Britons and Celts
The Death of Walter Raleigh
“He took a pipe of tobacco a little before he went to the scaffold, which some formal persons were scandalized at, but I think ‘twas well and properly done, to settle his spirits.” […]
Justice
Greek and Roman
Origins of Spartan Civilization
“The Lacedaemonians, by observing the laws of Lycurgus, from a lowly people grew to be the most powerful among the Greeks and maintained the leadership among the Greek states for over four hundred years, but after that time, as they little by little began to relax each one of the institutions and to turn to luxury and indifference, and as they grew so corrupted as to use coined money and to amass wealth, they lost the leadership.” […]
Greek and Roman
Get Rich Quick or Go Blind Trying
“They all agreed that the counsel was excellent; and casting lots, the chance fell upon the contriver of the expedient; whose eyes they immediately put out.” […]
Supernatural
The Werewolves of God’s Wrath
“Later these clansmen did suffer a fitting and severe though very marvelous punishment, for it is told that all the members of that clan are changed into wolves for a period and roam through the woods feeding upon the same food as wolves, but they are worse than wolves, for in all their wiles they have the wit of men.” […]
Greek and Roman
Choose Thy Fate Alone
“The other assented, and, by the direction of his friend, proceeded to draw blood from his right arm. “I,” said the latter, “will drink of thy blood, and thou of mine; so that neither in prosperity nor in adversity shall our covenant be broken, and whatsoever the one gains, shall be divided by the other.” The foolish knight agreed; and they ratified the treaty by a draught of each other’s blood.” […]
Medieval Mentality
One Hell of a Pinch
“Then Saint Lawrence gripped Stephen in the side and pinched him very hard.” […]
Greek and Roman
Undone by a Bull of his own Making
“The king highly applauded the invention, and said, “Friend, the value of thy industry is yet untried: more cruel even than the people account me, thou thyself shalt be the first victim.”” […]
History
The Role of a King
“Nevertheless, a king must be allowed to seek diversion now and then, either with hawks, hounds, horses, or weapons, so that his health and agility at arms or in any form of warfare may be preserved.” […]
Supernatural
A Damned Contract
“When these two wicked parties contracted with one another , Doctor Faustus took a penknife, pricked open a vein in his left hand, drained his blood into a crucible, set it on some hot coals and wrote as here followeth.” […]
Britons and Celts
No Respect in Death
“After every gentle shower, there exudes real, and as it were recent, blood, as though it were evidently proclaiming by this circumstance, that the voice of so much Christian gore still cries to the Lord from the ground, which hath opened her mouth, and drunk in that blood at the hands of Christian brethren.” […]