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Articles on Roman Empire

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A 19th-century engraving depicts the Angel of Death descending on Rome during the Antonine plague. J.G. Levasseur/Wellcome Collection

How 3 prior pandemics triggered massive societal shifts

Societies and cultures that seem ossified and entrenched can be completely upended by pandemics, which create openings for conquest, innovation and social change.
Marc Antony, left, offers Julius Caesar a crown; Caesar refuses. Bettman/Getty Images

Julius Caesar refused to be crowned king

With much public discussion of President Donald Trump as, potentially, a king, a scholar of Roman history and rhetoric sees 2,000-year-old parallels.
A person dressed as Santa Claus waves as part of the festivities, during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

This Christmas tell your children the real Santa Claus story

Behind today’s mythical Santa Claus from the North Pole, is a real saint – St. Nicholas. How he came to be today’s gift-giving jolly figure from the North Pole is a fascinating story by itself.
Brothels in Pompeii were decorated with murals depicting erotic and exotic scenes: but the reality was far more brutal and mundane. Thomas Shahan/Wikimedia Commons

The grim reality of the brothels of Pompeii

Though their activities were depicted alluringly in murals, the sex workers of Pompeii were slaves who lived hard lives.

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