What He Did Wrong

Freemasonry had its critics in America, just as it did in Britain.  The strictest Lutheran sects did not like the tolerant ideas of deism at all.  They criticized the Freemasons for their secrecy.  Soon after the Philadelphia lodge was founded, it was involved in a very unfortunate scandal, concerning a foolish apothecary, burning alcohol, and a big mistake made by one of the greatest thinkers and Founding Fathers recognized internationally.

An apothecary in Philadelphia, Evan Jones, had an apprentice, Daniel Rees, who was eager to learn the secrets of the mason craft.  One night he and his other apprentices decided to play a joke on Rees.  They dressed up in elaborate devil costumes and told him he had to swear allegiance to the devil to join the Freemasons, which in reality wasn't anything like the true initiation ceremony.  It was meant to be just a joke.  Jones then dropped some burning brandy on him, was caused severe infections that Rees died of some days later.  Ooops.

The well known Freemason and thinker, Ben Franklin, had some terrible connections to the crime.  When Jones told him of the trick, he actually thought it would be a good joke.  He later regretted this of course.  Franklin frantically attempted to contact Rees when he decided that the joke was in bad taste, but he obviously failed in doing so.  Franklin would give evidence at Jones’ trial against him on charges of manslaughter.  He then published a statement denying that Jones and the others were actually Freemasons and was a strong critic of their horrible behavior.

Freemasonry survived and by the 1940s was founded firmly in Philadelphia. He would be a very active and enthusiastic mason.  In 1747 he was Provincial Grand Master of Pennsylvania (he was in charge of all the lodges in the colony and reported only to the English Grand Lodge).  For sixteen years he was in charge of Philadelphia’s post office from 1737-1753.  Through all those years there is no doubt the unlucky incident weighed on Franklin’s mind. 

 

Tags: Life, Freemasonry, Scandal, Seasons, Law

Lost and Found

Well my camera was found and returned to me!  I put new batteries in it, and it went screwy.  The lens kept going out and then back in, and the pictures had a heavy purple tinge to them.  However, the memory card was in perfect order.  I moved it over to my new camera and was able to download the pictures from the Fall Dance to my computer with a problem.  Those pictures are from over a month ago, so must of the "couples" are out of date.  I just uploaded a cool picture of Groblette, Mina, and Norbert's Mother instead.

I have a hilarious book called The Worst Case Scenario Almanac: History that I've had for a while, but haven't shared anything from it yet.  One section I found interesting was "HOW TO ESCAPE IF YOU ARE SEALED INSIDE A PYRAMID".

"1.  Find the King's sarcophagus.  The sarcophagus may be unadorned and simply appear to be a large stone box or coffin.  As you search, pick up useful items left behind by workers, such as additional torches, metal or stone objects that can be used as tools, and any such food or drink.”

“2.  Stand facing the sarcophagus.  The exit from the burial chamber will be on the north wall, which will be on your right.  The doorway will be blocked with a huge, unmovable slab of granite.”

“3.  Make a pick or ax.  Break some of the stone vases in the room and, using a sharp pointed section, fashion an ax by grinding it against the granite.”

“4.  Carve around the slab.  Do not attempt to carve the slab itself.  The passage surrounding the door slab is made of limestone, a rock much softer than granite.  Use the ax to carve an escape hole around the slab.  This is likely to take several days, so ration your food accordingly.”

“5.  Crawl through the hole to access the passageway behind the door.  Continue to follow the corridors as they slope up toward the north.  Determine the proper direction by using additional granite slabs blocking the way as your guide.  Carve around them as necessary.”

“6.  Feel the pyramid blocks as you make your way.  External blocks may be slightly warmer to the touch than those inside.”

“7.  Look for outside light.  As your approach the entrance to the pyramid, light may begin to penetrate into the darkness through cracks in the blocks.”

“8.  Carve around the final slab of rock.  The main entrance will be in the north face of the pyramid about 55 feet above the ground.  Carve around the final slab to reach the outside, taking care not to tumble down the sloped side of the pyramid.”

“9.  Slide or climb down the face of the pyramid.  Flatten your body against the outer wall of the pyramid and inch your way down to the ground.”

All that carving sounds a little tedious to me.  Sliding down a pyramid would be sweet though!  I think I’ll add that to my list next to “bungee jumping”.  =)

Oh, and I forgot my traditional poll for the National Geographic posts last entry.

Tags: Life, Digital Camera, History, Books, Magazines, Friends, Dances

National Geographic December 2007 Edition

I got my new edition of National Geographic today.  I read some of the articles, but just skimmed most and looked at the pictures.  Pictures are definitely the best part of these magazines.  “Extreme Dinosaurs” was too much science for me.  “Bethlehem 2007 A.D.” was just depressing.  “Wings of the Albatross” actually had some pretty cool photos, and so did “Frozen Ground”.  I didn’t really like “Enduring Cowboys” though, which wasn’t really that interesting for me.

 

However, in the departments they had two stories on archaeology that were pretty interesting.  A CT scan done by the Egyptian Mummy Project thinks they’ve come closer to uncovering the identity of the mysterious KV55 tomb.  If you don’t know what KV55 is, it’s gold-plated coffin with royal titles, but the names had been chiseled off and part of the face was torn off.  The dead’s identity has been debated upon since its discovery in 1907.

 

The scan discovered that the bones belonged to someone around the age of 60, which fits the description of a lesser-known pharaoh, Smenkhkare.  Smenkhakre also fits the time period of other pharaohs around him, although another king also fits the criteria of that interval in Egyptian history known as Amenhotep IV or better remembered as Akhenaten.

 

Akhenaten is the pharaoh discussed in earlier entries as being known for establishing a monotheistic cult.  Egyptians would’ve had motive for trying to damage the king’s grave, because he was generally considered radical and heretic by the people for trying to establish monotheism in a long-time polytheistic nation.  As an example, imagine President Bush made it law that all Americans had to be Hindu (the first polytheistic religion that came to mind).  The people would have to comply or suffer the consequences until he died (president for life =]).  At that point the new president would bring back freedom of religion and we’d all go back to normal.  I would bet a lot of people would like to get some revenge on President Bush, and desecrating his grave would be a likely response.

 

The second archaeology article was a little bit on the odd side, but none-the-less interesting, about an ancient prosthesis.  Apparently an Egyptian woman had wooden big toe.  It wasn’t only for looks as scuffing on the bottom of the replacement indicates.  The artificial toe was found with the mummy’s body.

An awesome hybrid baboon in the wildlife department -

Tags: Life, National Geographic, History, Archaeology, Animals

Rearrangement

I reorganized my room again.  I have this thing for rearranging it.  It makes everything seem so... fresh I guess for lack of better words.  I like the feeling.  But anyway, I attached pictures of it.  Two pictures actually, because I found a way around the one-picture-uploaded-from-your-computer-to-the-Internet-per-entry rule.  I start writing an entry, but just upload a picture to my shoebox.  Then I close out and start a new entry without posting, so I can just transfer from my shoebox to the entry and upload another one without breaking the rule.

It was kind of sad cleaning it up though.  I decided it was time to banish the fantasy books that I used to like so much.  I exiled them all to the attic, so that I would have room on my bookshelf.  That way I have room on my desk shelves for office things.

All that's left (concerning books) on my desk are my fiction thrillers.  They are The Da Vinci Code, Il Codice Da Vinci (The Da Vinci Code in Italian), The Last Templar, The Rule of Four, The Footsteps of God, Angels and Demons, and Deception Point.

Oh!  This is really random, but today is Bill Nye's birthday.  He's either 51 or 52.  I don't remember.

Tags: Life, Cleaning, Electronics

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We Asked for an Emperor, and You Give Us a Loon

The presidents of today definitely have their quirks, but they can't really compare the antics of the Roman emperors.  Somehow they always found a way to choose the worst person possible for the job, or some of the time.  There were definitely good emperors too.

Tiberius, the second emperor and stepson of Augustus, was extremely paranoid, and his family relationships were destroyed because of it.  He once had his neice banished and his great-nephews murdered because he was suspicious that they planned to usurp his power.  If a citizen informed the emperor that someone spoke against him, and the accused was convicted successfully of treason, he would receive 25% of the convict's wealth.  This encouraged people to fib about anyone, the richer the better, because they knew Tiberius was so paranoid that he would find almost anyone guilty.

Caligula can claim a few nut cases to his name.  He declared himself a god while serving as emperor (Caesar and Augustus both received this honor posthumous in a way of acknowledging their achievements).  He had decided early he already was a god.

Caligula (or so a tale is told) was obsessed with the circus (not with clowns, but the older kind with horses and chariot races).  He once had the city silenced so that his favorite horse, Incitatus, wouldn't be bothered before the race began.  Caligula also deliberated on actually making Incitatus a consul (a top seat in the hierarchy with the power of veto) of Rome, though it's unknown if that actually happened.

Ptolemy was a client king (a sort of vassal who ran a province) of Caligula in Egypt.  Ptolemy once showed up in Rome wearing a purple cloak, a color usually symbolizing imperial power.  Caligula had him murdered for showing up that way.

Nero is often remembered for playing the fiddle as Rome burned, but you might've read in a different entry that fiddles weren't even around during that time period.  The Great Fire of Rome was a great opportunity for Nero to get public support as he helped rebuild some of the lost structures.  However, he took a huge chunk of the lost land (120 acres to be exact) to build himself a nice, new palace, complete with an artificial lake, parks, and forests.  Although some of it was later destroyed, most of it survived, but was buried for Trajan's new bathing complex.

Commodus is not forgotten mostly for ending the Age of the Five Good Emperors.  It all went wrong when he handed the imperial powers over to a bunch of corrupt officials.  His death heralded a period of civil war and a succession of soldier emperors.  His name can boast hitting one of the lowest points that the Roman Empire ever endured.

Julianus (ha, ha... his first name was Didius, how cool is that?) was only out for the ambitions of himself and his family.  He didn't even have an army of supporters.  He just offered soldiers some money if they'd make him emperor.  Not surprisingly, everyone got ticked and called for revenge.  He was murdered after two months of civil war.  He never even paid the soldiers anyway!

The short reign of Caracalla was one the oddest and most extreme.  Septimius Severus made he and his brother Geta joint emperors wanting to establish a new imperial dynasty.  Well once Severus died, Caracalla murdered his wife, brother, and all his brother's supporters.  He soon became obsessed that he was a reincarnation of Alexander the Great.  No wonder he was murdered.

Augustus probably wouldn't have bothered establishing the empire if he'd known that 200 years later an idiot like Elagabalus would rule.  A huge sexual pervert, he went as far as to marry a Vestal Virgin (GASP)!  He tried to recreate the Sun-God cult, which only served to horrify the people.  Elagabalus had no idea of the sense of honor that went with the job and was completely indifferent to the dignity of the position.  The people of Rome made sure he suffered a violent death.

Great Fire of Rome -

Tags: Life, History, Emperors

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Beowulf Again

I went to see "Beowulf" again last night with Ky and Jonathon and Marina.  It was definitely even better the second time!  We had this group behind us that was kind of annoying though.  They kept talking and going up and down the stairs.  One of the kids in the group couldn't figure out why Beowulf looked older in the second half after the fifty-year jump.  Ha, ha... oh, well!  =)

I got Glenn Beck to sign my book yesterday morning too.  That was pretty cool.  I just realized that the majority of the stuff on my Christmas list is from that store.  I could live there (literally, because they have the café)!  They have everything: books, music, and movies.  Unfortunately I didn't get to use my coupon, because I'd left my wallet at home.

By the way, happy one-month-until-Christmas!  Yay!

One of the things I plan to do before I die is bungee jump off Victoria Falls.  Hey, I can do that when I'm stationed in South Africa as an international banker!  That works out well!  =)

Tags: Life, Movies, Borders, Glenn Beck, Strawberry Javakula, Holidays, Bungee Jumping, Careers

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Favorite Post #9

Yup... =)

Tags: Favorite Article

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Live Free or Die Hard Review

I saw "Live Free, or Die Hard" last night.  It was an awesome movie that was intense from the start!  The used the F-word like 25 times, though, so it was rated R.  I loved it anyway.

It was all about this police detective who's given the job of escorting an expert computer hacker to Washington D.C.  The job seems pretty low for such a high-ranking officer, but he soon finds out the hacker is a high-priority character who could help top authorities protect the nation from the threat of a technological breakdown.  It turns from a government task up to a personal level when things get out of hand for the detective with the kidnapping of his daughter.

The only thing I have to say is that shooting a fire extinguisher wouldn't make it explode like it does in the movie.  =)

 

Tags: Life, Movies, Cussing, Fire Extinguishers

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Glenn Beck

I'm getting up early tomorrow morning to go to Borders.  I know shopping's usually done on Black Friday, but Saturday Glenn Beck (below) is going to be signing his new book, An Inconvenient Book, at Borders!  I have to go get his autograph!  I have a 25% coupon to spend there anyway, so this came an a good time.  =)

If you don't know who Glenn Beck is, he's a political scientist and talk show and radio host.  He's really good and putting things how they are, and really isn't into covering things up with wish-wash.  He likes to crack jokes on Paris a lot too, so you can't really say anything wrong about him there.  Unfortunately, he can be a religious bigot, grouping "Muslim" and "terrorist" into the same category.

Poll courtesy of Frog.

Tags: Life, Politics, Islam, Relgions, Food, Paris Hilton, Borders, Coupons

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Tolerance to Me

I'm sure I've told some of you why I try to be a tolerant person, but for those of you who don't know, I thought today would be a good day to relate the story.  I've met some very intolerant people throughout my life, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm related to a very prejudiced person.

My maternal grandmother was raised and is a strict Lutheran.  She looks down on anyone who has different beliefs than she does.  While I respect her for being as committed to her religion as she is, she does so sometimes and is very irreverent to others.

My cousin has had an Indian (she's actual from India) girlfriend, Perul, for about the last year or so, and I remember very clearly the Easter that she first met our family.  The family had been trying to decide whether she was Muslim or Hindu, because coming from India she could be either.  Somehow they decided she was probably Muslim.  (I didn't say anything, because I knew she was probably Hindu, otherwise she'd be from Pakistan most likely.)  So grandma decided to have ham for the meat at our Easter gathering, and in a snobbish way try to offend Perul.  (If they had decided she was Hindu, they would've cooked beef.)

It ends up that Perul was Hindu, so she could eat the pork without issue.  I couldn't believe that these people could do something like that, people that I was linked to by blood!  I decided then that I definitely was not going to be like that.

I've grown up seeing bitterly personal wars between my grandma and dad over the future of my brother and I.  Grandma doesn't think we should go to college (or at least a prestigious one), because, "God will take care of tomorrow."  Yes, well, I'm Conservative, and God helps those who help themselves.

She also tends to be very rude to waiters and waitresses.  I don't like to go out to eat with them for that reason.

My grandparents can also be disrespectful when they drive, blowing their horn way too often, so I don't like driving with them.  That can endanger their lives and mine if some other driver is having a bad day and gets ticked.

All in all it's because they are intolerant to people they think are below them, which is basically everyone else who isn't the exact same as them.  If you look at things from the angle of the people being discriminated against, like Perul, it seems so much more clear.  You're already inan awkward situation, meeting an unfamiliar family, but then also being looked at in a negative way from the start.  It's sick.  That's why tolerance means so much to me, not just on a level of given respect, but on a personal level as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tags: Life, Tolerance, Million Dollars, Pets, Animals

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Thanksgiving Break

I don't understand why we had school Monday and Tuesday.  I think we should just get the whole week off.  A lot of people are usually gone anyway.  We didn't get a whole lot done either.  It seems it would be so much simpler on both the students' and teachers' schedules if we didn't have school those two days.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving!  Yay!  Sorry, I don't have any crazy stories about this holiday.  I know you are disappointed!  Well, just that they ate eels, not turkey, but that's pretty much it!  There wasn't all the food they we are stereotypically taught in elementary school, but most you probably already knew that.  Mrs. Tigulis I think is pretty big on that next to Columbus.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, my brother and I have been testing creating more writers.  It went kaput.  The "Add Writers" option took me an hour to undo.  Also for some reason, neither I nor the other authors (test screen names we made up) could use the editting controls I had before.  Ha, ha... so I don't think I'll be changing it from the single author mode again.

Tags: Life, Holidays, Journal Format

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Did You Know...

Some the odd things about the world that you will never need to know, but might find interesting anyway! 

~ Julius Caesar was epileptic.

~ George Washington was the only U.S. president ever to be elected unanimously.

~ Abraham Lincoln got a patent for a system to adjust the buoyancy of steamboats.

~ Albert Einstein declined presidency over the state of Israel when state leaders offered it to him.

~ Killer whales (which are actually dolphins) jump onto land to scare animals such as seals into the water.

~ Mao Zedong was married when he was 14.

~ Zachary Taylor's favorite horse, Whitey, roamed freely across the White House lawns during his presidency.

~ Michelangelo was also a celebrated poet with 300 works that have survived to today.

~ American alligators have webbed feet, but Chinese alligators don't.

~ The original oompa-loompas were black, not orange.

~ Leonardo da Vinci was vegetarian.  He was such an animal-rights advocate that he would go to the market to by birds for the sake of releasing them.

~ A lion’s roar can be heard 5 miles away.

~ A koala will remain in a single tree for a period of many days.

~ John F. Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president.

~Idi Amin, president of Uganda, has fathered 43 children.

~ During winter hibernation, the golden hamster’s pulse drops from 400 beats per minute to 4.

~ Galileo is very well known for using telescopes, but he also built the first thermometer.

~ After defeating the Tatars, Genghis Khan ordered the slaughter of all people taller than a cart handle, ensuring the loyalty of the next generation.

~ George W. Bush was the head cheerleader of his high school.

~ As a schoolboy in 1940, Fidel Castro wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt asking for a ten-dollar bill and offering to lead him to Cuban iron mines that could provide ore for use in American shipbuilding.

~ One gram of cobra venom is potent enough to kill more than 50 people.

George W. Bush Cheerleading Pictures -

Tags: Life, Useless Information, Food

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Beowulf Review

I just went and saw "Beowulf".  I thought it was really good!  I would rate it 4.5/5!

I really appreciated the history in "Beowulf", like I would any other movie about the past.  It had a lot of good fights, too.  Did I mention Angelina Jolie was in it?  (Just kidding!)  The concept and motif behind it was spectacular!

What I didn't like was that it was animated.  I was very depressed to see Angelina that way, but really, that cut down on the fighting a lot.  It was just kinda wierd to see it that way.  I haven't read the actual tale, just summaries, so I don't know how closely it follows the actual epic.  I can't dis it on then.  The ending was a little disappointing at first, but when you think about it, it really leaves a good impression.

I definitely plan to read a translation of Beowulf in the near future.  I looked it up on Borders' website, and it's $13.95.  I can hack that down to $10.47 before tax with my 25% off coupon!  Yay!  =)

One reason I love going to theatres is the commercials.  Usually they are looked at as annoying, but I find them useful!  "National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets", "Wanted" (with Angelina Jolie, not to mention the plot looks great), and "Kungfu Panda" (which I will only see because Angelina Jolie is one of the voices (it's animated unfortunately)) are all movies I plan on seeing.

Tags: Life, Movies, Borders, Epics, Coupons, Angelina Jolie

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Politics at It's Best

The politics of the past and present are vicious, which is something pretty consistent throughout history.  One story told in Romans for Dummies really caps that idea for antiquity.

"... the cities of allies started organising 'committees of action', and even more so by a plan to assassinate the Consul Lucius Marcius Philippus, one Drusus's [Tribune of the Plebs in 91 BC (an extremely powerful position with the ability of veto over the Senate elected by the plebeians in a forced power-share as a result of the Conflict of the Orders)] chief opponents.  Drusus warned Philippus, but his good faith gesture did him (Drusus) no good.  Philippus had all Drusus's previous reforms thrown out and had Drusus murdered."

Basically these two politcal rivals had a bunch of followers who tried to annoy the other side.  It escalated to the point where one mob was going to kill the enemy.  In an outlandish attempt to be kind to a fellow official, Philippus was warned he was a marked man. Philippus decided to return the favor by having Drusus killed.  This is the style of a corrupted government.

Isn't odd how closely related our government is too the Roman Republic?

If history does repeat itself, these dynastic power holders, the Bushes and the Clintons, will end up waging a bitterly personal war over the presidency.  Hilary (leader of the Liberal faction, like Gaius Julius Caesar) woud make herself dictator.  That would mean that Bush (leader of the Conservatives) would be defeated in civil war with Hilary, but his most radical followers (no doubt involving an illegitimate child by Hilary) would live on to murder her.

Hilary's great nephew (if she has one) would establish himself as emperor.  Hundreds of years later, the United States would separate into two halves and be eventually overcome by corruption, economic failure, and skirmishes incoming from anti-American groups.

How cyclical!  That's all in theory of course, though, with no factual basis.  Don't mistake me, it's all meant in good fun, and am just teasing.  That would be horrible if civil war happened!  =(

The two (by my reasoning) most famous Liberal leaders -

An obvious resemblance... just kidding!  =)

HINT: Democrats are generally Liberal, and Republicans are generally Conservative.

Oh, and by Liberal, I mean the poltical view (left wing) of seeking more change than what a Conservative (right wing) would, not as in open-minded or generous.  Multiple definition of "Liberal" always bothers me.  It's too confusing in poltics when you hear how liberal (open-minded) a Conservative is.

Tags: Life, Poltics, Liberal, Conservative, History

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Beowulf

I really want to go see "Beowulf" tomorrow!  From the commercials it looks like a deadly combination of historical literature, mythology, and Angelina Jolie.  Woot-woot!  The USA Today gave it a 3 out of 4 (who grades out of 4?), but they are probably all history-haters (just kidding).

If you don't know, "Beowulf" is a Scandanavian epic, often considered the most important work of Old English literature.  It involves a prince named... you guessed it... Beowulf.  He fights and defeats the evil half-human fiend, Grendel.  Then his mother comes to avenge her son's death.  Fifty years later, Beowulf is king.  A dragon plagues his kingdom, and it his fate to fight the beast.  Both are mortally wounded in the battle, and the story ends with the reading of Beowulf's epitaph, or at least that's how the historic text goes.

I've heard that the movie diverts from the original epic often, so that very brief summary shouldn't have spoiled it.  It should be good with a little inaccuracy anyway!  That's nothing new.  I think I'll be forced to buy the tale from Borders.  I saw it there the other day, but didn't get it.

Tags: Life, Movies, History, Epics, Angelina Jolie, Books, Borders

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RAT Lock-In

The lock-in was awesome last night!  The RAT games were pretty dumb, and nobody paid the movie (Shrek 3) any attention what-so-ever.  The dances were the best.  They really need to create a different playlist, though, because the second dance was just the reverse order of the first dance.  That made the last half less enjoyable, but it was still spectacular!

During karaoke, Opal signed me up to sing "Too Sexy" (without my consent!), but luckily my slip wasn't drawn.  I was going to make someone else come up and sing it with me if I was called, but then I fled to the gym for awhile so I'd conveniently not be there just in case.  It ends up my name wasn't chosen anyway, so it didn't matter, but the whole thing was pretty funny.

Here's all my awesome photos!  (Yes, my camera lasted through a dance to the next day!)

Mina and JSOnri -

Opal and Pandaguy -

Opal and Little Grey -

Norbert's Mother and JSOnri -

Groblette and Sack Attack

As far as I know, Ardvark didn't dance with anyone.  I heard he's going to go see Taylor from the forest in a play at St. Vincent's today, or something like that.

Tags: Life, RAT Lock-In, Dance, Games, Karaoke, Movies

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New Layout and More Money Spending

The layout of the blog has changed again out of my control, but I like it I think.  At the bottom of the page you can find links to old entries and then can flip back to new ones.  I also have the new ability to make other people writers on the journal, and am considering it, but am not sure yet.  I didn't have this before, but I got this alert telling me about it.  I hope you like it this way, because I really can't change it!

So anyway, I went to Borders again last night.  I had got another 30% coupon and had to spend it (on history of course!).  I really need a new bookshelf, otherwise I'm kicking out all my fantasy books and banishing them to the attic to make space for my references and what-not.  I've been forced to stack my books, because Aristophanes, the Complete Plays (below) isn't fitting on my desk's shelves!  For someone with book OCD like me, that's the worst of all blasphemies.  Books are meant to be neatly lined up, not thrown around in piles like some sort of scrap paper!

By the way, with the purchase of that last book I got another coupon for 25% off.  Watch, the next one will be for 20% off, and they are just going to keep sucking up my money!  What's really retarded is that I know it, and I'm still buying there anyway!  Oh, well, it'll all pay off (literally!) when I cash in my bucks on my Borders Rewards Card!  Or at least that's what I'm telling myself for an excuse for the time being.

Moving on, Aristophanes looks spectacular (as usual!).  It contains all elevan of his dramas, which are "Acharnians", "Knights", "Clouds", "Wasps", "Peace", "Birds", "Lysistrata", "Women at Thesmophoria Festival", "Frogs", "A Parliament of Women", "Plutus [Wealth]".  I've always been partial to the classical theatre, and this collection pretty much crowns it.

I had to leave out "Acharnians", because I get max of ten options on my polls.  There were one too many dramas.

Tags: Life, Books, Genres, Fantasy, History, Borders, Borders Rewards, Coupons, Classic Theatre

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Favorite Post #8

Duh!

Tags: Favorite Article

A Realisation of Common Misconceptions

From our oldest memories we've been taught about the 50 United States of America!  It's all a lie!

(1) There are actually only 46 states in America.  4 "states" are technically called commonwealths.  They are Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  After the American Revolution and War of Independence, the former four chose the title of "commonwealth" to emphasize their rule by the people, not the king.  This adoption was never changed.  To this day they are still "commonwealths" and not "states".

(2) Do you know who defeated Napolean most humiliatingly of all his enemies?  However good and logical of a guess it might be, the Duke of Wellington is not the answer.  He may have defeated Napolean most crushingly, but humiliatingly.

Rabbits.  When he signed the Treaty of Tilsit, he proposed a pleasant afternoon hunting bunnies with the Imperial Court.  His trusted chief-of-staff organized the outing, but mistakenly brought tame rabbits to the event, not wild.  Rather than scatter away from the hunters, they ran towards them, eagerly expecting food.  They thought they were going to be fed, not killed!

The legion of hungry rabbits fell upon the front lines of Napolean's court at their top speed of 35 miles per hour!  The shooting party fell into disarray and had no other option than to flee the army of bunnies!  The rodents didn't relent their push, and the emperor was sealed into his carriage as the rest vainly lashed out with horsewhips.  The great conquerer fled shamefully off, having received quite a thorough thrashing.

(3) While I'm destroying some lies here, I might as well also mention that dogs were not the first animals in space.  Fruit flies were!

(4) Nero did not play a fiddle while Rome was burning either!  Fiddles weren't invented until the fifteenth century!

(5) You are more likely to be killed by an asteroid than lightning.

(6) Roman emperors ordered the death of gladiators with a thumbs up, not thumbs down.

(7) 616, not 666, is the devil's number.  It had been mistranslated, however a review of the oldest known copy of the Book of Revelation shows it clearly to be 616.

Tags: Life, Common Misconceptions, United States of America, Napolean, History, Animals, Space, Bible, Christianity, Religion

Crazy Woody!

If you don't think his messed up history is enough to make him psycho, here's a prime example!  Last night he was telling me about his plan to take out Osama bin Laden and all his inner circle in one last-ditch attempt should his wife and son be killed by terrorists.  I quote,

"I would convert to Islam [Ha, ha... he later specified he would not become a Muslim, he would convert to Islam.  That's not possible do one without the other as far as I know, but if I'm wrong, please correct me!].  I would wait 20, 30 years, whatever it took for me to get to into the middle of his ring of cohorts.  If they asked me to cut off my hand to prove I wasn't a Westerner... WHOOSH [plop?]!  Whatever it takes I would do it!  So then I would get into his closest council, and then I would detonate and take them all out!  It would be in a city of course where I could decide no one else there was significant enough to let live anyway."

I am not joking you!  He said that right in front of me!  Woody is so anti-Islam, it's pathetic!  He doesn't let anyone who is Muslim join his Tae Kwon Do school!

We used to have two Muslim guys in the kids' class, but when he booted the younger of them for misbehaving the older one left too.  He told everyone openly that those two would be the last two Islamic followers to go there because you can't trust them.  He is that limited!  I couldn't believe it.

You can't imagine how much I felt like strangling him, because there I was in a room with one of the least tolerant people I've ever met!  Unfortunately due to our strict student-teacher relationship, I can't say anything.  That's pretty much why I can't wait to be rid of him.  He's such a know-nothing know-it-all if that makes any sense what-so-ever.

Now tell me he's not crazy.

Tags: Life, Islam, Religion, Terrorism, Crazy People, Pets, Animals

Borders

I went to Borders after Tae Kwon Do and got two new books!  Yay!  I love that store!  I had a coupon for 30% any item over $10 from doing a Borders Rewards survey.  If you're a regular there, you should definitely look into it.  It's really simple too!  No maintainence and a bunch of coupons!  You get 10% of everything you spend back into a this debit card of sorts that you can empty all you like during the holiday season.  It rocks!  =)

I saw Don't Know Much About History and snatched it up.  I'd been looking for the other "Don't Know Much Abouts..." and this is the first one I've seen besides the one I already own.  I think there's one for the Civil War, the Bible, the universe, and Don't Know Much About Anything.

I also got The History of the Ancient World, which look spectacular (for me at least!).  I'm running out of space on my bookshelf.  I need to move my "fantasy/fiction" bookshelf to Jon's room and get a new one for my history stuff! 

Tags: Life, Books, Borders, History

Poor Pyrrhus and the Pot

I came across a hilarious story in Romans For Dummies today, and I thought I'd share it.  This is one you should read, even if you're not that interested in the history of it.  It just goes to show how history can be turned around by remarkably trivial events.

After the Third Samnite War, the Romans were just realizing how much they could accomplish and set out on a campaign to snatch up the rest of Italy.  The wealthiest and most powerful Greek colony of the time was Tarentum (modern Taranto) located in Magna Graecia ("Great Greece"), or southern Italy.  The Romans were already dealing with the ongoing fights against Gauls and Etruscans and asked for some compensation, rather than pursue an all-out fight agains the colony.  The Tarentines threw that out!

They were actually a little overconfident, because they had hired King Pyrrhus of Epirus (below), considered by many the greatest Greek soldier of the day.  He showed up with a force of 25,000, which was a very bad day at the office for Romans.  This little show of intimidation was meant to scare off Rome's allies, and thus greaten their odds.  The Romans, too, were a little arrogant and still thought they could overcome Pyrrhus and Tarentum.

Pyrrhus, at the time it appears, was duly confident.  He defeated the Romans in 280 BC at Heraclea first, after which he gained the loyalty of the ex-Roman allies, the Lucanians and the Samnites, who, as it were, just finished losing three consecutive wars to Rome (they had been forced to contribute to the Roman army after their final defeat) and were just edging for a chance to get their revenge, and this chance showed up under the crest of Pyrrhus.

In 279 BC, Pyrrhus beat the Romans at Asculum, but it was a hard-won victory.  Pyrrhus, who had been a rising sun to the enslaved tribes of Rome, decided that completely destroying Rome would take far too long and cost too many lives.  It was such a difficult success he is quoted for saying, “another victory like that, and we’re done for!”  Nowadays the term “Pyrrhic victory” means any success wom at such a high cost it wasn’t worth it.  He offered peace!

Now, you would think it would be wise for the Senate to accept peace after such humiliating losses to a Greek colony!  Well they had done a little advertising themselves and had increased their numbers by a few generous gifts of ship and money from Carthage, who they’d later try to take over (returning the favor I guess? (it’s the Roman way!)) in the Punic Wars.

So Pyrrhus set off to attack the Carthaginians, but while he was gone Rome began to crush his Samnite and Lucanian allies (it was a series of battles sometimes known as the Fourth Samnite War).  In 276, it was looking too good for Pyrrhus and friends, so he retreated back to Italy only to be roundly defeated by the Romans dangerously close to Rome!

Pyrrhus fled home and was killed two years later when a pot chucked out an upper-floor window fell on his head and killed him.  Ouch.  So, with Pyrrhus out of the picture the way to Tarentum was open to the Romans and they finally captured it in 272 BC.

Had Pyrrhus lived he would have certainly been a gathering point for the enemies of Rome, and undoubtedly would have raised another army.  Possibly defeating Rome completely this time.  None of us would ever have heard of Julius Caesar, and the fall of Rome would’ve been the fall of Greece in Italy.  All of that because someone chose a bad time to do their pot-chucking.

Tags: Life, History, Hubris, Trivialities

Remembering Around the World

Although today is one of our least-noticed holidays, I know it definitely means a lot for me.  President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation making November 11 national Armistice Day to commemorate the fallen Allied soldiers from World War I.  Later it developed into Veterans' Day that we honor today.

I try to leave my comfort zone and imagine what it would be like to find out that a close family member wouldn't be coming home.  I'm not sure how to describe that feeling.  It's more a lack of emotion really, just an emptiness.  I encourage everyone to take a moment to try that, because it's not just American's celebrating today.  (I'm not sure "celebrating" was the right word.)

Canada is recognizing Remembrance Day today.  England will honor Remembrance Sunday today.  You may not realize it, but Afghanistan has a Remembrance Day on May 4, one of their few secular holidays.

The Islamic festivities are vastly more important to the Afghan culture, but considering that a hugely Muslim country observes a day meant to honor fallen soldiers is something the average American doesn't do.  We stereotypically classify "Muslims" and "Terrorists" in the same category.  The majority of followers of Islam would love nothing better than to kill Bin Laden themselves for ruining their name.  Bin Laden's connection to Islam is unfortunate to the rest of the good, Islamic population, and it is completely unfair to put them in the same group.  Regrettably, we are in an intolerant country and the usual person puts those two completely different factions into the same crowd.

HAHAHA!  I was looking for a picture of him on google and I found this!!!!  That's hysterical!!!  =)

Tags: Life, Holidays, Culture, Terrorism, Religion, Islam, Cartoons, Osama bin Laden

The Stella Awards

I got this hilarious e-mail called "The Stella Awards" for the most absurd lawsuits of the year.  Be weary future lawyers of America!  It gives you some serious insight into how sue-happy Americans, too!

> > >> It's time again for the annual "Stella Awards"! For those unfamiliar with
> > >> these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled
> > >> hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico
> > >> where she purchased the coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the
> > >> coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would
> > >> ever think one could get burned doing that, right?
> > >>
> > >> That's right; these are awards f or the most outlandish lawsuits and
> > >> verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch
> > >> your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Here are the Stella's for the past year:
> > >>
> > >> 7TH PLACE :
> > >>
> > >> Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her
> > >> peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running
> > >> inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised
> > >> by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
> > >>
> > >> 6TH PLACE:
> > >>
> > >> Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plu s medical
> > >> expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman
> > >> apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when
> > >> he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.
> > >>
> > >> Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> 5TH PLACE:
> > >>
> > >> Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania who was leaving a house he had
> > >> just burglarizedby way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the
> > >> automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the
> > >> garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the
> > >> door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it
> > >> shut. Forced to sit for ei ght, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi
> > >> and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance
> > >> company claiming undue mental Anguish.
> > >>
> > >> Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000
> > >> for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish.
> > >>
> > >> Keep scratching. There are more...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> 4TH PLACE :
> > >>
> > >> Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas garnered 4th Place in the
> > >> Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being
> > >> bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the
> > >> beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as
> > >> much as he as ked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been
> > >> provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over
> > >> the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.
> > >>
> > >> Grrrrr ... Scratch, scratch.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> 3RD PLACE :
> > >>
> > >> Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a
> > >> Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a
> > >> spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was
> > >> on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds
> > >> earlier during an argument. What ever happened to people being
> > >> responsible for their own actions?
> > >>
> > >> Scratch, scra tch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more
> > >> Stella's togo...
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> 2ND PLACE :
> > >>
> > >> Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a
> > >> nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor,
> > >> knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to
> > >> sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover
> > >> charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah,
> > >> plus dental expenses. Go figure.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> 1ST PLACE : (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please)
> > >>
> > >> This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv
> > >> Grazinski , of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who purchased a new 32-foot
> > >> Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game,
> > >> having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and
> > >> calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make
> > >> herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway,
> > >> crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued
> > >> Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't
> > >> actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The
> > >> Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new
> > >> motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this
> > >> suit, just incase Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a
> > >> motor home.

Isn't that crazy!?!?!?!?!  That's all I really have for now, but I was dying to share that with the world, so I went ahead and copied it on!

Tags: Life, America, Lawsuits, Future

Squirrel Slippers

Did you know that Cinderella's slippers in the were actual made of squirrel fur, not glass?  It seems kind of odd, even ironic, that a fairy tale, something stereotypically involving happy bunnies hopping through a magical forest, had animals being killed for footwear.  Oh and I guess I should clarify that when I refer to "Cinderella" I mean the familiar version by Charles Perrault.  As I'm sure many of you already know, there wasn't just one version of Cinderella, the oldest of which most historians will agree was the Chinese edition.  It concerned Yeh-Shen and her gold shoes (ouch!).  If you asked Freud, the slippers represented female genitalia.  Freud was also an advocate of Oedipus (or Electra for girls) Complex, so we know how long we need to consider that idea.  =)

Oh, and if you haven't heard/read yet, an Italian musician and computer technician claims to have discovered a 40-second Christian hymn by using the table in Da Vinci's ever-popular Last Supper as a music staff and turning the symbolic items on the table into notes!  Ha, ha... who is this guy, a musician or symbologist?  Not to mention he probably created his desired results first and found a convenient way to prove his outrageous claim.  It's all very politic, even the article's headline "Musician Solves Da Vinci Code".  What propaganda!  It had nothing to do with the novel The Da Vinci Code.  Unfortunately, the average, modern American's vocabulary sees "Da Vinci Code" and "Last Supper" as completely interchangeable synonyms.  How limited...  =(

This career-confused Italian (shame to him and his house for ruining the flawless name of Italy!) apparently has also published a book on it called The Hidden Music.  What a multi-tasker; he's a musician, computer geek, symbologist, historian, and author all in one in with undoubtable expertise in each of the former fields!  Congrats Mr. Pala!  You've officially made thousands off a bunch of gullible (or I have to give, curious) Americans!  Witness our genius and be awed!  And we wonder why we have so many problems...

I sure don't see hymn, do you???

However in all fairness, all this Da Vinci Code related controversy is creating quite the mini-Renaissance for Americans.  I've definitely noticed an increase in wanting to learn at least a little more about it.

But then again we also have gotten the stereotype on the Last Supper that everything about it is satanic heresy.  It goes both ways.  I can only hope people will look at things in an open-minded way (without having to become liberal Democrats!) (Just kidding!!!).

Tags: Life, Cinderella, Fairy Tales, F.W.C., Sigmund Freud, Da Vinci Code, Last Supper, Propaganda, Political Parties, Republicans, Democrats, Conservatism, Liberalism

iTunes

I got iTunes for my computer and I didn't even have to get an Ipod.  I just broke a few federal laws and borrowed someone elses' and their serial numbers so I can play my illegal CD of copied Latin music.  I'm listening to it right now, and it's spectacular!  (Thanks, Pandaguy!!!) Ave Maria (by David Bisbal) and Aserjé (by Las Ketchup) 

I had to go Tae Kwon Do this morning for my test, which went really well.  I broke four boards and did a bunch of other stuff and passed.  That's all really good, because now I'm one step away from Blackbelt and my escape from dear Woody (if you didn't know he's my instructor and his real name is Forrest)!  I can't wait until then.  This just doesn't end soon enough.

Did you know that the whip was the first invention to break the sound barrier?  It's been in use for thousands of years, but only with the development of high-speed photography did we discover that the crack of the whip was a mini sonic boom, not the leather hittting the handle.  I feel enlightened!  =)

Tags: Life, Music, APPLE, iPod, iTunes, Tae Kwon Do, Inventions, Science

A Boy Named "Stupid"

Roman names are complex things.  They have a forename, next the name of their clan they descended from, then the family name, and finally additional surname name that was optional and uncommon to distinguish them from someone else in their family who had already had that name.

Example - Publeus Cornelius Scipio Africanus - His given name was Publeus, his ancestors were part of the Cornelii clan and the Scipio family.  Then Africanus helped separate him from others in his famliy who shared the same name.

Once there was someone named Lucius Junius Brutus (depicted below) (not to be confused with Marcus Junius Brutus who was Caesar’s murderer and son (?)).  He got his name "Brutus" from being stupid, but according to legend this was just an act to stay alive.  If he posed a threat, his uncle, Tarquinius Superbus, the last Etruscan king, who Brutus would overthrow, would surely have him killed.  He pretended to be retarded so as not to be seen as plausible hazard to the monarchy.  In reality, he was quite the opposite, considering his ploy.

Lucius Junius Brutus is traditionally celebrated as founder of the Roman Republic when he expelled his uncle.  Although he is commonly thought of as the good-guy, he was often considered heartless and obsessive in his passion to protect his new Republic.  He even killed his own sons when he thought they might try to revive the kingship!  On the other side of things though, he was just doing what he thought was best for the People.  The entire point of the Roman's sophisticated government was to make sure one man did gain total power.  One of the main reasons they flourished so was because of this and maintaining a just civil system was of the utmost importance. 

As I understand it, Brutus must’ve started the family named “Brutus”, because otherwise everyone before him would’ve been called stupid too, and that doesn’t make any sense at all.  The name wouldn’t have any specific meaning to separate him from the others then.  An alternative explanation is that perhaps they hadn’t established the concept of the family name at this point, and Brutus was his additional surname.

Oh, and I found a link from the past to today in the origins of the word "fascist".  The honor guard that protected Senators carried bundles of wood called "fasces" that represented power.  When the fascists took over in Italy they adopted the name as a symbol of their strength.  That was just for your educational enjoyment and further proof that history matters!

Tags: Life, History, Names, Fascism, Etymology, Government, Republic

Favorites

I was scrolling through my bookmarks on the Internet today and I saw "Potter's Puppet Pals".  I went back to see them again and thought they were hilarious (even a second time)!  I put the link on my favorite lists on the site (right column).  They aren't too bad content wise, but Dumbledore gets a little frisky......

Oh, and there's the Badger Badger Mushroom too!  I almost forgot about that thing.  I used to be in the Badger Patrol before moving on to ASPL, and we found this thing on google!  I'll add it to the blog's sites too...

I have the "Dumbledore Is Not Dead" site.  It was really convincing!  That is until the final book came out and kind of burst my bubble.  I've put that in the "Links" box as well.

If you haven't seen/read those sites, they are priceless!  When you get a little spare time, I suggest you check them out!  =)

By the way, I was bored and tried to find Brick Attack on my cell phone, but it's not there!  I have some bowling game and another called "Bejewled" (?), but not the simplest game known to cell phones!  How dumb is that?  I was very upset.  =(

Ya, I got a new one!  =)

Potter's Puppet Pals! -

Tags: Life, Harry Potter, Badgers, Animals, Cell Phones, Cameras, Games

Favorite Post #7

Duh...  =)

I uploaded that self-castrating tool from the Cult of Cybele.  Makes me shiver when I see it...  =(

Tags: Favorite Article

Monotheism VS Polytheism... or both

My family thinks I have the flu, and I probably won’t be at school for a while.  Just when I thought that was dumb cough was going away, I got all weak and felt like I was going to fall over every time I stood up.  My sore throat and stuffy nose are back too.  I had a fever as well.  It really sucks.  I had to miss my brother’s Eagle Court of Honor today.   I feel like crap… =(

This is so weird, because I never get sick!  I haven’t missed a day of school for illness in ages, and here I am!  =(

So anyway, the Romans were extremely tolerant people (excepting the cult of Cybele, as earlier discussed).  Romans would commonly adopt other deities (also like with Cybele, but also Isis and Mithras among others).  They would go as far as to worship the gods of the city they were about to conquer!  It wasn't uncommon for people to even include the Christian God into their pantheons, either.

"There's a tombstone of a woman called Fasiria at the city of Makhtar in what is now Tunisia in North Africa.  The Christian Chi-Rho symbol is clearly carved on the stone, but so also is the pagan DM for Dis Manibus ('To the Spirits of the Departed'), suggesting she believed in the Christian God but wasn't prepared to risk annoying the pagan gods."

- The Romans For Dummies

Fascinating!  What’s even more interesting is that this was common.  The idea of pagans including the Christian God was not so far-fetched as it may seem.

“Theoretically, Christianity was just another of the mystery cults [religious group with secret rites] because in its early form, and as far as the Roman were concerned, it was just anotherstrange cult from the East that promised eternal life to believers.  In fact, until Christianity became the state religion, for many Romans the idea of Christ as another god to add to the list of the ones they already worshipped was a perfectly good one.  The emperor Severus Alexander (222-235) kept a collection of statues of gods of all types, even the Christian God, in his apartment and worshipped them all.  So it’s not surprising that some finds of early Christian worship show people apparently worshipping Christ in the old pagan way of making vows and leaving gifts…”

- The Romans For Dummies

I personally would find polytheism too pressing on my brain.  Everyone knows all the big names, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Venus, etc.  But then there was also a swarm of minor divinities lurking in the background.  There were three separate deities that had different duties in protecting Roman doors!

~ Forculus ….. the actual door

~ Cardea ….. for the hinges

~ Limentinus ….. for the threshold

Believe it or not, Rome had a god (known as a lares (household spirit)) for each and every crossroad in the city!  That’s 265!  How are you supposed to remember all those?!?!?!  I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of goats and wine to sacrifice…

I would definitely believe that they’d love nothing more than to incorporate another god into their religion.  But I can also see at the same time how Christian like nothing more than to have only one god’s name to remember.  They’d make things a lot simpler!  It would be so much more agreeable with you pocketbook as well!  That wouldn’t require near as many goats and wine.

Oh, Romans For Dummies also presented this fascinating form of propaganda!  But first you must know something about Roman coinage.

"Unlike today's coins, each denomination was issued in lots of versions with different reverses, depicting anything from an impressive sounding imperial virtue like libertas (liberty) to pictures of great new public buildings, or commemorations of victories.  Other coins might have his wife's, son's, or even mother's portrait on the obverse [ha, ha, ha... I love that word!] instead of the emperor's own."

- The Romans For Dummies

It goes on to say that it became fashionable for emperors to even show the image of his preferred successor (this trend was started by Augustus) to get the public used to the idea.  That's ingenious!  It really goes to show how obsessed the emperors were with manipulating.

Theodosius I on a Roman coin -

Tags: Life, History, Religion, Monotheism, Polytheism, Books, Propaganda, School