In the year 1253, probably the most valuable item on Earth was known to the Mongol empire as the gerege—though to the rest of the world, it was more…
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Ancient Greece in the 7th Century BC was a time of myth, magic, and monsters. It’s this time in human history that one of the oldest surviving works of…
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January 2023

In matters of taxation, Rome’s emperor Tiberius believed in handling things with a light touch. He was quoted as saying “Boni pastoris est tondere…
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On the 6th of March 1459, in the German city of Augsburg, one of the richest men to have ever lived took his first breath. Born the tenth of eleven…
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December 2022

The life of a eunuch in 15th century China was seldom one that attracted distinction or renown. By definition, eunuchs were castrated male slaves and…
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November 2022

Sometime around the year 300 BC, a wealthy merchant set sail hauling a load of precious cargo across the shimmering expanse of the Mediterranean. His…
18
Born of royal lineage sometime in the 10th century, Gero was granted the title Count of Alsleben by blood. But even his high stature in society couldn’t…
10
As with everything tied to the fickle threads of time, the service of a knight in the 14th century was destined to end sooner or later. If sooner…
11

October 2022

Rivulets of perspiration ran down the brow of the metallurgist as he worked the oppressive heat of the furnace. Occasionally, a sharp hissing sound…
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As he sailed from the port city of Antwerp back to his homeland in 1815, thoughts of the future disturbed the calm within Henry Hetherington’s mind…
6
In the year 711 AD, the forces of the Muslim Umayyad Caliphate invaded the kingdom of the Visigoths, which lay at the far western reaches of its empire…
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September 2022

In the early months of the year 1678, a grim spectre loomed over the city of Vienna. Its deathly gaze first set its sights on the district of…
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