Opening an athletic magazine today we are met with diets, supplements, and energy boosters, all designed with excelling at a particular sport in mind. Gone are the days of the well-rounded gentleman athlete that Baron Pierre de Coubertin had in mind when he sought to re-establish the Olympic Games in 1894. The amateurs those…

The pankration (το παγκρατιον) was quite possibly the most dangerous and physically demanding of all ancient Olympic events. It was a no holds barred martial art, save for two rules: no biting and no eye-gouging. The Spartans, we are told, permitted even biting and gouging as they saw the sport as training for live…

A few days ago, a reader by the name of John wanted to know about the historicity of the swords used in the 2006 film 300 about the Persian Wars (Q&A here). I thought I’d dwell for a little longer on this topic, because swords in ancient Greek warfare are a funny…

The Caveman Diet, also known as the Paleodiet or the Stone Age Diet, came to prominence in a world where carbohydrates were being proclaimed the most evil macronutrient in the world. As a historical diet (fallacy #1) with very little carbohydrate (fallacy #2) it was touted as the “natural” human diet (fallacy #3). But,…

Every now and then a news story comes to light about the so-called Celtic mummies of China. The story has been making rounds for most of this century, from scientific conferences to ABCNews.

Without detracting from the wonder that is the Cherchen mummies, let’s set the record straight concerning the Celticness of these…