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...
Hrafsi Ljotolfsson lived in Iceland around the time of the Age of Settlement (approximately 860-930). His father, the blacksmith Ljotolf, had been given permission...
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...
(Byzantine Emperor Theophilos (r. 829-842), surrounded by dignitaries of his court. Illustration from the Madrid Skylitzes (Fol. 42v), c. 12th century, via Creative...
(Mencius. ETC Wehrner's Myth and Legend, Gutenberg and Commons)
Like many other ancient Chinese writers, historians can only make educated guesses about Mencius' life. The...
(Mo Tzu, Photo: (Public domain) via http://history.cultural-china.com)
The ancient Chinese philosopher and theologian, Mo Tzu, lived in the 5th century BCE, after the death...
