The Mongols have a terrible reputation for their brutality and atrocities. Today, I want to make the argument that what they did, given the circumstances and the constraints they were under, was actually logical and understandable. The World of the Steppe The Mongols are a steppe people. The steppe is

For the longest time, China was the civilized civilization par excellence in the world. It gave us all the great inventions that would make modernity possible, including the compass, paper, printmaking, and gunpowder. But after the Song Dynasty, which is about the year 1200, China seemed to stop being creative.

Today, we will look at Islam, focusing on the Islamic Golden Age. We will explore three major questions: 1. While Europe was in its Dark Ages, Islam embarked on its Golden Age. How did this divergence happen? 2. What ended the Islamic Golden Age? Why did this period come to

Today we continue our look at the Vikings, specifically their worldview and cultural system. I believe that Viking culture is truly one of the outstanding cultures in Western civilization. The problem, however, is that we know very little about it for several reasons. First, they were purposefully an oral tradition.

The Vikings are extremely interesting, and I believe that they are one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood European cultures in the Western tradition. There are two main pillars: the Greco-Romans and the Judeo-Christians. The four traditions—the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews, and the Christians—have been

The Byzantine Empire is considered the continuation of the Roman Empire in Eastern Europe. The Holy Roman Empire is considered the continuation of the Roman Empire in Western Europe. When we think about the Holy Roman Empire in the West, we think of the famous Voltaire quotation. Voltaire was a

Today we are examining the Byzantine Empire, and I will be looking at three questions. 1. Why do we have the Byzantine Empire? Historically, we have seen the Byzantine Empire as a continuation of the Roman Empire. We have the Byzantine Empire because Constantine the Great, in 330 CE, transferred

There is a country in the world today that purposefully modeled itself after Rome: the United States of America. The similarities between Rome and the United States are very striking. Both of these societies were, in their time, the most powerful nations. Rome dominated the Western world for centuries, and

To better understand human history, what's happening in the world today, and to be able to predict the future, we must build on what we've learned. If you have been following current events, there are now three major conflicts in the world. The Three Major Conflicts

There are secrets, mysteries, and paradoxes embedded in Dante's Divine Comedy. The ultimate secret of the universe is that we are in God and God is in us. This breaks apart the idea of the Holy Trinity. The idea of the Holy Trinity is an equation that makes