Historia Scripta

16/10/2026

15/10/2026

Nero, a mad emperor or a victim of History?

Check full article at Historia Scripta

"..His early reign initially appeared promising. The young emperor was guided by influential advisers, particularly the philosopher Seneca and the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. Ancient accounts suggest that the first years of his rule were comparatively stable, although the extent of his personal independence remains debate…"

"..Ancient historians frequently presented imperial decisions through narratives of personal cruelty, ambition, and moral decline. Such explanations may preserve genuine events while simplifying the political circumstances in which they occurred.."

"..According to Tacitus, the Great Fire of Rome spread rapidly through the city’s densely built streets. It was brought under control on the sixth day, after extensive demolitions helped halt its advance, but subsequently broke out again. Tacitus reports that, of Rome’s fourteen districts, four remained intact, three were completely destroyed, and the remaining seven suffered extensive damage.."

"..Nero’s political position deteriorated sharply in AD 68, when revolts broke out against his government. The rebellion of Gaius Julius Vindex in Gaul helped trigger a wider crisis, and Galba, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, emerged as a rival claimant to power. As support for Nero collapsed, the Senate declared him a public enemy.."

12/10/2026

Ancient sculpture was not always white

The pristine white marble associated with classical sculpture is only part of the story. In ancient Greece and Rome, statues were often painted in multiple colours, a practice known as polychromy. Pigments defined facial features, hair, garments, armour, and decorative details, making sculptures more vivid.

Artists used mineral and earth pigments, including red and yellow ochres and Egyptian blue. Gold leaf could add further richness. The palette varied, and surviving evidence rarely allows a complete reconstruction with absolute certainty.

Traces of colour were noticed on antiquities long ago, but systematic study developed especially from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries onward. Today, microscopy, ultraviolet imaging, and chemical analysis can identify pigment residues that are difficult to see under ordinary light.

The statue shown here is the Augustus of Prima Porta, discovered in 1863 at the Villa of Livia near Rome. Usually dated to the early first century AD, it portrays Emperor Augustus in military dress, raising his right arm in a gesture often interpreted as addressing his troops. Its breastplate displays figures and symbols celebrating Roman power and diplomacy.

Traces of pigment indicate that the marble was once coloured. Reconstructions such as the one pictured offer an informed impression of its possible appearance, rather than a perfectly certain record of every original hue.

The familiar whiteness of classical sculpture is largely the result of pigment loss over time. Ancient viewers encountered these works very differently: colour was integral to their visual impact, symbolism, and meaning.

09/10/2026

During the 1991 Gulf War, retreating Iraqi forces executed a scorched-earth policy that triggered one of the worst environmental and economic disasters in human history. As they withdrew from Kuwait, the military systematically sabotaged the nation’s energy infrastructure.

They targeted more than 800 oil wells, setting the vast majority ablaze and leaving dozens of others heavily damaged and actively gushing raw crude oil onto the desert floor.
The scale of the destruction was unprecedented, with between 605 and 732 oil wells set on fire. These raging infernos consumed an estimated 4 million to 6 million barrels of crude oil and 70 million to 100 million cubic meters of natural gas every single day. By the time the disaster was contained, approximately 1 billion to 1.5 billion barrels of oil had been completely lost or burned.

Unburned oil formed about 300 artificial oil lakes, while the toxic fallout created a hardened layer of «tarcrete» over 5% of Kuwait’s land surface.

06/10/2026

Colorized Photo Showing U.S. Marines Holding Japanese Flag After 23 days on the line. Cape Gloucester 1944.

This picture could be included in any dictionary definition of the Thousand Yard Stare.. They convey a powerful story through their expressions.

05/10/2026

Berlin Victory Parade, 16 June 1871

On 16 June 1871, tens of thousands of German troops marched through Berlin in a huge victory parade celebrating the defeat of France and the creation of the new German Empire.

This photograph was taken along Unter den Linden, where the city had been transformed with temporary arches, banners, statues and enormous ceremonial canopies celebrating the victories of the Franco-Prussian War.

The structure dominating the scene formed part of the spectacular decorations created for the parade, while enormous crowds packed the streets and even the rooftops to watch the returning army pass.

The event took place only weeks after the Treaty of Frankfurt formally ended the war. Germany had been proclaimed an empire earlier that year at Versailles, and this parade turned military victory into a public celebration of the new nation.

The original photograph also shows one of the limitations of early photography. The buildings and spectators were captured clearly, but many of the marching soldiers appeared blurred because the camera could not freeze them in motion.

For this colourised reconstruction, some of those blurred marching soldiers have been carefully reconstructed to restore the scene more clearly, while keeping the original composition and historical setting intact.

Berlin, 16 June 1871. Victory parade following the Franco-Prussian War. Original photograph colourised, with blurred marching figures partially reconstructed.

04/10/2026

On August 23, 1971, a bus carrying armed men was heading toward Seoul’s Blue House. A gr***de explosion brought the journey to an end. At first, the military announced that the men were armed communist insurgents. It later corrected the account: they were members of a South Korean special unit who had rebelled on the island of Silmido.

The story began on January 21, 1968, when 31 North Korean agents infiltrated Seoul in an attempt to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In response, the Central Intelligence Agency established Unit 684 in April of the year. Its 31 members were sent to Silmido and trained for 40 months for a mission to infiltrate North Korea, assassinate Kim Il-sung, and return safely.

Their training was relentless. They practiced shooting, rope climbing, swimming, hand-to-hand combat, bayonet throwing, guerrilla warfare, and survival. Life on the island was isolated. There was no television, radio, newspapers, regular leave, outside visitors, or correspondence. Food and supplies became scarce, while the trainees had no prospect of discharge. Two deployment orders were eventually cancelled as inter-Korean relations changed.

Tension grew. Some trainees deserted, while others were involved in violent incidents. Six trainees ultimately died through su***de or ex*****on. By the summer of 1971, rumors circulated that their requests to be recognized as regular soldiers, discharged, or sent to Vietnam had been rejected. The situation became increasingly explosive.

On the morning of August 23, after a unit dinner the night before, the trainees attacked the soldiers guarding them. Six of the 24 soldiers survived, including Yang Dong-soo, who was shot through the neck but escaped and was rescued that day.

The rebels seized a bus and headed toward the Blue House. They were stopped by military forces in Seoul. Of the 22 trainees who reached the capital, 18 died when after a stand off they detonated hand gr***des. A policeman and five civilians also died.

For years, the Silmido incident remained hidden. Its memory returned to public attention after the 2003 film Silmido, although survivor Yang Dong-soo emphasized that the film contained inaccuracies.

03/10/2026

Brigadier General George Crook, 1860’s. He is best known for commanding U.S. forces in the 1886 campaign that led to the defeat of the Apache leader Geronimo but he had already built a record of effective and successful operations against Native American forces.

After the Civil War, George Crook was assigned to the Pacific Northwest to suppress Native American resistance during the ongoing Snake War. In late 1866, he led U.S. troops against Northern Paiute bands, notably surprising Chief Howluck’s camp at the Battle of Owyhee River on December 26, where his forces inflicted heavy casualties and captured livestock and supplies. Crook continued winter operations into early 1867, striking a Paiute village at Steen’s Mountain on January 29, again causing significant losses and taking prisoners.

Throughout these campaigns, he made extensive use of Indian scouts to locate enemy camps, improve intelligence, and coordinate attacks.

30/09/2026

An Austrian soldier on the so-called “Bridge of Sighs,” in the Austrian tunnels beneath the Marmolada Glacier, 25 September 1917.

The White War, fighting at the roof of the Alps

https://www.historiascripta.org/modern-era/the-white-war-fighting-at-the-roof-of-the-alps/

“..Fortified lines were constructed wherever the terrain permitted, with trenches, shelters, artillery positions and tunnels covering important gaps and approaches. Even high peaks and ridges were occupied and fortified when strategically useful, creating mutually supporting defensive positions..”

“..After several unsuccessful attacks, the Italians constructed a tunnel approximately 500 metres long beneath the Austro-Hungarian position and filled it with around 35 tonnes of explosives. General Luigi Cadorna and King Victor Emmanuel III observed the operation from the Italian positions around Cinque Torri. On 11 July 1916, the mine was detonated, destroying a large part of Castelletto and killing approximately 150 Austro-Hungarian soldiers..”

“..They had to fight not only against the enemy but, above all, against the elements of nature. Huge seracs (massive and extremely dangerous blocks of glacial ice), violent snowstorms, constant avalanches, hunger and, naturally, persistent frostbite caused by temperatures that sometimes fell to 40 degrees below zero produced enormous numbers of casualties, in some circumstances exceeding those caused directly by combat. To a large extent, success in this section of the front depended on the ability and endurance of units to remain in their positions. Characteristic of this was the major battle around Monte Piana, in which approximately 14,000 casualties from both sides are often associated with the fighting between 24 May 1915 and 22 October 1917, while the front line remained almost unchanged..”

26/09/2026

The Grenadiers of the 78th Highlanders storming Ahmednagar, Anglo-Maratha War (12 August 1803).