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FeaturedFamilial power meets politics – Divorce in Ancient Rome
When Marcus Portius Cato (better known as Cato the Younger), decided to divorce Marcia, mother to his two children, it might have come as quite a shock. The two were, for all intents and purposes, happily married. Why divorce Marcia if their marriage was a happy one? Cato’s aging friend Quintus Hortensius Hortalus was in… Read more
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The thick of it: Delving into the neglected global impacts of human waste
Though little talked about, our species has a monumental problem disposing of its human waste. A recent modeling study finds that wastewater adds around 6.2 million tons of nitrogen to coastal waters worldwide per year, contributing significantly to harmful algal blooms, eutrophication and ocean dead zones. The study mapped 135,000 watersheds planetwide and found that… Read more
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Rome and the age of the self-castrating beaver
Ever tried to catch a beaver? You may have been surprised when the little critter stopped, cast you a withering look before gnawing its testicles off, offering them up like a bizarre trophy. If you were alive in the times of Ancient Rome, you may well have gobbled up this loopy tale, hook, line and… Read more
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The Romans in Switzerland: Eburodunum
Switzerland, the year is 325 AD. Constant attacks by the Alemanni tribes to the north have the occupying Romans on edge. Several decades before, between 259-275, the Roman colonia of Aventicum was sacked and almost destroyed in its entirety. Around the same time, the settlement at Yverdons was ravaged. Many other settlements suffered a similar… Read more
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Sean Mowbray 