Thalassa! Thalassa!, the legendary cry of excitement uttered by Greek mercenaries when they saw the sea, which could put an end to their painful retreat by Persian land and return them safely to their homeland, is now a classic phrase that metaphorizes that Hellenic world so closely linked to the great blue and could very […]
Persia
Posted inClassical Archaeology
A Rare Intentionally Broken Persian Coin and a 6th Century BC Weight Unearthed
Archaeologists in Israel have made an exciting discovery that provides new information about one of the earliest uses of coins in the region. During an excavation of a site from the First Temple period in the Judean hills, workers uncovered some uncommon evidence of trading from the distant past. The most notable find was an […]
Posted inAntiquity
How did the Persians count their battle casualties?
On April 19, 531 A.D., two fairly evenly matched forces (about 20,000 men on each side) clashed on the banks of the Euphrates near present-day Raqqah in Syria. On one side were the Byzantine troops under the command of Belisarius, and on the other those of the Sassanian Empire led by Azarethes.
Posted inAncient Egypt
Pelusium, the battle the Persians won over the Egyptians by throwing cats at them.
Throughout History, men have not had enough of tearing each other apart in an endless number of wars, but they have incorporated all kinds of animals into the slaughters, from the most orthodox such as horses, mules, elephants and dogs to other rarer ones, such as pigeons wrapped in fire, birds in flames to burn […]
