The Xiongnu: Rival Empire of Han China
Long before the Mongols, the Xiongnu forged a vast steppe empire that became the primary rival of Han Dynasty China. Discover the nomadic warriors whose fearsome raids prompted the expansion…
Connecting the dots across time
Long before the Mongols, the Xiongnu forged a vast steppe empire that became the primary rival of Han Dynasty China. Discover the nomadic warriors whose fearsome raids prompted the expansion…
Venture beyond the familiar pyramids of Egypt to discover the ancient city of Meroë, the powerhouse of the Kushite Kingdom in modern-day Sudan. Here, steep-sided pyramids guard the tombs of…
After a century of bloody civil war, Japan's Tokugawa shoguns enforced over 250 years of uninterrupted peace. This 'Long Peace' was achieved through a masterful, and ruthless, system of control,…
In the glittering court of Heian Japan, a sudden illness wasn't a biological event, but a spiritual attack by a 'mononoke'—a vengeful spirit of the living or dead. Born from…
Long before the Inca, Peru's northern coast was ruled by the Chimú Empire from their vast adobe city, Chan Chan. Discover a sophisticated civilization of master metalsmiths, innovative potters, and…
For nearly a century, Christianity flourished in samurai-era Japan, converting powerful lords and commoners alike in a dramatic encounter between East and West. Discover the fascinating story of this "Kirishitan"…
The story of the Kingdom of Kongo and Portugal begins not with conquest, but with a unique partnership between two powerful states on opposite sides of the world. Discover how…
The age of the great pyramids ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, brought on by a perfect storm of causes. The slow decay of the pharaoh's power…
Before sterile museum halls, Renaissance princes and scholars created "Cabinets of Curiosities", or *Wunderkammern*. These spectacular rooms were microcosms of the world, filled with everything from narwhal tusks passed off…
While Europe was in its "Dark Ages", the city of Baghdad ignited a golden age of learning. The Abbasid Translation Movement was a massive, state-sponsored effort to gather the world's…
Long before the U.S. Constitution, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy created a sophisticated blueprint for peace and democratic rule known as the Great Law of Peace. This oral tradition, brought by a…
Before Adam Smith, France's first economists, the Physiocrats, offered a radical vision for a kingdom on the brink of collapse. They argued that all wealth came from the land and…
Before its brutal annihilation by the Qing Dynasty, the Dzungar Khanate was the last great nomadic empire to shake the foundations of Eurasia. Fusing traditional steppe warfare with modern gunpowder…
Before Confucianism became the celebrated philosophy of China, a far more ruthless school of thought held sway. This was Legalism, the harsh and pragmatic ideology that empowered Qin Shi Huang…
Long dismissed as a fantasy from the historian Herodotus, the story of a Persian king digging a canal through a Greek peninsula was a powerful myth. But modern archaeology, using…
Before the internet and overnight shipping, the Roman Empire had its own information superhighway: the Cursus Publicus. This state-run postal and transport system was a marvel of logistics, using an…
Venture beyond the opulent halls of the Doge's Palace and into the shadowy corridors of Venetian power. The Secret Itineraries tour uncovers a hidden world of clandestine archives, unnerving interrogation…
The 11th-century Doukas dynasty of the Byzantine Empire is a textbook case of a family that gained the world but lost its soul—and nearly the entire empire with it. Their…
In 1309, the unthinkable happened: the Papacy abandoned Rome. This move to Avignon, France, initiated a 70-year "Babylonian Captivity" marked by political manipulation, opulent corruption, and a scandal that would…
Founded in the 12th century by the visionary King David IV, the Gelati Academy in Georgia became a beacon of learning known as the "New Athens." This intellectual powerhouse on…