Saladin frees his captives On October 2nd, 1187, the Ayyubid sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders after a long siege. Unlike the Crusaders, he didn't kill anybody, and instead freed most [...]
On this day, October 1st, 331 BC, Alexander of Macedon won the battle of Gaugamela against the Persian king Darius and his army. That was pretty much the end of armed Persian [...]
I'm just feeling my way toward this at the moment, so please bear with me, but I feel like the public-facing articles I see fall into three categories which can usefully be [...]
Well, I missed it yesterday, but September 28th was the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror and the Normans attacked England and conquered King Harold, and [...]
I was so excited to see today that Emily Wilson got a "genius" grant from the MacArthur Foundation! Congratulations, Professor Wilson! It's $625,000, distributed over five years, to do anything you want [...]
Shana Tova! Happy New Year! Sunday will (finally) be Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. If you're wondering why the Jewish new year doesn't line up with the calendar New Year, it's [...]
Professor Shelley Haley Delighted to announce that Shelley P. Haley has been elected to be the next president of the Society for Classical Studies. Professor Haley is the Edward North [...]
The Greeks fought the Persian navy at the Battle of Salamis on this day, in 480 BC, almost 2500 years ago (that will be next year!). We tend to remember this battle [...]
So, okay, maybe a small frenzy, because only a limited number of people are interested in the National Latin Exam, but if you are, this is what's been going on: People asked [...]
It's not today! You can still enjoy one last weekend of summer! But the first day of fall is coming up Monday, and for why? Why does this happen? Why do the [...]
