Gelimer lived from about 480 to 550 A.D. and was the ruler of the Vandal kingdom in North Africa for four years from 530 to 534. The emperor Justinian aspired to restore Roman control over the region, and to this end sent his general Belisarius to expel the barbarian trespassers. This he did. Gelimer was also captured for good measure, and transported back to Byzantium as a prize of war.
The outlines of the following story appear in Procopius’s Wars (II.12.8).
The Assyrian king Abgar V governed a region that had its capital at the city of Edessa. The exact dates of his birth and death are not known, but he apparently ruled from around 4 B.C. to 7 A.D. and again from about 15 A.D. to 30 A.D. He was an ally and friend of the Roman Empire; the emperor Augustus knew him well and valued his counsel on Near Eastern affairs.
There are some weapons that have become so identified with an era or organization that one only needs to lay eyes on them to be reminded of the same. The Soviet PPSh-41 is one such weapon. Its ribbed, chromed barrel, drum magazine, sturdy wooden stock, and downward sloping muzzle are all instantly recognizable. If an historian had to pick one infantry weapon to symbolize the Red Army of the Second World War, he would unhesitatingly pick the PPSh-41 (affectionately known as “Pah-pah-sha” to its users).
Ibn Abi Duwad was a judge (القاضي) who was born in Basra around A.D. 776. He lived during the reign of the eighth Abbasid caliph Al-Mu’tasim. An Arabic historian relates the following wise sayings of his, along with an amusing anecdote. We will relate them here.
In the year 530 the Eastern Roman (i.e., Byzantine) Empire was engaged in a limited frontier war with its traditional enemy, the Sassanid Persians. The two great empires had a long history of border clashes, as each constantly was testing the resolution of the other. One of the engagements that took place in this year was the Battle of Dara, and it was fought in what is now eastern Georgia in the Caucasus mountains.
Peroz I (or Pirouz) was a Persian king who wore the royal diadem from about A.D. 459 to 484. The Greek historian Procopius (I.4.18) relates a great fable about him and his pearl, which we will reproduce here. As is often the case with these enchanting old tales, the reader will be asked to suspend his credulity as to the fable’s literal truth, while being mindful of its deeper purpose as a moral exemplar.
The compound known as “Greek fire” was the Byzantine navy’s secret weapon. It was a flammable liquid hydrocarbon that could be blown through tubes, thrown in sealed pots, or poured on the heads of soldiers attacking fortifications. Its precise composition was a state secret; and this was kept so well that even now we are not certain of its ingredients.
Everyone has heard of Charles Lindbergh, but only the most dedicated student of early aviation history would recognize the name Charles Nungesser. But he came close to beating Lindbergh across the Atlantic; and if we may believe the optimistic speculations of some, it is possible he may even have been the first to “cross” the Atlantic by air.
Justice, as we all know, does not always win out in the end. Sometimes the wicked escape unpunished for their crimes, for a variety of reasons. This seems to have been what happened with one strange murder case I read about recently. It is notable for the involvement of the future president John Adams in the affair, as well as for the role that politics can play in criminal trials.
The first of the Seljuk sultans was Togrul Beg. Of him Edward Gibbon said, “It would be superfluous to praise the valour of a Turk; and the ambition of Togrul was equal to his valour.” This is a supreme compliment, and entirely true. By the time of his death in 1063 he had firmly laid the foundations for the Seljuk Empire in the Middle East and Central Asia.
Quintus Curtius 
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