For centuries, the splendor of Rome and the mythical grandeur of the Han dynasty in China have captured the imagination of historians, archaeologists, and lovers of ancient civilizations. But have you ever wondered which of these two titans of the ancient world was more unequal in economic terms? A groundbreaking new study published in Nature […]
Empires
Posted inAntiquity
How Ashurbanipal Destroyed Babylon, Whose King Was His Own Elder Brother
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…” Revelation, 14:08 This verse from the Bible likely sounds familiar to many; it refers to the conquest of the Mesopotamian city by Cyrus the Great and the Persians in 539 BCE, the year they ended a period of Babylonian splendor led by Nebuchadnezzar […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Tamerlane, the Turco-Mongol Leader Who Formed an Alliance with the Kingdom of Castile in the 15th Century
The National Library of Spain preserves one of the most fascinating travel books from the Late Middle Ages, following the tradition of other illustrious literary travelers such as Marco Polo, John Mandeville, Ibn Battuta, and others. It is impossible to determine who authored it, with speculation suggesting that it might have been King Henry III […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Problem of the Two Emperors: The Historical Dispute over Embodying the Legacy of Rome
It wasn’t called the “beacon of civilization” for nothing. The legacy of Rome was so immense—in every realm—that centuries after its fall, there were still struggles to claim legitimacy as its rightful successor, something that continued well into the Middle Ages. Although many self-proclaimed themselves as heirs, the issue was particularly intense in the dispute […]
Posted inMiddle Ages
Empire of Trebizond, the Greek State that Survived the Fall of Constantinople
When the Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II, captured Constantinople on May 29, 1453, bringing an end to the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire, they virtually controlled all the territories that had once been part of it. However, a Byzantine Greek state remained independent on the northeast coast of the Anatolian Peninsula. The Sea, […]
Posted inHistory
The Origin and History of the Phrase ‘The Empire on which the Sun never sets,’ used since Antiquity
As is well known, the vast world territories reached by the Spanish Crown during the reign of the Habsburgs, and their maintenance under the Bourbons, are often summed up with the expression “the empire on which the sun never sets,” alluding to the fact that they spanned all five continents. However, this phrase did not […]
