Seers in Ancient Greece

How Greek Seers Shaped Warfare and Took Risks on the Battlefield

Ancient Greek warfare was saturated with ritual, as generals believed success required more than physical readiness: it needed divine assent

Seers in Ancient Greece

Skepticism and Doubt in Seers' Telling

Skepticism toward seers in ancient Greece was both inevitable and, paradoxically, crucial to maintaining the system’s credibility

Ancient Greece

Divination in Ancient Greek Society: A System of Knowledge and Belief

Divination played a crucial role in ancient Greek society. Yet to many modern observers, it may seem alien or even irrational. How could entire armies, political assemblies, and common citizens regularly consult seers, oracles, and omens before making decisions? From battle strategies to complex political alliances, the Greeks wove the

Ancient Rome

The Roman West Fell: Barbarians, Borders, and the End of an Empire

The Western Roman Empire was not destroyed in one swift stroke.

Ancient Rome

How Constantine’s Vision Shaped an Empire

Throughout the fourth century, the Roman Empire teetered on the edge of reinvention. Emperor Constantine the Great set in motion profound political and religious changes that shaped Europe and the Near East for centuries to come. Yet, his death in 337 triggered civil wars, royal intrigues, and fraught religious struggles

Ancient Greece

The Role and Image of the Seer in Ancient Greek Culture

The seer in ancient Greek culture occupied a pivotal space between mortal society and the realm of the divine.

Ancient Greece

The Greek Seer: Divination, Healing, and Authority in Ancient Greece

Combining hereditary lineage, a repertoire of divinatory techniques, and personal magnetism, seers occupied a singular niche in Greek society.

Medieval Europe

The Triumph of Death: The Plague in the Rest of Europe

The final years of the first wave of the Black Death took it far from the shores of France and Italy into Scandinavia, Russia, and remote outposts of the Atlantic.

Medieval Europe

The Pestilence Tyme: The Black Death in England

By 1350, the initial wave of the Black Death had largely burned through England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, leaving widespread emptiness and mourning in its wake

Medieval Europe

Satan Triumphant: The Black Death in Germany

The Black Death’s onslaught across fourteenth-century Europe struck with particular ferocity in Germany, leaving social, religious, and political turmoil in its wake. Arriving around June 1348, the plague spread from three directions—eastward from France, northward from Italy, and outward from the Balkans—hitting Bavaria first, and then rolling

Medieval Europe

The Black Death in France: Crosses on the Doors and a Kingdom in Crisis

From Marseilles to Bordeaux, Avignon to Paris, every corner of France in 1348–1349 bore witness to a catastrophe unlike anything known in living memory.

Black Death

Europe’s Precarious Rise and the Onslaught of the Black Death

When the Black Death arrived on the European mainland, it did so at a historical crossroads