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Gladiator Mosaic 320-30 AD Villa Borghese Despite what Hollywood would have you believe, gladiators were not given random weapons, sent into the arena and told to fight. When someone became a gladiator, they were assigned a specific type and style of fighting and practiced it constantly. A specific type of gladiator only fought another specific type of gladiator as determined by well established rules. These pairings were intend...

The weapons used by pirates throughout the ages are as unique and varied as the pirates themselves. The weapons from Roman Empire times would be completely different than those used by pirates in China 1000 years later. Generally though, when people say “pirate” they are referring to the pirates that plagued the Caribbean from the late 1500’s to the early 1800’s. Pirates of this time were experts at exploiting the wea...

Going on an AdventureSome might say that young Bilbo Baggins was ill prepared for the dangers of the great wide world when he set off from the familiar safety of his comfortable armchair and lovely feather bed at his ancestral home of Bag End nestled in the rolling hills of the Shire. They may have been right. It wasn't until nearly making his way into the stew of three nasty trolls along with his dwarven companions that he would find the means t...