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They were built as focal points on the highest ground of every city in Greece and the conquered territories around the Mediterranean.

the remains of Greek cities can be found in Italy, Sicily, and Turkey

Greeks built their temples, amphitheaters, and other major public buildings with limestone and marble. Blocks of stone were held in place by bronze or iron pins set into molten lead — a flexible system that could withstand earthquakes.

What made me so mad was that she didn't get her name on a gravestone.  I wanted her to be remembered as more than just the general's wife and more than just in my memories.  She taught me how to be the way I am and she told me to care for people even when you don't know how they'll react.

"Yeah.  It wasn't a wail, but it was the break-your-heart-one-tear-at-a-time type of crying that I really couldn't stand for more than thirty seconds," Ekati explained.  "Are you kidding me?  Wow." I couldn't believe how much these people cared for me.

I could have sworn I saw a tiny human skull in there.

had been isolated from each other for 10,000 years.

the human inhabitants of the “old” and “new” worlds developed vastly different cultures, languages, and religions; they found different ways of adapting to their different envinronments; and their bodies over hundreds of generations became resistant to the diseases of their different worlds. When the two great land masses were rejoined by European exploration, the resulting exchange of people, crops, animals, ideas, and diseases — called the “Columbian exchange” — changed both worlds forever.

Within a hundred years this small European nation had claimed the better part of two continents

The Ancient Greeks created what has become known as classical art.  Many of America's governmental buildings have been designed with Classical Greek structures. 

cornerstone to the western traditions of art and ideas.

The Ancient Greeks were organized into independent city-states.

Gargoyles were usually carved in the form of a grotesque face, figure or frightening creature projecting from a roof gutter. Gargoyles were painted and some were even gilded. Gargoyles might depicted any number of grotesque images including:Ugly human facesAnimalsMythical creaturesImaginary creaturesGargoyles combining several animals are also referred to as chimeras

?What is the purpose of Gargoyles? The first is a practical purpose - gargoyles provided a method of drainage which protected the stones and the mortar of churches, cathedrals and castles from erosion. The number of Gargoyles added to buildings were numerous because dividing the flow of water minimized potential water damage.  The second purpose of gargoyles was as 'guardians' of the buildings in the form of abstract symbols designed to represent, and to ward off evil.

Gargoyles all have a common theme, they are carved with big wide-open mouths. Whilst this was a practical, functional and necessary requirement of gargoyles creatures and images with mouths wide open are symbolic of devouring giants. And lets be honest, how could Medieval stone masons make anything look beautiful when it has to be displayed with a big wide-open mouth!

In the medieval world, there was a belief that only miracles were so powerful

full and healthy life for men was making it through early childhood. For women, it was making it past childbearing age.

boy had reached 20 he could hope to live to 45, and if he made it to 30 he had a good chance of making it into his fifties.

Rough wool worn close to the skin by peasants led to numerous and widespread skin diseases.

Scarcity of fruits, vegetables and proteins needed for a healthy diet led to maladies of the intestinal tract and scurvy.

Winter was especially hard on medieval society, as cold, drafty dwellings led to numerous cases of deadly pneumonia.

Constellations and the alignment of the planets were assumed to have direct influence of the human body, thought to be comprised of four "humors" and three "spirits."

Medieval surgical instruments included scissors, razors, lancets, needles and speculums.

guilds.

Between 1347 and 1350, the Black Death raged through Medieval Europe. Historians and biologists have traced the origins of this deadly pandemic to the remote steppes of Central Asia. Plague had certainly erupted there by 1331 but how exactly did it spread from East to West? After ravaging Central Asia, the plague descended on China, India and Persia. In China alone, the plague killed around half of the human population. Despite such destruction, commercial activities continued unabated. This meant that the traders, their vessels and the rats aboard became the agents of infection. As they travelled along the established trade routes of the medieval world, they unwittingly carried the plague with them.

For several years, the Mongols had allowed a group of merchants from Genoa to control Kaffa, a bustling seaport on the Crimean Peninsula. This was highly advantageous for the Mongols as it provided a direct link to Italy’s largest commercial centre and encouraged trade across all corners of their vast empire. Tensions and disagreements, however, were a common feature of this commercial relationship, arising primarily from their religious differences; the Italians were devoutly Christian and the Mongols had been practising Muslims since the 1200s.

‘This Pestilential Disease’