Old Kingdom texts, and while it is known that a trading mission to the land of Yam took between six and eight months, it’s not at all clear where Yam was located. For Egyptologists, Yam is literally a “lost civilization”. Theories abound as to where it could have possibly been, but the two main contenders were a location in Upper Nubia, and a location somewhere in the sands of the Western Desert. Since the 2000s, a series of what seem like chance archaeological discoveries have been totally changing the state of knowledge, and the Lost Kingdom of Yam may have at last been found. SOURCES:A hieroglyphic inscription found at Jebel Uweinat mentioning Yam and Tekhebet, Clayton et al 2008Reconsidering the Location of Yam, Cooper 2012
Soissons: The post-Roman Kingdom which (probably) never existed | Rise of the Merovingians The Historians Craft 2024-01-12 | Following the end of the western Roman Empire, numerous states arose which claimed either the Roman legacy, or were actually rump states left over following Roman withdrawal from or collapse in an area. By far the most famous is likely the kingdom of soissons. But the information we have on it is extremely limited. So with that min mind what can we say about the kingdom of soissons and the men affiliated with it: Aegidius, Syagrius, Childeric, and Clovis?
Eight Extinct Animals the Greeks & Romans Saw The Historians Craft 2023-11-15 | From the Eurasian Aurochs, to the Syrian Elephant, to the Caspian Tiger, the Greeks and Romans saw many extinct animals that are no longer with us.
Why did Roman armies adopt the Spatha & abandon the Gladius? The Historians Craft 2023-11-03 | The Roman military of he Republican and Pricipate periods seemed to have a winning combination of gladius, and scutum (the rectangular Roman shield). And yet, starting at some point in the late secondr early third century AD, both of these began to be phased out, and the Romans would adopt a new sword--the spatha. Why did they do this? This video atttempts some sort of an answer.
When Emperor Domitian forced a Senator to fight a lion | Exotic Roman Pets The Historians Craft 2023-10-28 | ...
Gladiators never said their famous salute...but then who did? The Historians Craft 2023-10-26 | "Hail Emperor! We who are about to die salute you!"These are the famous words that gladiators are supposed to have said before engaging in combat in the Colosseum in Ancient Rome, either against other gladiators, or against wild animals. There's just one problem, though. Gladiators don't ever appear to have said these words. So then who did?
Did a Roman find the Legendary Mountains of the Moon? | Farthest Roman exploration into Africa The Historians Craft 2023-10-22 | The Greco-Roman merchant & traveler, Diogeneses, apparently sailed to the market town of Rhapta on the east coast of Africa, in what is today Tanzania. From there he journeyed inland for about one month before coming across a range of mountains which locals called The Mountains of the Moon.
The Werewolf Cult of Mt Lykaion & Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece The Historians Craft 2023-10-19 | Various texts from the Greco-Roman period speak of a strange cult on Mount Lykaion, in Greece, dedicated to wolves and which worshiped a form of Zeus known as Zeus Lykios--"Wolf Zeus". Those same texts, and ancient urban legends and folklore, tell us that the cult practiced human sacrifice. But what do we really know about this group, which supposedly could shape shift into werewolves?SOURCES“The Werewolves of Arcadia”, in “The Werewolf in the Ancient World”, Daniel Ogden, 2021“Good to Think: Wolves and Wolf-Men in the Greco-Roman World”, in “Werewolf Histories”, Willem de Blecourt, 2015“Myth and Ritual in Greek Human Sacrifice: Lykaon, Polyxena and the Case of the Rhodian Criminal”, in “The Strange World of Human Sacrifice”, Jan Bremmer, 2007
Scythian Griffin Daggers | A Short Introduction The Historians Craft 2023-09-21 | The akinaka was a form of dagger employed by multiple different cultures, including the Persians, the Greeks, and the Caspians. The most famous culture and historical people who used them, however, were the Scythians. Scythian daggers were frequently ornamented and had their pommels stylized, which forms the basis for modern classification systems. Of the many types of Scythian akinaka, the most famous are the griffin daggers. This video takes a short look at these blades.
Arzhan - Tomb of the First Scythian King The Historians Craft 2023-09-13 | The Scythians were a semi-nomadic & nomadic people who ranged from the Danube & Don rivers in Europe, deep into Siberia in modern day Russia. As more and more archaeology was conducted pertaining to the Scythians in the late twentieth century, it became apparent that the form of nomadism that typified the Scythians and later cultures was a sharp break from patterns which were found in the Bronze Age on the steppe. The search for the origins of these changes eventually led archaeologists to the kurgan of Arzhan 1, located in the Uyuk Valley in the Republic of Tuva. Here, nestled among dozens of other kurgans, a tomb of a Scythian was discovered, and the trappings and burial rites strongly indicate that whoever was buried here was quite possibly the first Scythian king.SOURCES:The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe, CunliffeChronology of Key Barrows Belonging to Different Stages of the Scythian Period in Tuva, Van Der Plitch et alBurial Mounds of Scythian Elites in the Eurasian Steppe: New discoveries, ParzingerThe Bronze Horse bit from the central burial chamber of the kurgan Arzhan-1, Veronika
The Mysterious Kingdom of Thuringia: A Hun-German State in post-Roman Europe? | A Short Introduction The Historians Craft 2023-09-04 | In the aftermath of Rome’s fall, various kingdoms and polities cropped up in the intervening chaos. While we know a great deal about a few of these, we know significantly less than we would like about many of the others. One of those mysterious kingdoms, which arose in central Europe in the late fifth century, was the Kingdom of Thuringia
Nanyo: Japans Empire in the South Pacific The Historians Craft 2023-08-31 | Sources:The Japanese Colonial Empire, Myers & PeattieNan’yo: The Rise & Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, PeattieConflicted Childhoods in the South Seas, Arnold
How Were Roman Emperors determined to be legitimate? The Historians Craft 2023-08-28 | Main source for this video:Imperial Rome, 193 to 284: The Critical Century, Clifford Ando, p. 5 - 12
Environmental Pressures & Nomadic Migration on the Eurasian Steppe The Historians Craft 2023-08-27 | SOURCES:For general climate data in antiquity in Eurasia:The Fate of Rome, HarperOther sources used:The Perilous Frontier, BarfieldThe Scythians, CunliffeBy Steppe, Desert, and Ocean, CunliffeGrasslands of the World, Suttie et al
White Huns, Red Huns, Black Huns, & Blue Huns: Persia & India against the Steppe The Historians Craft 2023-08-17 | In the middle of the fourth century, various groups of people that Indian sources collectively refer to as "Huna" or "Hyon". Among them are the Kidarites, the Alchons, and possibly the Hepthalites. The Hepthalites and Alchons are also known as the "White Huns" and the "Red Huns" in some sources. Some recent work in linguistics is leading towards an argument that, if these Huns are truly derived from the Xiongnu, then it is possible that the color designations refer to directions and levels of importance among the Central Asian nomads, which would also mean that there were possibly "Blue Huns" and "Black Huns" as well. Dealing with the subject is, however, fairly difficult because we generally lack written records from the area and are reliant upon limited archaeology. SOURCES:Huns & Xiongnu: New Thoughts on an Old Problem, AtwoodHuns et Xiongnu, de la VaissiereThe Huns, KimThe Alkhan: A Hunnic People in South Asia, BakkerMasters of the Steppe, Pankova & Simpson
A weapon forged from a meteor: the Mörigen Arrowhead The Historians Craft 2023-08-11 | Slightly over one hundred years ago a number of bronze arrowheads were discovered at the Bronze Age site of Mörigen, in Switzerland. Recent analysis has confirmed that one of those arrowheads is in fact crafted from iron derived from a meteorite. SOURCES:sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440323001073
The Nomadic Military Advantage: why were nomads so difficult to fight? The Historians Craft 2023-08-03 | SOURCES:The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China 221 BC to 1757 AD, BarfieldAncient China and its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History, Di CosmoThe Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe, CunliffeMasters of the Steppe: the Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia, Pankova et alNomadism, Evolution, and World-Systems: Pastoral Societies in Theories of Historical Development, KradinStructure of Power in Nomadic Empires of Inner Asia, KradinEmpires of the Silk Road: A History of Centra Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present, Beckwith
Project Scythia Teaser Trailer The Historians Craft 2023-07-23 | Nomads are coming.Music Credit: "The Inner Sound", Jesse Gallagher
The Prince of Hoby: Roman Ally? Or Evidence of a Roman Invasion of Denmark? The Historians Craft 2023-07-01 | In 1920, at what became the archaeological site of Hoby, on the Island of Lolland, Denmark, the Hoby Treasure was discovered. Further excavation revealed not only a rich grave site, but also a wealthy village nearby, one which was unusually fortified and prosperous for the region. The presence of Roman artifacts, coupled with textual references to some sort of military activity in the North Sea and baltic, has led Danish archaeologists to speculate that whoever this individual was that was buried in the Hoby grave, was a Roman ally, or possibly a part of a broader military action concerning Southern Scandinavia. SOURCES:Revisiting the Roman Iron Age Hoby Chieftain Burial after 100 years of its discovery--adding the strontium perspective, FreiHoby--An Exceptional Roman Iron Age Site in the Western Baltic Region, Klingenberg et alThe Roman Empire & Southern Scandinavia-a Northern Connection!, GraneRoman Imports in Scandinavia: Their Purpose & Meaning, Grane
Romes Grain Dole & Popularis Politics in the Late Republic The Historians Craft 2023-06-24 | Few things in history are as talked about, referenced, and probably misunderstood, as the Cura Annonae--the famous (or infamous) grain dole of Ancient Rome. Commonly conceived as a system of welfare, it is more properly understood as a system designed to prevent famine in the imperial capital. Wrapped up with the development of the Cura Annonae is a new system of political agitation in the Late Republic--Popularis Methods, or Popularis Politics. As part of a collaboration tackling historical misconceptions, this video takes a look at the Cura Annonae and its associated politics.SOURCESThe Grain Trade in the Roman Empire, RickmanThe Food Supply of the Capital, ErdkampfAnnona (grain) in “The Oxford Classical Dictionary”, ErdkampfThe Crisis of the Roman Republic, SteelThe Patrician Tribune: Publica Clodius Pulcher, Tatum
Did Ancient Romans See a UFO? I A strange account from Plutarch The Historians Craft 2023-05-25 | The writings of the historian Plutarch form a significant portion of our information concerning the rise of the Roman Republic, and its eventual end. In one of those texts, Plutarch's "Lives", he recounts something rather strange--the appearance in the sky of a bright flash of light and, apparently, a cylindrical object whose color is "like molten silver". What exactly was he describing? Was it a UFO, as some people (apparently including at least professional scholars) believe? Or something else?SOURCES:UFOs in Classical Antiquity, StothersPlutarch's "Parallel Lives"Religions of Rome: Vol. 1, Beard, North, & Price
Uranius: The Mysterious Roman Usurper from Syria The Historians Craft 2023-04-25 | The Crisis of the Third Century saw over twenty different men claim, or attempt to claim, to be Emperor of the Roman Empire. During the approximately five decades of military and political chaos, between 235 and 284, the Roman Empire split into three different states. In all of them, usurpers arose and were often defeated. In Roman Syria, one usurper, named Uranius, rose to power by defending the city of Edesa from Persian attacks. We know very little of this man outside of some coins, and perhaps one textual reference. This video explores what we know.SOURCES:Imperial Rome 193 to 284: The Critical Century, Clifford Ando
How did people prove citizenship in Ancient Rome? The Historians Craft 2023-04-20 | Roman citizenship was something actively sought after in the ancient world. But how exactly did citizens prove that they were, in fact, citizens of Rome?SOURCES:The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law & Society, Plessis et alThe Roman Citizenship, Sherwin-white
Kokugaku: National Learning in Tokugawa Japan & the birth of Meiji Nationalism The Historians Craft 2023-04-18 | The peace of the Tokugawa Period, roughly 1600 to 1868, enabled great cultural flourishing in Japan, including a vibrant intellectual scene. In addition to Buddhist and Chinese studies, as well as the study of Western technology and science, one of the intellectual currents was Kokugaku--National Learning. With an emphasis on ancient Japanese history and literature, it eventually helped lay the foundations of the Sonno Joi movement and the Meiji Restoration.SOURCES:The Mito Ideology, KoschmannVisions of Virtue, NajitaBefore the Nation, BurnsThings Seen & Unseen, Harootunian
The Siege of Nisibis: When Persian Ships Sailed on Desert Sand The Historians Craft 2023-04-16 | In 350, at the height of the conflict waged for over twenty years between Persia and Rome, the city of Nisibis was besieged for the third time. This time, however, the Persians did something different--if the sources can be believed, that is. According to the texts, especially the writings of Emperor Julian, the Persiand built dykes around the city, flooded it, and then launched their navy against the city afloat on an artificial lake, and took the walls.SOURCES:Facts & Fictions: The Third Siege of Nisibis, Lightfoot
Constantius IIs Roman Revolution The Historians Craft 2023-04-12 | The conversion of Constantine the Great to Christianity and the ensuing cessation of persecution, followed by the construction of churches across the Roman Empire, has sometimes been termed "the Constantinian Shift" by historians. Constantine, however, treads a very thin line in engaging with this new religion. His son, Constantius II, however, took a very different, much more active stance, and actively worked to promote Christianity in the Roman Empire. His policies have thus come to be seen by some professionals as nothing short of a Roman revolution in Late Antiquity.
Sempronius Densus-the Roman who faced the Praetorian Guard alone I 69 AD Year of the Four Emperors The Historians Craft 2023-04-08 | After the death of Nero in 68 AD, Galba took control of the Roman Empire, but his reign was short-lived, as he was assassinated on the fifteenth of January in the year 69. His death would set off a power struggle in that year known as The Year of the Four Emperors, ultimately ending when Vespasian took over after Vitellius and Otho. During the events of Galba's death, most of the Praetorian Guard abandoned him, all except one man, Sempronius Densus, who defended the old emperor alone, facing the soldiers armed only with a dagger.
The Lost City of Nan Madol: Atlantis of the Pacific, Mystery of the East The Historians Craft 2023-04-07 | In the remote Pacific, on the island of Pohnpei, lies what has been called the "eighth wonder of the world", and the "Atlantis of the Pacific". Once thought to have been lost city, the ruins of Nan Madol continue to fascinate all who see them. What was this mysterious complex of buildings? Pohnpeian oral tradition records that around the year 1200, the island was conquered by a group who would become known as the Saudeleur, and who enslaved the local population & constructed Nan Madol, a floating city perched atop artificially constructed islets, as their palatial center and power base. From here, they controlled the island and extracted tribute from the local population. SOURCES:Upon a Stone Altar, HandlonEntangled Biographies Western Pacific Ceramics & the Tombs of Pohnpei, RainbirdThe Prehistoric Pacific, TerellMicronesia's Breadfruit Revolution & the Evolution of a Culture Area, PetersenUncovering Pacific Pasts, Howes et alAirborne LiDAR Reveals a Vast Archaeological Landscape at Nan Madol World Heritage Site, Comer et al A Brief History of Pottery in the Pacific, Grainger
