Tasting History with Max Miller
Published 21 Jan 2025Groove-less cheese-based gnocchi from before potatoes were introduced
City/Region: Italy
Time Period: 14th CenturyGnocchi has been around for hundreds of years, and unsurprisingly, the gnocchi of the 14th century was quite a bit different from what we’re used to today. Before the potato was even a twinkle in Italy’s eye, cheese was a common base for the dough.
The first mention of grooves on gnocchi isn’t until 1570 when Bartolomeo Scappi writes about them, so this gnocchi is groove-less. The texture is very different from modern versions. It’s more crumbly, but that could depend on the kind of cheese that you use. Whatever you use, make sure it’s a cheese that you like, because this is essentially boiled cheese held together with some flour and egg. I may not eat a whole bowl of this, but it’s still quite nice.
If you want gnocchi. Take fresh cheese and pound it; then take flour and mix it with egg yolk in the manner of migliacci. Put a pot filled with water on the fire and when it boils, put the mixture on a board and spoon it off into the pot, and when they are cooked, place them on dishes and sprinkle on plenty of grated cheese.
— Fragment of a book on cooking from the 14th century
June 21, 2025
Cheese Gnocchi from Medieval Italy
May 25, 2025
Rommel’s Dark Secrets in North Africa – WW2 Fireside Chat
World War Two
Published 24 May 2025Indy and Sparty handle your questions on the German intervention in North Africa. Why did Rommel make such an impact so quickly? What was the war like for the local populations? How deeply involved was Rommel in the persecution of North African Jews?
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May 20, 2025
The Battle of Aquino
Canadian Tank Museum
Published 13 Jan 2025You may know about AQUINO Tank Weekend at our Museum, but what was the Battle of Aquino? When did it take place? What happened to the Ontario Regiment RCAC during that action?
Enjoy this short documentary with our Curator Sam Richardson as he gives you a detailed look at the situation in May 1944 during the Italian campaign of the Second World War. Learn more about the soldiers that took part, the battle that took place and why it remains important to our Regiment and our Museum.
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May 18, 2025
Why it Sucked to be an Italian Prisoner in North Africa – WW2 Fireside Chat
World War Two
Published 17 May 2025Today, Indy and Sparty tackle some questions on the North African theatre. Why did the Italians think invading was a good idea in the first place? Was Allied treatment of Axis POWs a war crime? How did Italian and Allied tanks stack up?
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April 22, 2025
Young Rommel’s First Triumph: Battle of Caporetto 1917
The Great War
Published 13 Dec 2024In October 1917, German and Austro-Hungarian troops went over the top into the rain and fog to attack the Italian trenches opposite them. They would go on to break the trench deadlock on the Italian Front, and nearly destroy the Italian army in just two weeks. The Battle of Caporetto was Austria-Hungary’s greatest victory of WW1 – and where a young Erwin Rommel learned to fight like a Desert Fox.
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April 13, 2025
History Hit Expert BLEW My MIND On Ancient Roman History
Metatron
Published 14 Dec 2024Link to the original video
• Historian Answers Google’s Most Popul…
Pompaia, on the River Sarnus — a river which both takes the cargoes inland and sends them out to sea — is the port-town of Nola, Nuceria, and Acherrae.
Strabone, Geografia, IV, 81 – Factors in the Establishment of Pompeii. Let’s begin by well what we know. How did it all start? Like many cities of the classical world, Pompeii also has its founding myth: according to Servius, the city was supposedly founded by none other than the demigod Hercules, and its name would have originated from “a Pompa Herculis”, meaning “from the triumph of Hercules”. However, the most recent archaeological discoveries confirm a foundation dating back to around the 8th century BC by the Oscan people, an Italic tribe, corroborating what Strabo reported in his Geography. The Oscans were part of the large linguistic family of Umbro-Sabellian or Osco-Umbrian peoples, distinct from the Latins, who probably arrived in Italy in the 12th century BC. While some Hellenists have proposed that the etymology of Pompeii should be sought in the Greek Πεμπo (Pempo), meaning “to send”, due to the thriving commercial activity, the original linguistic root is likely this Oscan word “pumpè“, from which comes the archaic name Pumpàiia. The Oscan “pumpè“, analogous to the Greek “penta” and Latin “quinque“, means “five”, and most likely refers to a proto-urban reality formed by the progressive fusion of five distinct residential centers, five small Oscan villages that were scattered on the southern slopes of mount Vesuvius, next to the course of the Sarno river.
2. Natural resources: Volcanic areas often provide access to valuable resources like obsidian, sulfur, and various minerals used in ancient crafts and trade.
3. Lack of geological understanding: Ancient people didn’t fully understand the mechanisms of volcanic eruptions or their potential for catastrophic destruction. The last major eruption of Vesuvius before 79 AD was likely prehistoric, so there was no living memory of its danger.
4. Infrequent eruptions: Many volcanoes, including Vesuvius, can remain dormant for long periods. This can create a false sense of security among nearby populations.
5. Strategic location: Pompeii was located in a prime spot for trade, with access to the sea and inland routes. The benefits of this location may have outweighed perceived risks.
6. Religious and cultural significance: Volcanoes were often seen as sacred in ancient cultures, associated with deities or supernatural forces. This could make living near them culturally desirable.
7. Limited mobility: Ancient societies were less mobile than modern ones. Once established, it was difficult to relocate entire cities, even if dangers became apparent.
8. Economic investments: As cities grew and prospered, the economic and social costs of abandoning them became increasingly high.
9. Adaptation and mitigation: Over time, societies living near volcanoes often developed strategies to cope with minor volcanic activity, like earthquakes or ash falls.
10. Lack of alternatives: In some regions, volcanic areas might have been among the best available locations for settlement, despite the risks.
It’s worth noting that while the destruction of Pompeii was catastrophic, the city had thrived for centuries before the eruption of 79 AD. From the perspective of the ancient inhabitants, the benefits of their location likely seemed to outweigh the potential for a disaster that might never occur in their lifetimes. This balance of risk and reward in choosing settlement locations is not unique to ancient times. Even today, many major cities are located in areas prone to natural disasters, demonstrating that humans often prioritize immediate benefits over long-term, uncertain risks
#pompeii #ancientrome #documentary
April 11, 2025
Beretta 93R: The Best Machine Pistol?
Forgotten Weapons
Published 13 Dec 2024The Beretta 93R (“Raffica”) was developed in the 1970s by Beretta engineer Paolo Parola at the request of Italian military special forces. It took the basic Beretta 92 pistol design and added a well-thought-out burst mechanism under the right-side grip panel. It does not have a plain full-auto setting, but only semiauto and 3-round burst. To help keep the gun controllable, it has a heavier slide to reduce cyclic rate, a detachable shoulder stock, and a folding front grip to help control the muzzle. It uses extended 20-round magazines and is actually remarkably controllable (or so I am told; I have not had a chance to shoot one myself).
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March 31, 2025
Berettas With Bayonets: The Very Early Model 38A SMG
Forgotten Weapons
Published 29 Nov 2024The initial model of the Beretta 38A had a number of features that were dropped rather quickly once wartime production became a priority. Specifically, they included a lockout safety switch for just the rear full-auto trigger. This was in place primarily for police use, in which the guns were intended for semiautomatic use except on dire emergency (and the first batches of 38As in Italy went to the police and the Polizia dell’Africa Italiana). The first version of the 38A also included a bayonet lug to use a version of the folding bayonet also used on the Carcano rifles. This was a folding-blade bayonet, and the model for the 38A replaced the rifle muzzle ring with a special T-lug to attach to the muzzle brake of the SMG. These bayonets are extremely scarce today, as they were only used for a very limited time.
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March 27, 2025
Uncovered: The CIA’s Secret War That Shook Stalin! – W2W 16 – 1947 Q3
TimeGhost History
Published 26 Mar 2025In 1947, the Cold War intensifies as the Truman and Zhdanov Doctrines divide the world into opposing camps. The CIA is born to counter communist threats, while Stalin’s Cominform tightens its grip across Eastern Europe. From Berlin’s streets crawling with double agents, to covert American election meddling in Italy, espionage becomes the frontline of this global showdown. Welcome to a new age of spies, secret doctrines, and ruthless intelligence wars.
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March 24, 2025
How Greece Humiliated Mussolini’s Army – WW2 Fireside Chat
World War Two
Published 22 Mar 2025Today Indy and Sparty answer your questions about the Italian invasion of Greece, Hitler and Mussolini’s relationship and the different types of fascism!
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March 10, 2025
Rome (2004): HBO’s Untold 5 Season Story
Little Wars TV
Published 6 Sept 2024HBO’s Rome is one of the greatest television shows ever made, but the premium network infamously cancelled Rome after just two seasons. It is a decision HBO executives later admitted was a mistake. In this video essay, we explore why HBO cancelled Rome and what the showrunners envisioned as the full, five-season story arc. Which characters were meant to survive? What historical storylines would have been explored? And what was the show’s final scene supposed to be at the end of five seasons?
We’ll unearth interviews with Bruno Heller and William J MacDonald, hear from actors like Kevin McKidd, and attempt to piece together a vision of Rome‘s full potential if HBO had not cancelled the show prematurely.
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March 9, 2025
Italy’s Italian Fiasco
World War Two
Published 8 Mar 2025Today Sebastian puts Indy and Sparty in the hot seat for questions about the war in China and North Africa. Just what is the deal with the Italian Army anyway? How much fighting did the CCP do against the Japanese? And what’s the most overlooked event of the first year of war?
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February 16, 2025
Pope Fights: The Pornocracy – Yes it’s really called that
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published 25 Oct 2024Guard your browsing histories, the Popes are at it again …
SOURCES & Further Reading:
Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matt Kneale
Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich
Antapodosis by Liutprand of Cremona
A. Burt Horsley, “Pontiffs, Palaces and Pornocracy — A Godless Age”, in Peter and the Popes (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1989), 65–78.
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February 10, 2025
QotD: The Roman Republic versus the heirs of Alexander the Great
Last time, we finished our look at the third-century successes of the phalanx with the career of Pyrrhus of Epirus, concluding that even when handled very well with a very capable body of troops, Hellenistic armies struggled to achieve the kind of decisive victories they needed against the Romans to achieve strategic objectives. Instead, Pyrrhus was able to achieve a set of indecisive victories (and a draw), which was simply not anywhere close to enough in view of the tremendous strategic depth of Rome.
Well, I hope you got your fill of Hellenistic armies winning battles because it is all downhill from here (even when we’re fighting uphill). For the first half of the second century, from 200 to 168, the Romans achieve an astounding series of lopsided victories against both (Antigonid) Macedonian and Seleucid Hellenistic armies, while simultaneously reducing several other major players (Pergamon, Egypt) to client states. And unlike Pyrrhus, the Romans are in a position to “convert” on each victory, successfully achieving their strategic objectives. It was this string of victories, so shocking in the Greek world, that prompted Polybius to write his own history, covering the period from 264 to 146 to try to explain what the heck happened (much of that history is lost, but Polybius opens by suggesting that anyone paying attention to the First Punic War (264-241) ought to have seen this coming).
That said, this series of victories is complex. Of the five major engagements (The River Aous, Cynoscephalae, Thermopylae, Magnesia, and Pydna) Rome commandingly wins all of them, but each battle is strange in its own way. So we’re going to look at each battle and also take a chance to lay out a bit of the broader campaigns, asking at each stage why does Rome win here? Both in the tactical sense (why do they win the battle) and also in the strategic sense (why do they win the war).
We’re going to start with the war that brought Rome truly into the political battle royale of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Second Macedonian War (200-196). Rome was acting, in essence, as an interloper in long-running conflicts between the various successor dynasties of Alexander the Great as well as smaller Greek states caught in the middle of these larger brawling empires. Briefly, the major players are the Ptolemaic Dynasty, in Egypt (the richest state), the Seleucid Dynasty out of Syria and Mesopotamia (the largest state) and the Antigonid Kingdom in Macedonia (the smallest and weakest state, but punching above its weight with the best man-for-man army). The minor but significant players are the Attalid dynasty in Pergamon, a mid-sized Hellenistic power trapped between the ambitions of the big players, two broad alliances of Greek poleis in the Greek mainland the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues, and finally a few freewheeling poleis, notably Athens and Rhodes. The large states are trying to dominate the system, the small states trying to retain their independence and everyone is about to get rolled by the Romans.
Bret Devereaux, “Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVa: Philip V”, A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, 2024-03-15.
January 24, 2025
Was WW1 Pointless? – War Goals Of Every Major Nation
The Great War
Published 13 Sept 2024The First World War is often seen as futile and pointless. Millions of men fought and died for years, but no one was satisfied with the outcome, which did not bring a lasting peace. But that is not how governments and many people saw the war as it was being fought. So what did the countries fighting actually want to achieve? In other words, what was the purpose of the First World War?
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