Category: Facts from My Fiction

Reblogging: True Kilts: Debunking the Myths About Highlanders and Clan Tartans

Today, a man’s pride in his Scottish heritage is often asserted by wearing a kilt made of his clan tartan—a fabric woven with the specific plaid pattern that is claimed by his family. You might assume with kilts being such an important piece of Scottish tradition that the clan tartans are several millennia old, or at least go back to the Medieval Period. But you would be wrong.

True Kilts: Debunking the Myths About Highlanders and Clan Tartans

Reblogging: The Roman Empire’s Worst Plagues Were Linked to Climate Change

When the sea temperature decreased or increased, the species of dinoflagellates in the ancient seawater also changed, and the researchers could determine climate changes from the species’ distinctive cysts. By analyzing the fossils in different layers of the sediments, the team reconstructed the “paleoclimate” of southern Italy between about 200 B.C.E. and C.E. 600, with a resolution of roughly three years.

The reconstructions show that cooler periods—which had average temperatures as much as three degrees Celsius lower than the highs of preceding centuries for decades at a time—coincided with Roman reports of major pandemics: the Antonine Plague, from about C.E. 165 to 180; the Plague of Cyprian, from about C.E. 215 to 266; and a pandemic that began with the Plague of Justinian, from about C.E. 541 to 549, and ultimately lasted until C.E. 766.

The Roman Empire’s Worst Plagues Were Linked to Climate Change | Scientific American

Ave, Canem

If you read Pompeii Fire, you’ll remember a character called Buon-Cane; he was also Invictus during the historical chapters. Buon-Cane/Invictus was a dog who lived in the Pompeii ruins; he was based on the dog in this photo, Argo. Argo followed me all over the village and kept me (and many others over the years) company in the archaeological park. In the photo above, Argo had kept my group company up all the stairs to the top row of the theatre, and was sleeping behind me in the sun.

Today, the staff at the Pompeii Archaeological Park shared that Argo, who was more than 15 years old, has left us. People are sharing their fond memories of him on Facebook, and I also wanted to honor him here.

He really was a good dog. Rest well, Argo; I am sure that your spirit walks among many others in Pompeii.