Tag: history

Alexandria to Constantinople: Traveling the Roman World

Say I wanted to get from Alexandria, Egypt, to Constantinople, I don’t trust boats, and it’s 1800 years ago. Well, instead of mapping it with Google I’d have to use ORBIS instead. ORBIS tells me that it would take two and a half months and cost me 3000 denarii (about $30,000).

Route from Alexandria to Constantinopolis during the time of the Roman Empire (about 200CE). Map by ORBIS.

Which seems like a bit much. But, since I absolutely have to get to the capital, I think I’ll price out a coastal boat route. That reduces the price by 80%, and the time to three weeks.

If I was really cheap, and was willing to risk the open Mediterranean, the time could be chopped down to less than two weeks, at a cost of only 374 denarii.

In ORBIS, Walter Scheidel and Elijah Meeks have created a fascinating resource for the study of the geography and history of Roman civilization.

Tavern Rock Cave

Tavern Rock Cave.

Note to self: The Tavern Rock Cave, where Meriwether Lewis almost fell to his death, is 45 minutes from the St. Albans Lake (walking at a fair pace mind you), not “just 20”, no matter what the students claim.

It’s a little tricky to get to, and we couldn’t spend more than a few minutes there because of the longer than expected walk, but it’s a nice place to visit because of the history and beautiful geology (jointed limestone and dolomite outcrops; scree slopes at the angle of repose; Ordovician fossil imprints).

Rapelling down an overgrown scree slope.

P.S. The National Park Service has an excellent site on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that includes maps, their itinerary, and a long list of sites they visited.

Seeds of Change: Cotton

Andrew Sullivan compiles some interesting commentary on the extent of global cotton production (40% of all agricultural land), and the argument that all this production for cheap clothes is exacerbating hunger problems around the world.

Note: the history of cotton makes for a fascinating read.

Where cotton comes from? "There grew there a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungrie" - Mandeville (1350). (Image via Wikipedia)

The Last 100 Years: World History as Seen from the U.S.

YouTube user derDon1234 has compiled an interesting video montage of historical events over the last 100 years. derDon1234 makes some interesting choices about what to show — condensed into 10 minutes — but it’s a valuable perspective, with some fascinating and poignant video. It’s worth a look.

Seeds of Change: Sunflowers

Sunflowers originated in the Americas, but for a long time, especially in the 1800’s, has been planted and used a lot more in Eurasia. Today, a lot more is being produced in the U.S., because the potato chip industry prefers sunflower oil to the partially hydrogenated oils that their customers believe are healthier. Dan Charles’ story on NPR traces some of this history.

Impressions of Monet

Nympheas, by Claude Monet. Image via Wikipedia.

We took the middle and high school to see the Monet Water Lilies exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum today. It was a nice tour; we saw some paintings, and we learned a little something about the impressionists.

One thought that occurred to me during an interesting conversation on the bus back to school, was how the development of abstract thinking skills affects our perception of the more abstract art. After all, it usually requires more effort to appreciate, understand and become affected a piece the more abstract it is. Which would suggest that art appreciation would be useful practice for adolescents who are honing their higher-level cognitive skills.

The tour also left me with one unanswered question, however: are we seeing fog or smog in Monet’s painting of the Charing Cross Bridge in London.

Charing Cross Bridge by Monet. Image via Wikipedia.

London is famous for its fogs, but this painting was done in 1899, well into the industrial revolution, and the yellow tints suggest a pea-souper.