Ancient history link parade
Rather than spamming my Facebook friends with these one at a time (as I have periodically done), I decided to aggregate them here. In addition to finally putting this blog space to use, it also gives me more room to annotate them.
First up, imagine if modern English soccer hooligans' team affiliations were also connected to strongly, deeply held political beliefs (which I realize they sometimes are, but not quite like this). Coming to you not-quite-live from sixth century Constantinople (modern Istanbul), it's Blue vs. Green.
Roman charioteers depicted in an ancient mosaic found in modern North Lincolnshire, England in 1795. Photo: David Wright (via Wikimedia Commons)
Next: The Syrian city of Homs was largely unknown to Westerners until the Syrian government began shelling it earlier this year, prompting a humanitarian disaster that will hopefully, someday, see Bashar al-Assad tried as a war criminal. Even if Homs is a "new" place to many of us, though, its religious history has kept it fairly close to center stage since before the birth of Christ.
Last, but certainly not least: Libya.
A passageway in the ruins of the Roman theater in Sabratha, Libya, a city founded by the Phoenicians sometime around 500 B.C.
Alia Al-Senussi, a member of the Libyan royal family that was deposed by Muammar Qadaffi following his 1969 coup, writes for CNN on the country's rich cultural heritage. She argues (correctly, I think) that preserving and rallying around the country's ancient history will help to give a sense of identity to a healthy post-Qadaffi Libya.
Until next time!
