No, Emperor Nero Did Not Play the Fiddle as Rome Burned

It is one of the most iconic illustrations of the Emperor Nero’s decadence: the story that, during the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, the maniacal emperor stood atop his balcony, playing the fiddle and rejoicing at the sight of the burning city below him. The story, however, is completely false. Not only did Nero not play the fiddle as Rome burned, his reaction to the fire won him great praise and admiration, even from his enemies.

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The Origins of the Zombie Legend

Since today is Halloween, we will probably be seeing lots of small children dressed as zombies wandering out and about later tonight. You may be surprised to learn, however, that zombie legends are nearly as ancient as writing itself and the earliest references to them come from some of the oldest literature known to man. Continue reading “The Origins of the Zombie Legend”

Ancient Greek Ghost Stories, Part Seven: Letters from the Afterlife

According to Pliny the Elder, the Greek philosopher Dionysodoros of Melos was renowned throughout the Hellenistic world for being a great geometrician. He lived to an astoundingly old age and, after his death, his female heirs led a funeral procession in his honor. After bearing his corpse to the tomb, they discovered a mysterious letter sitting in the crypt. They opened it up and found, to their astonishment, that it was written in Dionysodoros’s own handwriting and that it had his signature at the bottom.

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The Ancient Greeks’ Surprising Views on Weapons Regulation

After the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, there has been a renewal in discussion over the possibility that Congress might enact some kind of regulation on firearms to (hopefully) reduce the chances of another such shooting taking place. Obviously, the ancient Greeks did not have guns, so they could not have had “gun control” in the modern sense. Nonetheless, some people may find it surprising that the ancient Greeks actually had shockingly strict (some might even say “draconian”) restrictions on citizens bearing arms.

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Happy End of the World, Everyone! (Not Really)

If you have been on the internet recently, you are probably aware that there are a whole bunch of people who earnestly believe that the world is going to end tomorrow when earth supposedly collides with the invisible planet Nibiru, as is allegedly prophesied in the Book of Revelation. In reality, Nibiru does not exist and the latest scare is only the most recent in a long train of panics over its supposed arrival.

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How the Days of the Week Received Their Names

We have all doubtlessly wondered at some point how the days of the week received their names. Most of us probably have some vague recollection that the names have something to do with ancient Germanic deities. That is true, but the origins of the names for the days of the week actually go back even further than that. As a bizarre as it may sound, the story actually begins with ancient Babylonian astrologers.

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Pliny the Elder’s Bizarre Sea Creatures

In classical literature, we often stumble across unusual or amusing anecdotes. Sometimes, however, we find stories that are downright bizarre. For instance, in his Natural History 9.4.9-11, Pliny the Elder describes a bizarre assortment of otherworldly sightings of supernatural sea creatures, including mermaids, mermen, and gigantic sea monsters.

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The Eclipse of Thales and the Battle of Halys

Today everyone was excited about the total solar eclipse (near-total in some places) that occurred this afternoon over the continental United States. We all knew that the eclipse was going to happen decades in advance due to modern astronomical calculations, but, in ancient times, there was no sound way of predicting when an eclipse would occur… until Thales of Miletos came along.

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