National Geographic History - 03.2020 - 04.2020

GREEK MYTHOLOGY features

tales of feared warrior

women, the Amazons who

fought alongside Greeks at

Troy and fought against the

great Heracles. Daughters

of the war god Ares, their

skill with weapons and

courage in battle struck

fear in the hearts of their

foes. Recent archaeology

suggests that the Amazons

might be more than just

myth: Excavations have

uncovered tombs of warrior

women from the nomadic

Scythian culture, whose

home near the Black Sea is

where the Amazons were

said to have lived.

Seti’s Spectacular Tomb

In 1817 Italian Egyptologist Giovanni Belzoni stumbled on

the rubble-filled entrance of a tomb in the Valley of the

Kings. With mounting excitement, he identified it as that of

Seti I, father of Ramses the Great, and adorned from floor to

ceiling with vibrant murals painted 14 centuries before.

Life on the Roman Frontier

At 1,770 miles in length, the Danube River formed much of

the Roman Empire’s northern border. Life for the legions

sent to build and man its watchtowers was calm when the

empire’s strength was at its height, but turned chaotic and

violent when Rome entered a long, slow decline.

The Children’s Crusade

A 12-year-old boy promised miracles to his followers in the

1200s; chroniclers dubbed his movement a “children’s crusade.”

In reality, it was neither a crusade, nor was it backed only by

children—it formed part of a wave of piety that swept medieval

Europe, attracting people of all ages.

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FIGHTING,

FIERCE, AND

FEMALE

TWO AMAZONS OVERWHELM

A WARRIOR IN A DETAIL FROM

AN ETRUSCAN SARCOPHAGUS.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, FLORENCE

SCALA, FLORENCE

DARWIN’S VOYAGE

ABOARD THE BEAGLE

CHARLES DARWIN CARRIED THIS POCKET SEXTANT

(CENTER) ON HIS JOURNEY AROUND SOUTH AMERICA

ABOARD THE BEAGLE.

BRIDGEMAN/ACI; SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY; MAP: CHARLES W. BERRY/NGS

IN 1831 the captain of the Beagle hired a

22-year-old naturalist named Charles Darwin

to join his crew on a five-year voyage around

the world. Leaving the cramped ship to collect

specimens wherever he could, Darwin

observed a fabulous variety of life.

In South America he was able

to travel huge distances

inland on horseback.

After returning to

England, Darwin never

ventured abroad again,

but the experience shaped

ideas about the natural world

that later formed his theory of

evolution.