Western Europe
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The Highest Paid Athlete of All Time
Gaius Appuleius Diocles No I’m not talking about Tom Brady, Lionel Messi or Serena Williams I’m talking about Gaius Appuleius Diocles. Never heard of him? Well no one else really has either. So let’s get to know the wealthiest athlete of all time. Diocles was born to a middle-class family in 104 AD Lusitania (now Portugal) and started racing as a teen. The area was known for stud farms which bred the best racehorses. He raced for 24 years, which is a long time for a charioteer and he represented three of the four most famous chariot racing stables in Rome at the time, which were known by their racing…
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Théroigne de Méricourt
Born Anne-Josèphe Terwagne in Marcourt, Rendeux in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium, Théroigne de Méricourt was far from royalty. She was born in 1767 to peasant parents, the middle child of three. Her mother died when she was five years old and Anne-Josèphe was passed back and forth between a couple of aunts and her father and his new wife. None of these homes were particularly kind to her, through a series of misadventures including being hired as a governess and then ditched at a tavern, young Anne-Josèphe found herself in the employ of a woman named Madame Colbert. Madame Colbert hired Anne-Josèphe to be the governess of her children,…
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The Assassination of Domitian
Titus Flavius Domitianius was born the youngest son of Emperor Vespasian in 51 CE. This was prior to his father’s rise to emperor of Rome. (For more on Emperor Vespasian, please see this post http://www.historynaked.com/emperor-titus-flavius-vespasian/ ) His older brother, Titus, and his father were close, leaving Domitian on the outside looking in. After a stunning turn of events, Vespasian became emperor and passed the throne to his oldest son Titus on his death. Titus was groomed as Vespasian’s heir, and it was assumed Titus would marry and pass the throne on to his sons. Domitian was relegated to being a patron of the arts, and was none too happy about…
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Arachidamia of Sparta
The Greeks did not have a good track record on women’s rights in the ancient world. However, there was an anomaly in a strange place. The city-state of Sparta was not generally a tolerant place. Men were expected to give life long service to the military and boys were separated from their families to build esprit de corps. A coming of age ritual was killing a slave and not getting caught. It was a messed up place. (For more on the Spartans, please see these posts: http://www.historynaked.com/leonidas-unlikely-king/ and http://www.historynaked.com/historical-inaccuracies-300/ ) However, women there were given extraordinary rights. This was because the men were off fighting and the women were left…
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Isabel MacDuff Comyn- The Lady in the Cage
As I have said before, do not mess with a Scottish woman. This is the story of a woman who did her duty to her country and her king and paid the price. A price that seems like it’s out of a fairy tale or a horror movie, but paid it she did. This is the story of Isabel MacDuff Comyn, a patriot of Scotland. Isabel was born to Duncan Macduff, the Earl of Fife, and Johanna de Clare. The date of her birth isn’t recorded and estimates range from 1270 to 1285. Her father was murdered by his classman in 1299, and Johanna and Isabel’s younger brother also named…
