The Great Persecution is the third of the general persecutions, so named by eyewitnesses because of its violence in Palestine. It was also the longest:launched by four imperial decrees promulgated from February 303 to February 304, it was still not completed in 315 in the province of Asia, even if i
From the beginning, Christianity was preached in Greek, the international language, but also the language of culture of the time. The theology was based on the Jewish translation of the Bible into Greek, the Septuagint, already enriched by lexical and conceptual borrowings from Hellenism. However, G
Penthesilea and Achilles In his Posthomerics , Quintus of Smyrna recounts the death of Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons and ally of the Trojans. Mounted on her swift steed, present from the wife of the god of the Wind, Penthesilea confronts Achilles, who pierces her with his spear. Gazing at the
The Master of Athens Cléon, son of an upstart tanner Son of a wealthy tannery owner, Cleon occupied the political scene after the death of Pericles and encouraged the war against Sparta. This warmongering politician, an excellent orator who knows how to manipulate his fellow citizens, is one of A
The sarcophagi unearthed in wells in Saqqara present, despite their 2,500 years, a perfect state of preservation • AFP / KHALED DESOUKI Egyptian archaeologists descend, hanging from a rope, into these narrow burial shafts, measuring up to 12 m deep. They have just discovered in one of them, on t
View of one of the Amazon burials unearthed in Russia, being excavated • INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY RAS / PRESS SERVICE. Four female Scythian warriors, buried 2,500 years ago in an ancient cemetery in present-day Russia, lay in one tomb with all their weapons and equipment. Their remains have just
In the canonical Gospels, Pilate proposes to the Jews to free either Jesus or Barabbas, an imprisoned activist. The name of bar-abbas , the Son of the Father, tends to make him appear as the double of Jesus Christ, proclaimed Son of God, and as a counter-model, which led the Fathers of the Church to
Formatted in the 320s-380s, the Acts of Pilate chronicles the death and resurrection of Christ and functions as documentary evidence of historicity, contemporaneous with the events. They are also known as the Gospel of Nicodemus (the one who got Pilate to bury Jesus). The account of the trial aims t
Caligula married in third marriage Milonia Caesonia, the only one of his wives whom he did not repudiate. She was neither aristocratic, nor beautiful, nor young, had a light reputation and was already the mother of three daughters. Caligula loved her because she was as debauched as he was. However,
In 37 AD. BC, Caligula ordered the construction of two majestic ships on Lake Nemi, 30 kilometers south of Rome. Moored on the banks of the lake, they were not intended for navigation. It is believed that they served as places of entertainment for the use of the emperor and his court, but also as a
Marble portrait of the Roman Emperor Caligula. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Caligula considered himself the equal of the gods. Thus, it seemed natural to him to make the Temple of Castor and Pollux, on the Forum of Rome, an extension of his own palace, a place in whic
One day, to subdue her lovers pride, the queen tells him that she is capable of spending 10 million sesterces for a single dinner. The following night, she organizes a banquet, splendid indeed, but no more than usual. Comes the moment of the dessert. Cleopatra then asks for a cup of vinegar. She tak
Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest living religions in the world, and many aspects of its worship, such as the importance of fire or the sacred drink, haoma , have survived to this day. Others had to be abandoned, such as the funerary practice of letting birds emaciate the bodies of the deceased.
Character identified with Zarathustra. Detail from The School of Athens, by Raphël. 1509. Vatican • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Some words attract the ear. Zarathustra is one of them with its dazzling sounds. Whether it is called Zarathustra or Zoroaster in Europe, Zardosht in Iran, it fascinates. Intelle
The burial chamber of Tutankhamun, pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and son-in-law of Nefertiti, at Luxor, in the Valley of the Kings. • BRIDGEMAN IMAGES/LEEMAGE Has a mysterious chamber, hidden near the tomb of Tutankhamun (1332-1323 BC), the most famous of the pharaohs of Egypt, buried in the Valle
Aerial view of Falerii Novi, near Rome, with the indication of the main buildings identified • AFP Radars are definitely making a spectacular breakthrough in archaeology. In Italy, about fifty kilometers from Rome, without the slightest blow of a pickaxe, an entire city has been mapped using cut
Which is more real, death or life? A natural cataclysm that comes like a thief or the deceptive sweetness of everyday life? In Pompeii, a thin film of cooled ash separates the sun from the night. Men, women and children, surprised in the moment that we pick, petrified for two millennia, impose their
Remains of the port of Lutèce with, in the background, the virtual reconstruction of the Gallo-Roman quays • ARCHAEOLOGICAL CRYPT OF THE ILE DE LA CITÉ / PRESS SERVICE In the heart of Paris, under the forecourt of Notre-Dame Cathedral, the archaeological crypt of the Île de la Cité reopened its
In 476, the Skire Odoacer deposed the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and sent his regalia to Constantinople. For many historians, like André Piganiol in the last century, it was the end of the West. We believe, for our part, that this destruction was the result of a slow process that beg
Arriving from northern Italy, the Visigoths hoped to reach Africa. On August 24, 410, they entered Rome after having besieged it. Good Christians, if we are to believe Saint Augustine, although Arians, they robbed, raped and killed less than the others. The hoped-for ships not being there when they
Born in 1599 - Died in Nantes in 1626. A 17th century gentleman, master of Louis XIIIs wardrobe, and his favourite. He leads a disorderly and inconsistent life. Lover of the Duchess of Chevreuse, he first conspired against Richelieu and the king but was forgiven, on the condition of pushing Gaston
The day of October 4, the first day of battle, is disappointing. On my right, the attack of the 1st D.B. against Le Thillot was based on the combination of three actions leading to the encirclement of the locality:• Lieutenant-Colonel Faures paratroopers were to engage , to the right of the American
The term witch, feminine of sorcerer, derives from the Vulgar Latin sortiarius , the “spell-teller”. In the collective imagination, witchcraft is associated with the Middle Ages, women and the pact with the devil, which should be strongly qualified. If the witch hunt does indeed begin in the 15thth
THOMAS B. McGUIRE Eight Behind Thomas B. McGuire Jr. was born on August 1, 1920, in San Antonio (Texas). After being commissioned in February 1942, he was assigned to the air fleet based in Alaska where encounters with Japanese aircraft were rather rare. In March 1943, he joined the 49th Fighter G