Niccolò Machiavelli (c. 1469-1527)
"It cannot be called virtue to kill one's fellow-citizens, betray one's friends, be without faith, without pity, and without religion; by...
This illustration, by the German artist Johann Michael Mettenleiter (c. 1765-1883), depicts a meeting between the Roman military leader and eventual dictator, Julius Caesar...
This painting was finished in the year 1619 by the Italian artist, Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (aka Guercino, c. 1591–1666). As the piece was commissioned...
This illustration, by the German artist Johann Michael Mettenleiter (c. 1765-1883), depicts a meeting between the Roman military leader and eventual dictator, Julius Caesar...
This painting, by the Austrian artist Franz Anton Maulbertsch (c. 1724–1796), was inspired by an ancient Roman Legend. Standing center stage by the tree...
This painting, created by the Dutch artist Cornelis Troost (c. 1697-1750), was inspired by the Battle of the Granicus, fought between Alexander the Great...
This painting, created by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Pittoni the Younger (c. 1687-1767), was inspired by the tragic myth of Polyxena, a Trojan...
Jokul (character set in 9th-century Norway)
"Bad counsel turns out badly."
Saying attributed to Jokul, son of Earl Ingimund of Gotland, in the anonymously-written Saga of...
Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE) was an Athenian general and historian who lived through the Peloponnesian War (c. 431-404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta. He...
This painting, created by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Pittoni the Younger (c. 1687-1767), was inspired by the tragic myth of Polyxena, a Trojan...
This illustration, by the German artist Johann Michael Mettenleiter (c. 1765-1883), depicts a meeting between the Roman military leader and eventual dictator, Julius Caesar...
This painting, by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (c. 1696–1770), re-creates a famous legend from the days of the early Roman Republic. The...
Jonathan Swift (c. 1667-1745)
"I dare engage, these creatures have their titles and distinctions of honour; they contrive little nests and burrows, that they call...
This painting was created by the American artist, Tompkins Harrison Matteson (c. 1813–1884), and is housed within the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts....
Margery Kempe (c. 1373-1439+)
"It is a pity that money should succeed before truth."
The Book of Margery Kempe (Book 1, chapter 25), dictated by Margery...
This illustration, created by the German artist Joseph Martin Kronheim (c. 1810–1896), depicts the final moments of King Edward the Martyr of England, who...
Between the years 584 and 590, King Childebert II of Austrasia (r. 575-595) launched several invasions into the Lombard-controlled regions Italy, ruled at that...
This painting, by the Austrian artist Franz Anton Maulbertsch (c. 1724–1796), was inspired by an ancient Roman Legend. Standing center stage by the tree...
This painting, by the Dutch artist Dirck van Baburen (c. 1595-1624), depicts the grim punishment inflicted on the Greek deity, Prometheus, after he gave...
Jonathan Swift (c. 1667-1745)
"Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives."
Gulliver’s Travels (Voyage to the Houyhnhnms, chapter 5) by Jonathan Swift. New...
Alcibiades (c. 450-404/403 BCE) was a brilliant military strategist, but he was also an unscrupulous and flamboyant individual who often instigated chaos wherever he...
Virgil (c. 70-19 BCE)
"Since Fortune's got the upper hand,
let's follow her where she calls and change course."
From The Aeneid (Book V) by Virgil, translated...
