Definitions

The Mercenary War, or Truceless War, was a brutal conflict fought between Carthage and its mutinous soldiers from 241 to 237 BCE, during a lull in the Punic Wars. When Carthage's mercenary soldiers were denied the payment that they had been...

The Russian Civil War (1917-22) began shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917. The Bolsheviks (the Reds) immediately found themselves in conflict with various opposition forces who disagreed with Bolshevik policies like abolishing...

Pisistratus (circa 600-527 BCE), or Peisistratus, was an ancient Greek tyrant who ruled the city-state of Athens. Initially a student of the lawgiver and political philosopher Solon, Pisistratus presented himself as the champion of the poor...

Xolotl was the dog god of the Mexica people, commonly known as the Aztecs. He is represented in codices, statuary, and other extant examples of Aztec art as a dog or a god with the head of a dog. While this figure might seem obscure, his...

The Constantinian Excerpts, or Excerpta Constantiniana is the conventional name given to the mid-10th Century Byzantine palace encyclopedia commissioned by the scholar emperor Constantine VII ‘Porphyrogenitus’ (reign 945-959). It was a work...

The Texas Revolution (Texas War of Independence, 1835 to 1836) was a conflict between the Anglo and Tejano residents of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas (Texas) and the Mexican government over state and individual rights. The rebellion...

Sultan Razia (Raziyyat-Ud-Dunya Wa Ud-Din, r. 1236-1240) was one of the few women rulers in the Indian subcontinent and the first and only female Sultan of Delhi. Despite facing Herculean challenges in a patriarchal society, Razia distinguished...

People have been sending letters to each other ever since paper and pen were invented, but it was not until 1840 that a new idea was introduced where people could prepay the cost of delivering their letter to their chosen destination using...

Charles VI (lived 1368-1422) reigned as King of France from 1380 to 1422, during an important phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against England. Known as the 'Mad King' due to his frequent bouts with psychosis, Charles often had...

Grattage is a 20th-century painting technique closely associated with the Surrealist movement. The term derives from the French verb gratter, meaning “to scrape” or “to scratch,” and refers to a method in which paint applied to a surface...