POSEIDON RULES THE SEA WITH HIS TRIDENT
Why a trident? Scholars disagree on the meaning of Poseidon’s trident: Because the sea is one of the three parts of the world (sea, land,...
Miriam Escapes a Reptilian Attacker
In THE DEADLIEST FEVER, Miriam ventures once again into The Pegasus, a sleazy waterfront inn, to investigate the death of a sea captain....
LINGER UNDER THE FRONDS OF A DATE PALM
Date palms have existed for at least 50 million years and have been a food staple of the Middle East for thousands of years. In Miriam’s...
Piracy in the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire
There is a story about Julius Caesar being kidnapped by Cilician pirates almost 100 years before Miriam’s time. He thought the ransom...
How did the Romans reckon high noon? Well, it’s complicated…
In THE DEADLIEST SPORT, Miriam describes what it was like to enter the claustrophobic lanes of the Rhakotis quarter, the underbelly of...
Why the “Ides of March”?
The Romans didn’t number the days of the month. Instead they identified three special days: The first day of the month, the Calends; the...
A LETTER FROM CAESAREA
This painting in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples of a richly dressed Pompeian woman bringing a stylus to her mouth and...
CHOOSING EPHESUS
I looked at Ephesus, a major center of commerce in Asia Minor, as a possible city of importance for THE DEADLIEST FEVER. Because Paul...
THE SPIRIT OF RABIES
Rabies has been with us since earliest times. Aristotle noted that rabies affects dogs and any animal the afflicted dog bites. And it has...