On January 28, 1948, two prisoners were executed in Yuhuatai, an urban district of the Chinese city of Nanjing. Their names were Tsuyoshi Noda and Toshiaki Mukai, both Japanese, the same age -thirty-six- and convicted for the same reason: war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the infamous Nanjing Massacre, in which the Imperial […]
Armies
Posted inClassical Archaeology
The Residence of the Prefect of the Roman Tyrrhenian Fleet, from where Pliny the Elder would have seen the Vesuvius Eruption, uncovered
In an area already protected by ministerial archaeological restrictions due to the density of ancient testimonies scattered around Punta Sarparella, in Bacoli, from the entrance to the Roman theater of Misenum, passing through the sacellum of the Augustales, to the inner basin of the ancient port, an archaeological discovery of excepcional importance has been made. […]
Posted inAncient Rome
Hippika gymnasia, the Roman cavalry tournaments
We are used, thanks to literature and cinema, to the image of medieval horsemen engaged in chivalry tournaments. Although this type of competition and its rules are exclusively of medieval invention, in reality similar exercises existed long before, such as the one practiced by the Roman cavalry, probably due to Greek influence. It was called […]
Posted inModern Era
Devshirme, the recruitment of Christian children by the Ottoman Empire to become soldiers and officials
The Ottoman Empire was one of the main powers of the 15th and 16th centuries. Its colossal dimensions guaranteed it a military surplus that allowed it to recover from any defeat in a very short time, as happened in Lepanto, and to undertake campaigns simultaneously on different fronts, in the case of Asia or Europe. […]
