Celtic Warrior Cuchulainn The Celtic method of single combat in battle situations Although a large army of men and women set out to do battle, combat was primarily undertaken on a one to one basis. Warriors were chosen from each side who would engage in combat with each other. The outcome would determine which side had won or lost. This was seen to be preferable to all out combat in which many lives were lost regardless of whoever was ultimately victorious. It was considered the height of barbarism to waste human life needlessly when heroic champions were an integral part of Celtic culture and had thus been specifically trained in the warrior arts - it was the champions role to fight on behalf of many people rather than just themselves. This was how Cúchulainn came to defend Ulster single-handedly, instead of being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the army of Queen Medb of Connaught he defended his position by fighting warrior after warrior in single combat. Further Reading: Hull, E. Kinsella, T. Newark, T.
XENOPHON OF ATHENS, Constitution of the Lacedaimonians | Loeb Classical Library I. Ἀλλ᾿ ἐγὼ ἐννοήσας ποτέ, ὡς ἡ Σπάρτη τῶν ὀλιγανθρωποτάτων πόλεων οὖσα δυνατωτάτη τε καὶ ὀνομαστοτάτη ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐφάνη, ἐθαύμασα, ὅτῳ ποτὲ τρόπῳ τοῦτ᾿ ἐγένετο· ἐπεὶ μέντοι κατενόησα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν, οὐκέτι ἐθαύμαζον. 2Λυκοῦργον μέντοι τὸν θέντα αὐτοῖς τοὺς νόμους, οἷς πειθόμενοι ηὐδαιμόνησαν, τοῦτον καὶ θαυμάζω καὶ εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα σοφὸν ἡγοῦμαι. ἐκεῖνος γὰρ οὐ μιμησάμενος τὰς ἄλλας πόλεις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐναντία γνοὺς ταῖς πλείσταις προέχουσαν εὐδαιμονίᾳ τὴν πατρίδα ἐπέδειξεν. 3Αὐτίκα γὰρ περὶ τεκνοποιίας, ἵνα ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄρξωμαι, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι τὰς μελλούσας τίκτειν καὶ καλῶς δοκούσας κόρας παιδεύεσθαι καὶ σίτῳ ᾗ ἀνυστὸν μετριωτάτῳ τρέφουσι καὶ ὄψῳ ᾗ δυνατὸν μικροτάτῳ· οἴνου γε μὴν ἢ πάμπαν ἀπεχομένας ἢ ὑδαρεῖ χρωμένας διάγουσιν· ὥσπερ δὲ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν τὰς τέχνας ἐχόντων ἑδραῖοί εἰσιν, οὕτω καὶ τὰς κόρας οἱ ἄλλοι Ἕλληνες ἠρεμιζούσας ἐριουργεῖν ἀξιοῦσι. τὰς μὲν οὖν οὕτω τρεφομένας πῶς χρὴ προσδοκῆσαι μεγαλεῖον ἄν τι γεννῆσαι; I.
Language History The Origins of Language We do not know when the first human language was created, although there are several popular theories of the origin of language. We do, however, know English's relationship to many other languages and we can chart its development back perhaps 4000 years to a language we call Indo European. Look at a diagram of the Indo-European Language Family tree. An analysis of the words shared by many languages and which we believe originated with Indo-European tells us something of the conditions and environment enjoyed by these early people. In simple terms we might think of these languages as tribes who moved away from the main original family and set up home for themselves in different parts of Europe. The date of the emergence of Indo-European is less easy to estimate. From other sources we know that the Indo-Europeans were not the only language using group of their time. Return to Origins of Language
Digital Athenaeus - A digital edition of the Deipnosophists of Athenaeus of Naucratis What destroyed the library of Alexandria? Les mystères anciens ont toujours passionné. Où se trouve Agadé, la capitale du grand Sargon d'Akkad, où a été inhumée la momie d'Alexandre le Grand, la papesse Anne a-t-elle existé ou plus récemment Hitler s'est-il vraiment suicidé ? Autant de questions auxquelles ni l’archéologie ni les sources (fiabilité des écrits?) ne peuvent clairement répondre. Et puis, il y a l'irrésistible théorie du complot ! Je suis en parti « rassuré » par le fait que la malheureuse bibliothèque, fondée par Ptolémée Ier, général macédonien et successeur d’Alexandre sur le trône d’Égypte au IVè siècle av. notre ère, a été plusieurs fois détruite. Le premier accusé n'est autre que César. Le second accusé est un empereur chrétien, Théodose. Le dernier accusé est le calife Omar (584 – 644), un proche de Mahomet.
Englistory Ancient Time Keepers, Part 3: Archaeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy is the study of how people in the ancient past have understood and used the phenomena in the sky, and what role the sky played in their cultures. Ancient monuments and writings from around the world are undeniable proof that thousands of years ago people had advanced astronomical knowledge. We propose that in fact all ancient sites of any major significance were constructed in order to allow astronomical observations and time tracking – and often, as the record/expression of their knowledge. In this article we explore connections of famous ancient sites to astronomy (Note: In Part 4 we explain ancient calendars and units of measure.) Sun-god Viracocha from the Gate of the Sun (Puerta del Sol), Tiwanacu. The frieze on the gate serves as a calendar and provides “instructions” how to use 11 pillars on the nearby structure called the “calendar wall”. Stonehenge – an ancient observatory (2900 BCE) The heliocentric universe was known in antiquity Nabta, Egypt Stonehenge, England
Carpatho-Rusyn Society