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Chariot Racing in Ancient Rome
Chariot racing was very big business in ancient Rome. There was a whole industry built around the factions, the four professional stables known by their team colour – Blue, Green, Red, and White –, providing all that was required for a race...
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Horse Racing by Manet
An 1872 oil on canvas painting, Horse Racing, by Edouard Manet (1832-83), the French modernist painter. The was a work commissioned by a racing enthusiast. Manet was a frequent race-goer himself, particularly the races held at the Bois de...
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Cynisca of Sparta
Cynisca of Sparta (b. c. 440 BCE) was a Spartan royal princess who became the first female Olympic champion. Defying the traditional role of women in ancient Greece, she competed in the Olympic Games alongside the men and won. Her triumph...
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Mosaic with Chariot-racing Scene
Mosaic depicting a quadriga of the factio russata (‘the Reds,’ representing the summer), 3rd century CE, from Rome. (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid)
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Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo (14-19th century CE) was located on the western coast of central Africa in modern-day DR of Congo and Angola. Prospering on the regional trade of copper, ivory, and slaves along the Congo River, the kingdom's wealth was...
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Dogs & Their Collars in Ancient Rome
Dogs were highly valued in ancient Rome, as they were in other cultures, and the Roman dog served many of the same purposes as it did in, say, Egypt and Persia - as hunters, guardians, and companions - but with a significant difference in...
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Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) was a French impressionist painter who used many different media to capture dancers, bathers, horse races, and scenes from Parisian café society. A keen photographer, Degas' paintings frequently show real-life captured...
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Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk Evacuation of 26 May to 4 June 1940, known as Operation Dynamo, was the attempt to save the British Expeditionary Force in France from total defeat by an advancing German army. Nearly 1,000 naval and civilian craft of all kinds...
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Legacy of the Ancient Romans
The legacy of the ancient Romans – from both the time of the Roman Republic (509-27 BCE) and the time of the Roman Empire (27 BCE - 476 CE) – exerted a significant influence on succeeding cultures and is still felt around the world in the...
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A Brief History of the Dog Collar
The dog collar, so often taken for granted, has a long and illustrious history. Anyone fortunate enough to share their life with a dog in the present day is participating in an ancient tradition every time they place a collar around their...