THE PYRRHIKE
The most famous war dance in ancient Greece was the pyrrhike which became the national dance of Sparta, and persisted there long after Greece became a province of the Roman Empire and similar war dances had died out in other cities. The Greeks had several stories that accounted for the name of the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘army’
21 Sep
War dances in Ancient Greece
28 Aug
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
In September 9 AD, Germanic tribesmen slaughtered three Roman legions in a battle that marked the “big bang” of the German nation and created its first hero — Hermann. The country is marking the 2,000th anniversary with restraint because the myth of Hermann remains tainted by the militant nationalism that would later be associated with [...]
3 May
Babylon ruins reopen in Iraq
After decades of dictatorship and disrepair, Iraq is celebrating its renewed sovereignty over the Babylon archaeological site — by fighting over the place, over its past and future and, of course, over its spoils.
Time long ago eroded the sun-dried bricks that shaped ancient Babylon, the city of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, where Daniel read the writing [...]
10 Apr
The Treasures of Genghis Khan
Of all the wonders in The Palace of the Great Khan, the silver fountain most captivated the visiting monk. It took the shape of “a great silver tree, and at its roots are four lions of silver, each with a conduit through it, and all belching forth white milk of mares,” wrote William of Rubruck, [...]
6 Apr
Knights Templar worshipped the Turin Shroud
A Vatican researcher has uncovered evidence that the order, which was brutally suppressed in 1305 by King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V, guarded and venerated the Shroud.
In an article published by the Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, a historian, Barbara Frale, said she had uncovered “missing clues” to both the mysterious fate of [...]
