by Aseem Gupta | Jan 23, 2016 | History, Empires & Civilizations
In 149 BC, Rome went to war against an enemy it had already defeated. Carthage no longer possessed the overseas empire that had once challenged Rome for control of the western Mediterranean. Its navy had been reduced, its army restricted, and its foreign policy placed...
by Aseem Gupta | Jan 22, 2016 | History, Empires & Civilizations
On an August day in 216 BC, Rome suffered one of the worst military defeats in its history. Near the small town of Cannae in southern Italy, Hannibal Barca surrounded the largest army the Roman Republic had ever assembled. For hours, Carthaginian troops cut down...
by Aseem Gupta | Jan 21, 2016 | History, Empires & Civilizations
In 241 BCE, a Roman fleet appeared off the western coast of Sicily. By then, Rome had been fighting Carthage for more than two decades. It had lost entire armies, squandered fortunes and watched hundreds of ships disappear beneath the Mediterranean. Storms had...
by Aseem Gupta | Jan 20, 2016 | History, Empires & Civilizations
On June 15, 1859, Lyman Cutlar discovered a large black pig rooting through his potato patch on San Juan Island. It was not the first time the animal had invaded his garden. Frustrated, Cutlar grabbed his rifle and shot it. The pig belonged to the Hudson’s Bay...
by Aseem Gupta | Jan 19, 2016 | History, Empires & Civilizations
In June 1812, the largest army Europe had ever seen crossed the Niemen River into the Russian Empire. Napoleon Bonaparte had assembled soldiers from across France and its allies, satellites, and conquered territories. Poles, Italians, Germans, Dutchmen, Swiss, Croats,...
