Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was an ambitious imperial official under the Roman Emperor Hadrian, whose name has come down through history for writing imperial biographies of Rome’s first emperors, called The Twelve Caesars. While his position at court gave him unique access to imperial archives to inform his work, he was not a historian, but […]

In an age when the exercise of power was largely personal rather than corporate, the machinations of and rivalry between three great monarchs (Charles V, Henry VIII, Francis I) could and did have an enormous impact on the events of the time. Nearly every war, alliance, scandal, or land swap that occurred in Western […]

The Sengoku Jidai was by far the most turbulent period in Japanese history. The country was split into dozens of separate domains. Various daimyo had their own ideas on how to rule the country and were willing to wage war for it. Some, like Hattori Hanzo Masanari, would be in command of shinobi and […]

Born James Charles Stuart, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, King James inherited the Scottish throne from his mother when she was forced to abdicate on July 24, 1567. He was only an infant when this dramatic life turn took place. Through a convoluted set of circumstances resulting from his English uncle Henry VIII’s various […]