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The dominant literary culture of the late 20th century loved to tear down the heroes of the past, focusing almost entirely on their flaws while belittling the virtues, beliefs, and deeds that made them worthy of admiration in the first place. I have written about this annoying tendency previously on several occasions, including here and here. In our own time, we are afflicted with a slightly different problem: cultural arbiters who know almost nothing about the great men and women who went before them, save the cherry-picked anecdotes that magically seem to support their political cause of the moment. It...

Alexander the Great was the world most feared warrior king. He died Pharaoh of Egypt and his body was a powerful political tool that enabled anyone possessing it to claim Egypt for themselves. His tomb was seen in the 4th Century AD in ancient Alexandria, and ever since people have searched hoping to find this holy grail of archaeology. Now using evidence from Alexander’s own journey through Egypt, we are perhaps close to solving one of history’s most enduring mysteries.

He became famous for his love affairs, but Casanova was also a writer, diplomat and spy. Born in Venice 300 years ago, his name still resonates around the world. Giacomo Girolamo Casanova admires his tall, slender figure in the gold-trimmed mirror as he adjusts his wig. Everything needs to be perfect as his latest lover is on her way. Oysters, venison and champagne are ready. The beauty Casanova is waiting for is enchanted by the setting. After dinner, the seducer urges her into the bedroom, where they indulge in a night of lovemaking. "Feeling that I was born for the...

The couple's once in a lifetime holiday was overshadowed when a woman died mid flight and was placed in the seat next to them. An emotional Australian couple have been left "traumatised" after they were forced to sit next to a dead woman for hours after she died suddenly mid-flight. Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin were on a Qatar Airways flight from Melbourne to Doha, en route to Venice in Italy, when a woman suddenly collapsed in the aisle after going to the toilet.

Shaun Maguire alleges Hunter Biden failed to pay his family more than $300,000 in rent in 2019, 2020 ... After his unconditional pardon from his father, Hunter Biden faces accusations that he owes former landlords more than $300,000 in unpaid rent. Shaun Maguire ... "So what happens to the $300k+ in back pay rent that Hunter Biden owes my family from 2019-2020? Is that pardoned now? Thanks Joe," Maguire wrote ... The president signed a "full and unconditional pardon" for his son Hunter on Sunday that applies to federal crimes he committed or may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014,...

Watch as Josh Gates and researchers use augmented reality to match a Macedonian funerary block from the Crypt of St. Mark to a sarcophagus found in Alexandria, suggesting the remains may belong to Alexander the Great. By reconstructing the missing blocks, they reveal the complete tomb’s appearance for the first time, confirming a precise physical fit between the sarcophagus and it's casing.Josh Gates Uncovers Alexander's Lost Tomb | Expedition Unknown | 4:09Discovery | 5.88M subscribers | 88,165 views | July 5, 2024

The mysterious location of the tomb of Alexander the Great might finally have been confirmed. Alexander the Great was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 336–323 BC and after conquering the Greek city-states he rolled over Persia founding an empire with 70 cities across three continents covering an estimated two million square miles. Now, a piece of masonry from an ancient tomb discovered in the foundations of St Mark ’s in Venice matching the dimensions of a sarcophagus in the British Museum might confirm the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great, and what’s more,...

Scientists have recreated the face of a 16th-century woman with a brick jammed into her mouth, an object apparently wedged there to stop her from eating the dead — as Italian locals believed she was a vampire. The spooky story begins at a mass grave discovered on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo, a location used as a bubonic plague quarantine in the late 1500s and 1600s. In 2006, archeological studies found some bodies that were buried centuries ago. “When they supposedly identified a vampire, one of those responsible for the plague according to popular myth at the time, they...

Filled with wonders, Marco Polo's tales are the first European account of the Silk Road. But, 700 years after the famed Venetian merchant and explorer's death, can they be trusted? Can a man who claimed to have seen a unicorn in the Indonesian island of Sumatra be trusted? This and other similarly valid questions have cast doubt on the truthfulness of Marco Polo since the 14th Century, when his book The Travels of Marco Polo became a bestseller and was translated into dozens of languages, hand-copied in countless manuscripts and available at any lavish court in Europe. Polo's tales are...

Despite costing €9 million, the campaign has been slammed by art critics and government officials.For many, Botticelli’s Venus embodies the Renaissance ideal of beauty, but have you ever wondered what that might look like today? Italy’s ministry of tourism has launched a campaign that reimagines the iconic figure as an influencer—and it has been swiftly ridiculed on social media. “Hi there, everybody. My name is Venus,” the ad’s digitally altered protagonist announced on her Instagram. “But that’s something you probably already know. I’m 30, ok maybe just a wee bit more than that… And I am a virtual influencer. What...

Some of Venice’s smaller canals have almost dried up due a prolonged spell of low tides, frustrating boat crews and bewildering tourists. The prolonged stretch of ebb tides is linked to a lingering high-pressure weather system over much of Italy, experts say. Since the canals essentially serve as streets in car-less Venice, the phenomenon of the last days has added to the challenges of everyday life in the lagoon city. Ambulance boats have had to tie up further from some destination, forcing medical crews to carry stretchers over long distances as their vessels cannot progress up canals reduced to a...

The iconic rowing boats have been left stranded after a winter of little rain and snow resulted in unusually low water levels in the canal-filled northeastern city. Concerns also have mounted that Italy could be in for another drought after last summer’s emergency, according to the outlet, which cited scientists and environmental groups. In addition to the lack of precipitation, arid conditions in Venice are being blamed on a high-pressure system, a full moon, low tides and unfavorable sea currents. Gondolas and water buses known as vaporettos have been left high and dry as a result.

The Venice High School band will not perform on Main Street at Disney World as originally planned on Nov. 12 because Disney asked the school to cover its Native American logo, the school's principal wrote in a letter sent to parents and students Thursday. The trip to the park itself was not canceled, and the school is searching for an alternative performance to take part in, Venice High Principal Zoltan Kerestely wrote. The principal said he asked Disney twice to reconsider its demand to cover the school's logo. "Our band deserves to be honored and celebrated without having to change...

An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws — evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said. The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an...

The remains of a woman's skull with a rock thrust into its jaws is evidence of the mediaeval fear of vampires, Italian anthropologists have claimed. Scientists found the skull, with its mouth agape and a large slab of rock forced into its mouth, while excavating a mass grave dating from the Middle Ages on an island near Venice. Female "vampires" were often blamed for spreading the plague epidemics through Europe, said Matteo Borrini of Florence University. Wedging a rock or brick into the mouth of a suspected vampire was a way of preventing the person from feeding on the bodies...

Venice authorities have been trying to crack down on bad behaviour for years, with so-called “angels of decorum” patrolling the streets during summer and fines in place for people caught diving into or bathing in the canals, walking around bare-chested, feeding pigeons or dropping litter. Venezia Non è Disneyland keeps a close eye on the various infractions. In late July the group shared a video of a man jumping into the Grand Canal from a bridge, narrowly missing a passing boat. Last week Brugnaro called for “10 days in jail” for a 33-year-old Scottish tourist who was caught taking a...

Tourists who do not stay overnight in hotels or seek other accommodation, will have to sign up online for the day of their visit and pay a fee that ranges from between $3 and $10.50 per day, city officials said. Those who ignore the new rules will risk fines of more than $300. More than 80 percent of visitors to Venice arrive just for the day — more than 30,000 to 40,000 people per day, Bloomberg reported. In 2019, there were more than 19 million “day-trippers” to the city. Last year, Italy’s government approved measures last year to ban large...

On the night of May 15-16, the façade of the Redentore church -- designed by Renaissance "starchitect" Andrea Palladio, and the site of perhaps the city's most famous festival -- was vandalized. A portion of the façade -- built in white Istrian stone, from what was part of the Venetian empire when the church was constructed -- was daubed in pink, with what looked like an equation scrawled on top of it. The three-square-meter area sits beneath the statue of St. Francis of Assisi, just to the right of the entrance as you ascend its famous white-stone staircase. It follows...

A woman carrying a pickaxe in broad daylight casually walked into a Los Angeles Rite Aid, stole merchandise and threatened store employees and customers, shocking video shows. The bizarre footage captured the moment the unknown woman dragged a basket full of merchandise across the floor of the Rite Aid, in Venice, California, on Thursday morning. She seems to be headed for the door, with basket and pickaxe in hand, before stopping by the counter and telling an employee she'll come back. 'I'm not f*****g around,' she says as an employee tries to ask her to stop as she makes a...

Homeless and people with low incomes will soon be housed next to the iconic and expensive Venice Beach neighborhood after the Los Angeles City Council approved last week a 136-unit apartment building. The project, which will be built on city property that is now a parking lot, will cover 2.7 acres and the Venice Dell Community project will cost $75 million.