Archways: Western Civilization History Podcast

In this episode we're discussing the origins of demonology in Western Civilization, tracing it back to its ancient roots. Pre-Christian cultures across Mesopotamia, Egypt, and beyond featured a range of supernatural beings blamed for sickness and bad choices. When Zoroastrianism came on the scene, in 8th century BC Iran, religion first developed the idea of dualism: that the world is locked in the...

In this episode we discuss the history of thinking about leisure from Aristotle, Epicurus, Seneca, and Cicero to St. Paul, Gregory I, St. Benedict, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, and John Calvin to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Leisure was once seen as a time for debating philosophy or studying the universe, before giving way to slothful bread and circuses. Christian thought hit back hard against Roman exce...

In this episode we use a ranking system I made up to examine the unique monarchies that were declared in the Americas during the Age of Revolutions. We will learn about the Haitian Revolution that led to the Empire of Haiti and the Kingdom of Haiti. We will learn about the Mexican Revolution that led to the First and Second Empires of Mexico. And we will learn about the Brazilian War of Independen...

In this episode we take a deep dive into one of the oldest, most famous, and most stable forms of government: monarchy. Looking at examples from the past, we see what makes a monarchy successful. And we extract lessons for our own governments today. We will study with particular interest Ancient Egypt, Babylon, as well as 17 century France, Belgium, Britain, and modern Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Bacon cheeseburgers are a unique creation of the West, particularly the American melting pot and its dynamism. While all civilizations have governing dietary restrictions based on their religion or philosophy, only the West had the perfect combination of dietary beliefs that permitted the Bacon Cheeseburger to be created. In this episode, we will look into what taboos the Bacon Cheeseburger violat...

In this captivating episode, we delve into the remarkable legacy of  horse archer civilizations —the Parthians, Mongols, and Comanche—and their profound impact on Western societies. Buckle up as we ride through history, exploring their strategies, innovations, and cultural exchanges. 🏹  The Parthians : From the mid-3rd century BC until 224 CE, the Parthian Empire spanned vast territories—from the...

In this episode we study the unique technologies and cultures that developed in the womb of the great Eurasian and American steppes. We will look at how these hearty humans adapted to their harsh environments and synergized with horses to form mobile civilizations. We will then look into how these civilizations accumulated enormous wealth and developed key horse-related technologies: the bridle, s...

It's the time of year where romance is in the air. In this episode, we look at several ill-fated high-profile romances throughout the medieval period including... - Prince Mal and Princess Olga of Kiev - Constantine the VII and Regent Olga of Kiev - Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere - Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Polenta - Heloise and Abelard Sources for this episode include: The Primary Chroni...

In this episode, we draw from the well of chess again. This time discussing five of the most popular and successful openings in Chess: the Spanish Opening, the Sicilian Defense, the Italian Game, the French Defense, and the Caro-Kann. On our journey to learn about openings, we will also learn about chess legends like Arpad Elo (the inventor of ELO), Ruy Lopez, Giulio Greco, and more. We will sink...

It is our 50th episode! To celebrate this historic milestone we are having a meta episode about the history of speaking itself. We will examine the oldest oral histories of the Indigenous Australians that have endured over 10,000 years. Then we will look at Moses and the oral law, followed by Homer and the bardic tradition. We will look at tricks bards used to memorize lengthy historical epics. Af...

November 5th is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Treason Plot, an almost successful attempt by persecuted Catholics to blow away their Protestant opposition by detonating 36 barrels of gunpowder directly underneath the House of Lords on the opening day of parliament in 1605. Learn how crafty King James I avoided the fate of his father (being exploded), and why the man caught holding the fuse, Guy...

In this episode learn about Halloween's spooky origins as Samhain, an October 31st Celtic harvest festival featuring all the scariest things: mischievous fairies, ghosts, and taxes! Then learn how All Saints Day and All Souls Day got moved to this time of the year fusing them inextricably with the Celtic traditions resulting in new rituals like wearing white bedsheets and calling yourself a ghost,...

Marie is back! This episode discusses the origins of playing cards and tarot cards in the Middle Ages. We discuss the origins of suits, the games you could play and what they tell us about Medieval life. Sources A Cultural History of Tarot by Farley Pleasure and Leisure in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age by Classen Random Riches by Zollinger Master of the Playing Cards | The Queen of Flowers...

When looking at the Republics of medieval Italy it's always shocking to see on the map a northern central Italian country with Rome in it known as the Papal States. The Papal States were a territory under the direct control of the Pope for over a thousand years from AD 756 to 1870. In this episode, we look into why the Pope became a sovereign king over earthly territory, how he protected this land...

In this episode we continue our series on the Italian City-States by discussing the ruler of the Papal States: The Pope. He is probably more famous for being the head of the Catholic church though, and so this episode focuses on the history of this position. We will look at where his authority derives from and how the early Bishops of Rome gained primacy over their peers: the Bishops of Alexandria...

In this fourth episode in our series on the Italian City States of the high middle ages and Renaissance, we learn about Genoa. Genoa was a major maritime republic in the northwest of Italy that ran an empire from the 10th century to the 17th century that included territories across the Crimean coast, Anatolia, the Aegean sea, Corsica, Sardinia, and even Panama. In this episode you'll learn about G...

In this episode, we learn about how the Medici family came to power in Florence, and how their efforts gave a place to thrive for the geniuses who called Florence home. We will discuss some of these famous Florentines: including Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Amerigo Vespucci. But of course, that would be impossible without discussing the Medici family and...

In this episode you will learn about a Roman fort that turned into a retirement community for veterans of the legions. They moved out of the mountains and into the valley, establishing a key trading hub that became the gateway to northern Italy. For this reason, the city was quarreled over by the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines. Eventually, their fighting reduced the city to rubble. Fortunately, vis...

In this short episode, we take a quick look into what was up with the Republic of Venice: a free market merchant-run nation that lasted for over 1100 years. We talk about its industries, innovations, and institutions to figure out what made this unique place tick. First episode in a series on medieval Italian city-states. Sources Referenced: Italy - The Republic of Venice | Britannica https://www....

In this episode, Doug discusses the history and rules of chariot racing in ancient Rome and how it carried over to the Byzantines. He will discuss the various strategies and teams that developed, as well as some notable racers and horses. He concludes with an assessment of how wealthy winners could become vs how deadly the races were, including, sometimes, for the spectators. Sources Chariot racin...

In this episode we will dive into what life was like for a medieval Benedictine monk. We will talk about the vows they made and the codes they abode by like the Vows of Stability, Conversion, Obedience, Chastity, Poverty, and Silence. We will also discuss their daily schedule including what they did for prayers and work. We will learn about the different occupations monks found themselves in such...

In this episode we learn about the ancient practice of living as a hermit, and why people did so. We then look at how innovators like St. Anthony of Egypt and St. Pachomius the Great turned this individual experience into a communal one open not just to those who can survive by themselves in the desert, but to anyone wanting a cloistered life of peace and enlightenment.  Even though from Pachomius...

In this episode, we will look at the ancient origins of Chess in 6th-century Gupta India back when it was known as Chaturanga. From there we will discover how it evolved as it spread to Sassanian Persia and the Islamic empires like the Abbasids. We will see how it developed much of its core rules and strategy. Then we will look into how it continued its spread into Europe from the Byzantines and f...

This is a follow-up to our previous episode about the Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Persians, and Turks. In this episode, we look at what was going on in the northern parts of the European continent in the early medieval period. We will shed some light on why European history went the way it did. Questions such as: Why did feudalism develop? Why does eastern Europe use the Cyrillic alphabet? Why did th...

In this episode, we use a 90s strategy video game (Age of Empires II) as a launchpad to discuss five of the civilizations that emerged from the ashes of Rome's fall. The civilizations are the Byzantines, the Goths, the Huns, the Persians, and the Turks. Some of these had a hand in killing Rome, some of these carried on the traditions of Rome, some did both, and others were something different alto...