What the Barista is Brewing Today
Grab some espresso and dive in for some brewmination
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice is the first monument to commemorate the over 4,000 African Americans who were lynched in the United States between 1877 and 1950. Introduction Located in Montgomery, Alabama, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice is the first monument to commemorate the over 4,000 African Americans who were lynched[…]
Why Abolitionist Frederick Douglass Loved the Photograph
He considered it the most democratic of arts and a crucial aid in the quest to end slavery and achieve civil rights. Suddenly, it seems, the camera has become a potent weapon in what many see as the beginning of a new civil rights movement. It’s become a familiar tale: Increasingly, blacks won’t leave home[…]
Ancient and Medieval China’s Silk Road
The European explorer Marco Polo (1254-1324 CE) traveled on these routes and described them in depth in his famous work. Introduction The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce between 130 BCE-1453 CE. As the Silk Road was not[…]
Silk in Antiquity
The reputation of Chinese silk spread so that it became highly desired across the empires of the ancient world. By Mark CartwrightHistorian Introduction Silk is a fabric first produced in Neolithic China from the filaments of the cocoon of the silk worm. It became a staple source of income for small farmers and, as weaving[…]
The Mar.tu: A History of the Ancient Amorites
The Amorites occupied large parts of southern Mesopotamia from the 21st century BCE to the end of the 17th century BCE. Introduction The Amorites (Sumerian MAR.TU) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people[1] from Syria who also occupied large parts of southern Mesopotamia from the 21st century BC to the end of the 17th century BC, where[…]
The Ancient Land of Canaan
Human habitation of the land of Canaan goes far back with both Cro-magnon and Neanderthal skeletons having been unearthed from Paleolithic times. Introduction Canaan is an ancient term for a region approximating present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Canaanites are mentioned extensively in the Bible, as well as in[…]
Investiture: Medieval Nobility Cashing in on Church Appointments
It began as a power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV in 1076. Introduction The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe over the ability to appoint local church officials through investiture.[1] By undercutting imperial power, the controversy led to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany. According to historian Norman[…]
Carucage: Land Taxes in Medieval England
Introduced by Richard I in 1194, the taxable value of an estate was initially assessed from the Domesday Survey, but other methods were later employed. Introduction Carucage[a] was a medieval English land tax introduced by King Richard I in 1194, based on the size—variously calculated—of the estate owned by the taxpayer. It was a replacement[…]
Commodus: From a Stoic Father, a Mad Son
Commodus was the first of what would be a century of inept emperors. Introduction Commodus was Roman emperor from 180 to 192 CE. With the death of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in March of 180 CE, the long reign of the five good emperors came to an end and with it so did the Pax[…]
The Psychotherapy of Marcus Aurelius
Did one of Rome’s wisest and most revered emperors benefit from an ancient precursor of cognitive psychotherapy? The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius mentions undertaking Stoic “therapy” (therapeia) at the start of The Meditations, his famous journal of personal reflections on philosophy. He writes, “From Rusticus, I gained the idea that I was in need of correction and[…]
The Mamertine Prison: Ancient Rome’s Tullianum
The prison was constructed around 640–616 BCE, by Ancus Marcius. Introduction The Mamertine Prison (Italian: Carcere Mamertino), in antiquity the Tullianum, was a prison (carcer) located in the Comitium in ancient Rome. It was situated on the northeastern slope of the Capitoline Hill, facing the Curia and the imperial fora of Nerva, Vespasian, and Augustus. Located between it and the Tabularium (record house)[…]
Draco’s Law Code in Ancient Athens
The laws aided and legitimized the political power of the aristocracy and allowed them to consolidate their control of the land and poor. By Antonios Loizides Introduction Draco was an aristocrat who in 7th century BCE Athens was handed the task of composing a new body of laws. We have no particular clues concerning his[…]
Roy Cohn, 20th-Century Witch-Hunter
An embarrassing end to a career and ironic end to a life. By Gina K. Logue Roy Marcus Cohn (1927–1986) is best known for his work as the chief counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin Republican whose interrogations of alleged communists during the cold war “red scare” contributed to a chilling effect on freedom[…]
Where Be Monsters? The Daedalus Sea Serpent and the War for Credibility
Just what was it that the crew of the HMS Daedalus saw? By Matthew Willis On 6 August 1848, Midshipman Sartoris of the Royal Navy corvette HMS Daedalus alerted the officers on the ship’s quarterdeck to an unusual sight. The captain, first lieutenant, and sailing master were all present to see the approach of a large creature[…]
The Byzantine Empire – A History of Eastern Rome
The name Byzantine Empire is a modern term and would have been alien to its contemporaries, who would have known it as Ῥωμανία Romanía (Imperium Romanorum). Introduction The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. Much of this territory had first fallen to Greek rule[…]
Rome’s Imperial Crisis of the Third Century
The Roman Empire splintered into three separate political entities: the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Palmyrene Empire. Introduction The Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Imperial Crisis, 235-284 CE) was the period in the history of the Roman Empire during which it splintered into three separate political entities: the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Palmyrene[…]
How the Ancient Egyptian Economy Laid the Groundwork for Building the Pyramids
In the shadow of the pyramids of Giza lie the tombs of the courtiers and officials who built these vast structures. In the shadow of the pyramids of Giza, lie the tombs of the courtiers and officials of the kings buried in the far greater structures. These men and women were the ones responsible for[…]
Circular Economies and Repurposing in the Ancient World
Recycling on a large scale is a Bronze Age invention. The circular economy is typically seen as the progressive alternative to our wasteful linear economy, where raw materials are used to make the products that feed today’s rampant consumerist hunger, which are then thrown away. The idea of the circular economy only took off in the 1980s,[…]
Camera Obscura: Accuracy and Elegance in Cheselden’s Osteographia (1733)
With its novel vignettes and its use of a camera obscura in the production of the plates, William Cheselden’s Osteographia, is recognized as a landmark in the history of anatomical illustration. Monique Kornell looks at its unique blend of accuracy and elegance. By Dr. Monique KornellIndependent Scholar of Anatomical Illustration A lavishly illustrated and particularly[…]
Snail Mail: A Letter from Édouard Manet
A charming watercolor provides insight into the French artist’s private world. A tiny treasure by Édouard Manet has just joined the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Roughly half the size of today’s standard printer paper, this work began its life as a letter, neatly folded in half and slipped into an envelope. I[…]
Medieval Judgment Art and Architecture at the Church of Saint Trophime
Saint Trophime, Arles, 12th – 15th century (photo: Elliot Brown, CC BY 2.0) By Christine M. Bolli / 08.08.2015 PhD Candidate in Art History University of California, Santa Barbara The Provençal city of Arles in the south of France, is home to the medieval church, Saint Trophime. First impressions When I first saw the church, somewhat inconspicuously wedged[…]
The Church and Reliquary of Sainte-Foy, a Symbol of Medieval Pilgrimage and Ritual
Church of Sainte‐Foy, Conques, France, c. 1050–1130 (photo: jean françois bonachera, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) By Dr. Elisa Foster / 08.08.2015 Lecturer John V. Roach Honors College Texas Christian University On the road Imagine you pack up your belongings in a sack, tie on your cloak, and start off on a months-long journey through treacherous mountains, unpredictable[…]
The Bar-Kochba Revolt: A Final Confrontation with Rome
This followed a long period of tension and violence, marked by the first Jewish uprising which ended with the destruction of the Second Temple. By Benjamin Kerstein Introduction The Bar Kochba Revolt (132–136 CE) was the third and final war between the Jewish people and the Roman Empire. It followed a long period of tension and violence, marked[…]
The Maccabean Revolt: The Seleucid Fall and Rise of the Hasmonean Dynasty
The outcome was the formation of the Hasmonean Dynasty, an autonomous Jewish rule over Palestine that would last a generation. By Harry Oates Introduction After the death of Alexander the Great, his Kingdom was divided into four; Egypt, the Seleucid Empire, the Kingdom of Pergamon and Macedon (including Greece). Egypt, governed by Ptolemy I Soter[…]
Hitler and France’s Maginot Line
The humiliating failure of the vaunted Maginot Line thrilled the vast majority of Germans, who adored their Führer and supported his ruthless agenda. “Monsieur Maginot built a fortified line,” noted the German justice inspector Friedrich Kellner in his diary in June 1940, just after Hitler’s army burst through the French fortifications. If France really expected[…]
The Phasing-Out of 18th-Century Patterns of German Migration to the United States after 1817
The years 1816 to 1819 saw the last wave of immigration into the United States that basically followed patterns of travel, finance, and trade established in the 1700s. Introduction The years 1816 to 1819, at the beginning of the 19th century, saw the last wave of immigration into the United States that basically followed patterns of[…]
Farmland Blues: The Legacy of USDA Discrimination
The history of discrimination by the United States Department of Agriculture and the class action lawsuits by black farmers. The Disopossession What happened in rural America during the quarter century after 1950 has been eclipsed by the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and growing concern over pesticides, nuclear testing, and[…]
Enslaved Labor and Building the Smithsonian: Reading the Stones
Examining evidence that enslaved persons were involved in the construction of the original Smithsonian Building in Washington, D.C. Many enslaved workers who labored at the Maryland quarry from which all the building’s “freestone” or sandstone blocks were obtained had roots in enslaved families owned by Martha Custis Washington at Mt. Vernon. And what erudition. He[…]
Why the Myth of the “Savage Indian” Persists
Iconic children’s books and popular media that Gen Xers grew up with are riddled with damaging Native stereotypes—but things may finally be shifting. Peter Pan, the beloved children’s classic, is sure to stun modern readers with its descriptions of “redskins” carrying “tomahawks and knives,” their naked bodies glistening with oil. “Strung around them are scalps,[…]
Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830
The 1830 Indian Removal Act led to the displacement of the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Cherokee tribes of the Southeast. By Dr. P. Scott CorbettProfessor of HistoryVentura College Introduction Pro-Jackson newspapers touted the president as a champion of opening land for white settlement and moving native inhabitants beyond the boundaries of “American civilization.” In this[…]
