Tag Archives: politics

Pax Romana: Augustus to Nero

The Pax Romana had been in progress for eight decades on July 19, A.D. 64. A fire started in a retail district near Rome’s Circus Maximus. It was a windy night. The fire spread. Fast. The Great Fire of Rome … Continue reading

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Queen Elizabeth II of England: Historical Perspective

(From British Ministry of Information, via Chicago History Museum and Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)(Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. (April 1945)) My news feed has been full of the usual stuff: war and rumors of war, … Continue reading

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Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus,” Freedom, Censorship and Speculation

Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Sir Francis Bacon and Queen Elizabeth I all lived in England during the late 1500s. An odd lot of history and literature buffs have said that Marlowe, Bacon or someone else wrote Shakespeare’s plays. I suspect … Continue reading

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History, Viewpoints, Narratives and Ancient Rome

(From Giovanni Paolo Panini, via Staatsgalerie, Stutgard/Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)(Giovanni Paolo Panini’s “Ancient Rome” — an 18th century view. (1754-1757)) “…Naiad airs have brought me homeTo the glory that was Greece,And the grandeur that was Rome….”(“To Helen,” Edgar Allen … Continue reading

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Wagner, Servant of Faustus: What’s He Doing in the Play?

I’d like to say that my ‘Marlowe’s Faustus’ series follows some grand scheme, marching down a well-organized path toward a profound conclusion. But it doesn’t, so I won’t. I started re-reading Christopher Marlowe’s “The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,” a … Continue reading

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