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How were a million mouths fed?
A world without refrigeration seems so distant and unimportant today, even though the refrigerator has been around for hardly more than a century. For thousands of years, our ancestors have battled the elements to ensure they could preserve food for more than a couple of days. What I want to investigate today is the ancient…
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Early Roman Banking
Early Romans, as with most early peoples, didn’t really utilize currency for trade. Commerce centered around bartering, which consisted of just trading desired items, rather than bothering with an intermediary of cash. However, as the Roman Empire and economy expanded, so did the need for a consistent medium for exchange. Thus, Roman currency was born. …
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Alexandrian Atlantis
The Portus Magnus in Alexandria, or Grand Port, was home to one of the famous Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria. Built around 280 B.C. by the Ptolemies, it was the longest-standing of the Seven Wonders, lasting into the 1300s A.D. The Lighthouse guided ships…