We Can All Use Some Aletheia
In THE DEADLIEST THIEF, the next Miriam bat Isaac mystery, the scribe Esdras swears by Aletheia to have faithfully recorded and sealed in...
Caligula: “Little soldier’s boot”
Born Gaius Caesar, the third Roman emperor was nicknamed “Caligula,” meaning little soldier's boot, the diminutive form of caliga. His...
THE ORIGINAL BRAIN DRAIN
In ancient Egypt, mummification was a way to provide a place for the person’s spirit to return after death. The process began with the...
A RARE ESSENTIAL OIL
Miriam first meets Gershon, an acquaintance of her late-father, in THE DEADLIEST HATE. He was hardly the potbellied businessman she...
COME TO THE KIBOTOS
Kibotos in Greek means box. The hotel pictured here gets its name from its box-shaped waterfront. But Miriam was not referring to this...
CELEBRATE THE LIGHTHOUSE
It was on this day, August 7, in 1789 that Congress approved an act to establish and support lighthouses, beacons, buoys and public...
Binyamin leaves for Capua
A chlamys is a cloak fastened with a brooch at the neck or shoulder and wrapped around the body like a cape. Ideal for riders, it was...
Please pass the tiropita
When Miriam encounters her old friend, Nathaniel be Ruben, in a café, he asks what brings her there: To take the time to consider how...
The Herostratus Syndrome
July 21 will mark the anniversary of one of the most infamous destructions in history. On that night in 356 B.C.E., an Ephesian arsonist...