Greek and Roman
A Satiated Tyrant
“For by driving away the flies now saturated with my blood, I should afford an opportunity to those that were empty and hungry to supply their place. ” […]
Governance
History
Humble Servants of the King
“Some prefer being at court to living in the country (though in the king’s service their labor is as burdensome, or more so) because, though they are of excellent kinship, they have little wealth and cannot engage in trade on account of their poverty.” […]
Humor
A King and his Chum
“In reply to Your Majesty’s writing to me concerning the white ceremonial robes: “How many days should I keep on wearing them?” the king should wear them on the 20th and the 21st; two days are more than enough. On the 22nd he can dress normally.” […]
History
An Army of Thieves
“Hence, whenever he saw anyone who was a thief or a robber, but who was strong of arm and well-suited to warfare, he forgave him his just punishment, and sent him to the suburbs of Merseberg, where he distributed lands and arms, ordering these men to commit no depredations on their fellow-citizens but to practice their robberies upon the barbarians as much as they dared.” […]
Britons and Celts
A Picture of Victory
“You are surely not fitly placed here among the dead. Many an Englishman lies bloody and mingled with the dead, but yet sound, or only wounded and besmeared with gore; tarrying of his own accord, and meaning to rise at night, and escape in the darkness. They would delight to take their revenge, and would sell their lives dearly; no one of them caring who killed him afterwards, if he but slew a Norman first; for they say we have done them much wrong.” […]
Greek and Roman
The Devil You Know
“”When I was a girl, and governed by a tyrant, I wished for his removal, and presently we obtained a worse instead. Having got rid of him, a worse still succeeded.” […]
History
The Path of the Exile
“The whole band of warriors was obliged to escort him to a dense wood and wait on the edge of the wood while he withdrew from them and pursued his course into some dark wilderness where he was unable to hear the din of their shouting.” […]
History
Kill the Body to Save the Soul
“He strove by every means to lead them into the true path, now by gentle persuasion, now by forcing them to it by the impact of war.” […]
Britons and Celts
A Noble and Ignoble Outlaw
“It is asserted by the credible relation of many persons, the walls of the church which he had seized and of the adjoining cloister exuded real blood, by which, as it afterwards appeared, was signified, as well the heinousness of his crime as its impending punishment.” […]
Orient
Legacy of a Goddess
“It is for these reasons, in fact, that it was ordained that the queen should have greater power and honour than the king and that among private persons the wife should enjoy authority over her husband, the husbands agreeing in the marriage contract that they will be obedient in all things to their wives.” […]