An interesting historical story.
Agrippina was the wife of Emperor Claudius. She had a son named Nero from her first marriage. She was determined that her son would be the next emperor. When Claudius began to have second thoughts of his step-son succeeding him, she poisoned her husband. Before she put her plan into Read more…
On his return from India, Alexander and his army had to traverse the very dry Gedrosian Desert. At one point, the army was down to its last canteen of water. It was brought to Alexander. He asked if there was enough for everyone and when he was told no, he Read more…
Alexander’s last great battle was in India at the River Hydaspes. He faced his most worthy opponent in this battle. King Porus fought from elephant-back and very nearly defeated Alexander. Porus was wounded by a spear in the battle and his elephant supposedly pulled the spear out. After the battle, Read more…
After Alexander had defeated the Persians in the Battles of Granicus and Issus, he went on to conquer Egypt. Everyone knew the job of conquering the whole Persian Empire was not finished, but Alexander had half and Darius still had a huge army. Darius sent a message to Alexander offering Read more…
Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom in Asia Minor called Gordium. It was ruled by a wise king, but when he died he had no son to replace him. The people were without a leader so they went to the chief priest for his advice. The priest Read more…
The teenage Alexander once accompanied his father Philip on a horse-buying expedition. There was one magnificent stallion that Philip was interested in, but none of his expert horsemen could stay on the horse. Each was bucked off as soon as he got in the saddle. Alexander was watching all this Read more…
Roman emperor Caligula had a low opinion of the Roman public. He sometimes would show the finger (that’s right, people were flipping the bird in ancient times) to people at banquets. At the chariot races once, when he heard the crowd cheering for a chariot team that he did not Read more…
It was Christmas eve on the Western Front in France in 1914. The Germans were singing “Silent Night” and when the song drifted over to the British, they joined in. After the song ended, a German stood up and waved his arms above the trench. No Tommy shot at him Read more…
When Julius Caesar was an up and coming politician, he made a trip to Rhodes to study rhetoric. On the way, his ship was taken by pirates. Yes, they had pirates in the Mediterranean Sea in the time of Ancient Rome. As was common for noble captives, Caesar was held Read more…
PEARL HARBOR WARNINGS For years, the final exam for Japanese naval cadets included the question: “How would you attack Pearl Harbor?” The night before the attack, the FBI intercepted a suspicious phone call from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Honolulu. Early in the morning of the attack a minesweeper Read more…