Unfortunately, information on the earliest periods of Rome’s history are scant and heavily obscured under thick layers of folklore and myth. The city by...
According to folklore set in 10th-century Iceland, a man named Thrain Sigfusson was invited to attend the wedding feast of his prominent nephew, Gunnar...
Njal’s Saga (written anonymously in the 13th century)
"It's not breaking a settlement...if a man deals lawfully with another—with law our land shall rise, but...
This illustration, vaguely labeled “Charlemagne” or “Charlemagne: Emperor of West and King of France,” was created by the French artist Jean Marie Mixelle (c....
Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)
"Just as a swimmer, who with his last breath
flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn
to memorize the wide water of his...
Mark Twain (c. 1835-1910)
"No sound and legitimate business can be established on a basis of speculation."
From chapter 19 of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut...
This tapestry, by an unknown 17th-century workshop, depicts the beginning of a raucous myth involving three deities. The female character on the right side...
This rather abstract painting, by the Finnish artist Magnus Enckell (c. 1870-1925), was inspired by the ancient Greco-Roman myth of Endymion. His tale is...
The Buddha (this saying recorded c. 3rd century BCE)
"Better than a thousand statements
composed of meaningless words
is a single meaningful word which,
having been heard, brings...
Xenophon (c. 420-350 BCE)
"Let us be the ones who first arouse others to demonstrate their valour. Prove yourselves the best possible officers! Prove yourselves...
This tapestry, titled Caesar Defeats The Troops Of Pompey, was designed by Justus van Egmont (1601–1674) and woven by the workshop of Gerard Peemans...
This tapestry, by an unknown 17th-century workshop, depicts the beginning of a raucous myth involving three deities. The female character on the right side...
Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), a masterful Roman poet, wrote verses about romance, love, eroticism, and all manner of topics related to women—including fashion trends—in...
Lucan (c. 39-65)
"Virtue and absolute power do not mix."
From Lucan’s Civil War (Book 8, approximately between lines 600-610), translated by Matthew Fox (Penguin...
Sir Winston Churchill (c. 1874-1965)
"How else are we going to marshal adequate and if possible overwhelming forces against brazen, unprovoked aggression, except by a...
William Shakespeare (c. 1564 – 1616)
"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the...
(Illustration of Sayf al-Dawla from a 13th century copy of the History of John Skylitzes (Skyllitzes Matritensis (Biblioteca Nacional de España), via Creative...
Bede (c. 673-735)
“If history records good things of good men,
the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate
what is good: or if it records evil of...
Apollonius of Rhodes (Greek/Egyptian Scholar and Poet, 3rd Century BCE)
"Mortals can never sidestep fate; the cosmic
net is extended round us everywhere."
From Apollonius of...
(A devil leaving a changeling, painted by Martino di Bartolomeo (1389–1434), via Creative Commons)
The Malleus Malleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger (published...
(Left: Photograph of Edgar Allan Poe, reproduced from a lost daguerreotype c. between 1844 and 1847, Right: Watercolor of Virginia Clemm Poe painted after...
Murasaki Shikibu (10th and 11th century Japanese novelist)
"To the noble heart that aspires to soar aloft, high above the clouds,
depths of a thousand fathoms...
(Photograph of Edward Leonsky taken prior to 1942, via Creative Commons)
Private Edward Joseph Leonski, also known as Eddie, was one of around 15,000...
