A Brief History On January 22, 613, in the capital city of Constantinople, Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire declared his 8 month old son, Constantine, Co-Emperor, or in the vernacular of the day, “Caesar.” Perhaps you recall our related article, “The Beheading of a Byzantine Emperor by Another Byzantine Emperor!?” (October 4, 2013) that details how Heraclius seized power from the reigning Emperor, Phocas, by personally chopping off Phocas’ head! Apparently, Heraclius was not quite done with doing outrageous things, such as making a baby Co-Emperor. Digging Deeper Heraclius had inherited a tough war by seizing power, a war…
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A Brief History In 550 BC, the first dynasty of the Persian Empire was created by the Achaemenids, established by Cyrus the Great with the conquest of the Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires. Because Iran, formerly known as Persia, has been in the news quite a bit as of late, it seems worthwhile to dig a little deeper into that country’s history. So, today, we present an animated timeline of Persian Empires before Islam. Digging Deeper Timeline of the Pre-Achaemenid Era Timeline of the Achaemanid Empire Alexander the Great’s Empire was short-lived. Less than 20 years after his death, it was…
A Brief History On January 10, 2020, the latest World War I combat epic film, simply titled 1917, makes its widespread opening across the United States. Though the film deals with British, rather than American main characters, the incredible levels of tension, tragedy, terror, and heart pounding action combine to make this film a certain contender for the Best Picture Oscar. Digging Deeper Set in the year, 1917, the movie captures the drudgery and crushingly oppressiveness of 3 long years of war seemingly without end. Set designers made elaborate trenches and battlefield depictions to capture the surreal mien of that…
A Brief History On January 8, 2020, speculation as to whether or not the United States will re-institute a military draft not seen since 1973 is causing heated discussions among politicians, pundits, and citizens. We have previously discussed the American military draft in articles “New York City Draft Riots (Worst Riot in US History),” “10 “Patriots” Who Dodged the Draft or Did Not Serve,” “Jimmy Carter Pardons Draft Dodgers!” and “Was Tough Guy Donald Trump a Draft Dodger?” (That last article listed was published before Trump was elected President.) The military draft and those men that did and did not…
A Brief History Today, the United States, notably the most powerful country in the world with a military budget nearly matching the military spending of the next 100 or so countries in the world, is on the precipice of war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Middle Eastern country rich in oil and officially at odds with the US. How did we get to this point? Today, we take a look at the history of Iran vis a vis the United States. Some background history of Iran follows. Digging Deeper The peoples of ancient Iran were united under King…