When Napoleon Became King of Italy
Fittingly, the year that Napoleon was finally beaten conclusively at Waterloo was also the year Otto von Bismarck was born: 1815. His childhood, just like that of most Germans growing up at the time, was heavily coloured by stories of the struggle against the French. When Napoleon’s army inflicted a humiliating defeat on Prussia in the twin battles
... See moreKatja Hoyer • Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire
On the one hand, after the dramatic fall of Tarquinius Superbus, kings were an object of hatred for the rest of Roman history. To be accused of wanting to be rex was a political death sentence for any Roman; and no Roman emperor would ever countenance being called a king, even though some cynical observers wondered what the difference was.
Mary Beard • SPQR
The Romans versus Alexander the Great
Mary Beard • SPQR
“In 1909, F.T. Marinetti published his incendiary Futurist Manifesto, proclaiming, “We stand on the last promontory of the centuries!!” and “There, on the earth, the earliest dawn!” Intent on delivering Italy from “its fetid cancer of professors, archaeologists, tour guides, and antiquarians,” the Futurists imagined that art, architecture, literatu... See more
Laura Wittman • Futurism: An Anthology (2009)
Militarily, Napoleon’s expedition into Egypt was a failure, but as an effort at the cross-fertilization of disparate cultures it was a resounding success. Napoleon took with him into Egypt an excellent library and 175 scholars who observed, sketched, and collected linguistic and cultural information. This effort ultimately resulted in the publicati
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