Posted inAncient Rome

Gaius Pontius, the Samnite Leader Who Defeated the Romans at the Caudine Forks and Was an Ancestor of Pontius Pilate

Throughout its long history, Rome achieved numerous military victories that allowed it to grow, expand, and dominate nearly the entire known world in Antiquity. But it also suffered defeats, and some proved especially painful due to the circumstances in which they occurred. One of them, surely among the worst due to the humiliation it entailed, […]

Posted inAntiquity

Cleopatra the Alchemist, One of the Four Women Whom Hermetic Tradition Claims Found the Philosopher’s Stone

The Philosopher’s Stone is not just the object of desire for Voldemort, who longs to regain his full powers in the first Harry Potter novel. There was a time when its pursuit was the dream of all alchemists—and their patrons—because, according to legend, it was a substance capable of converting base metals into gold or silver, as well as […]

Posted inModern Era

Maximator, the intelligence alliance formed by five European countries that ended up being spied on by their own machines

Military alliances are interstate political agreements signed to achieve common defense. They have existed since Antiquity (remember, for instance, the leagues formed by the Greek city-states), and although their most important aspect traditionally pertains to weaponry and warfare, since the 20th century they have increasingly incorporated specialties related to espionage and intelligence services. Perhaps the […]

Posted inAncient Greece

The Mysteries of the Pythia, the Great Priestess of the Temple of Apollo Who Embodied the Oracle of Delphi

Sibyl, Phymonoe, Xenoclea, Aristocleia, Perialla, Themistoclea… These names will sound unfamiliar to almost everyone, and it’s no wonder, because although they belong to women of Ancient Greece, they weren’t queens or royal consorts, nor were they goddesses, muses, philosophers, or poets. These were the names of some of the most famous Pythias, that is, the […]