Tastes Of History

02/09/2026

On This Day in 31 BC the Battle of Actium was fought in the Ionian Sea which led ultimately to the deaths of Egypt's Queen Cleopatra and Roman general Marc Anthony, and the beginnings of an empire:

15/07/2026

This week's post is a follow up looking at some more amazing early inventions. Whether they were realised or not is kind of irrelevant as what they prove is the inquisitiveness of the human mind and that no one today should assume people in the past were somehow less intelligence than we are. Bon appétit:

A second dose of amazing early inventions.

01/07/2026

July 17th sees the release of Christopher Nolan's new film "Odyssey" based (loosely it seems) on the epic tale the Iliad written by Homer. Or was it? Was this famous author even a real person?

Did Homer, the writer credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey, really exist?

10/06/2026

It's been a while but herewith our latest blog post about eels as a popular food source in Medieval England and as means to pay ones way:

A brief history of eels, a very popular food source in Medieval Europe.

16/04/2026

It's been a while but here's our latest blog post - a brief introduction to the development, construction and uses of European crossbows: https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/about-history-crossbows

As always feel free to Like, Comment and Share. Bon appétit!

An introduction to the history of European crossbows, their development, construction and uses.

27/02/2026

This week's piece showcasing some of the amazing inventions from the ancient past: https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/about-history-amazing-ancient-inventions There are loads more, so we'll probably return to this subject soon. Bon appétit!

What follows was inspired by a short piece in BBC History Magazine that drew Tastes Of History’s attention to discovering some of the amazing inventions that seemed far ahead of their time. Some were so advanced in their conception that scholars today doubt whether they could have been realised gi...

16/02/2026

Welcome to Collop Monday! If you're not sure what on earth we're talking about, find out more here:

In an earlier post ("Daily Meals in Tudor England") mention was made of "Collop Monday", the day before Shrove Tuesday, in connection with the origins of breakfast. More recently we produced "Scotch Collops" for English Heritage's "Elizabethan Pageant" at Kenilworth Castle, but what is a "collop"?

11/02/2026

During an episode of the Channel 5 documentary “Pompeii: Life in the City” it was claimed that the Romans ate mozzarella cheese, but that's not true. We have evidence that Romans were producing a similar type of cheese made from sheep’s milk by the middle of the 1st-century AD, but not mozzarella. True mozzarella is made from the milk of the Water Buffalo, an animal not introduced to the Italian mainland until centuries after the Roman period. So, if you're intrigued, here's a Brief History of Food all about mozzarella:

A brief history of the iconic Italian mozzarella cheese.

04/02/2026

Following on from our post on "colour-blind casting", this week's post explores diversity in Medieval Britain: www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/dispell... Bon appétit!

21/01/2026

Our first post of 2026 is a bit niche historically speaking, but it might interest someone. Back in March 2025 we tackled a debate on how spears were wielded. More specifically, the focus was on the recreation of the fighting style of Classical Greek hoplites. Today's post is our thoughts on the orthodox view of how ancient Greek phalanxes fought and whether the term "othismos" really meant battles devolved into a pushing contest:
https://www.tastesofhistory.co.uk/post/about-history-othismos-and-the-ancient-greek-phalanx

Like, Share or Comment. Bon appétit!

Was ancient Greek warfare really just a massive shoving contest?