The Battle of Guadalete (river), near present-day Jerez, took place in the year 711 and confronted the army of the Visigoth king Don Rodrigo and the Muslims (mostly Berbers) of North Africa led by Tarik, lieutenant of the governor Muza. In the year 710 the Visigothic king Witiza died, a confrontati
United by the Don Julián plot, Eagle and Muse decide its time for the raid (in principle). In the year 711 Muza sends a group of about 12,000 men, mostly Berbers, under the command of Tarik. They cross the strait with the ships of Don Julián and land at Gribaltar (Chabal Tarik, rock of Tarik). Don
This formidable adversary did not wield sword or spear against Rome, but rather put his enormous scientific talents at the service of his fatherland to strike fear into his enemies. As has happened so many times in history, how many great advances in science and technology will not have a purely war
It is often said that the first thing we learn about a language are profanity and insults. In fact, a typical joke for newbies, when first arriving in a country, is to be taught swear words as if they were normal, in order to get the innocent in a good trouble. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia were no
Do you know that feeling that everyone is looking at you and you dont know why? Well thats how I felt. Had something gone wrong on the trip or in my transformation process to a countryman from Ancient Greece? I was standing in the middle of a street in Athens and everyone was pointing at me and gigg
If anyone has known how to take advantage of a Swiss Army Knife, it has been none other than the character from the television series MacGyver . With this little tool and a lot of imagination, the writers of the series turned their protagonist into an accomplished engineer, a master electrician, a s
Bold, fickle, just, a brilliant military man and a restrained ruler, he is considered one of the great men of his time and one of the most famous enemies of the fledgling republic of Rome. Even Hannibal praised his talent, including him along with Alexander and himself in his list of the three best
I turn the knob on my time machine and set it to “Ancient Egypt”, I grit my teeth and… I appear in the middle of nowhere in a comfortable white robe and in my right hand a bunch of flax with spectacular blue flowers, as if was waiting for the bride by the altar. But there was no altar. In fact, ther
Approximately 4,300 years ago, during the first known empire in history (the Akkadian), a girl was born who would revolutionize an entire culture:Enheduanna of Akhad . She was the daughter of the founder of the empire, Sargon of Akhad, but her immortality did not come to her because she was a prince
War provides men with the perfect psychological setting to vent their contempt for women. Thats how forceful Susan Brownmiller was. , the American journalist and activist, in her book Against Our Will:Men, Women and Rape (1975), in which she framed rape as a political issue, an act of power, and a
Had he not been crucified, today the symbol of Christianity, instead of a cross, could be, for example, a noose with a hangmans knot or a torn tunic. And why was he crucified? Well, because the Romans were very square and had everything perfectly regulated. Depending on the crime and your condition,
Herodotus is considered the father of history. However, his importance goes beyond the simple narration of events; His interests embraced different areas such as philosophy, geography, biology or anthropology. Born in Halicarnassus around 485 B.C. Within an aristocratic family, the life of the young
«Teutoburg Forest, year 9 after Christ. Three Roman legions advance towards Germania. The largest army in the world runs into a multitude of rebellious tribes. The Romans called them barbarians. That encounter changed the course of history. This is how the series Barbarians is presented (Netflix), a
The archaeological area of Pompeii, the city destroyed in 79 by the eruption of Vesuvius, never ceases to amaze and this Saturday the discovery of a thermopoly has been reported , the place where food and drink were served to the inhabitants, intact and decorated and with still remains of food, wh
For many centuries, Rome was the civilization par excellence in most of the known world, however, as it is popularly said higher towers fell and this is precisely what happened to the Empire in Hispania and in the rest of its territories. . If we have to go back to past times, it can be said that ma
First of all, we should specify that we will ask our Roman friend about these three emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty who ruled during the first century because they are considered an example of cruelty and depravity. Me:For us, who live in the 21st century, the emperors Tiberius, Caligula an
If a few days ago I was able to interview a Roman from the 1st century to ask him what he thought of Tiberius, Caligula and Nero, today I have dared to take a trip back in time (to the year 80) and attend the inauguration of the Flavian amphitheatre, later known as the Colosseum . Emperor Vespasian
Setting aside Mein Kampf of Hitler and the Red Book of Mao Zedong , because their figures must be quarantined and, in addition, it was mandatory to acquire them, today we will deal with the best-selling book in all of history:the Bible. In no case will I judge its content, I will simply deal with th
Hasdrubal the Beotarch He has gone down in history as the last Carthaginian commander who faced Rome, fiercely defending his city until it was taken by assault by the troops of Scipio Emiliano . As happened with many other of the great men of Carthage, oblivion engulfed him for centuries, but he w
During the Republic, an eminently agricultural society, the base of the legions was made up of free citizens who worked their land in times of peace and were recruited in times of war. But that part-time army model was clearly insufficient to attend to the innumerable and prolonged campaigns of conq
Entry taken from the book The Plantagenets Two of the best-known monarchs of the Middle Ages in Europe were Alfonso X the Wise of Castile and Edward I of England, known as the Hammer of the Scots. In the blog and in some collaboration on other pages there are several entries dedicated to the famous
He lives with his memories among hundreds of photographs, most of them from the years of German occupation. Everywhere in his house - on the walls, the furniture, the drawers - there are black and white windows, through which he faces the history of his life and his beloved city, Thessaloniki. I
A month ago we talked about Zaleuco de Locria as a politician who took responsibility, as legislator and father, to the fullest extent of it. Today we have Carondas from Catania which, being a disciple of Zaleuco, is quite a statement of intent. Carondas was a Greek lawgiver who made the laws of Ca
Had the delinquent file existed in the times of Felipe II, the one with which telecommunications companies threaten you for non-payment of one euro, whether it is legal or illegal debt, the name of the Spanish king would have appeared in first place since 1557, the year in which he declared the susp