Things seem pretty bleak in the present. Between the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic turmoil its caused, and the insane winter storms that have crippled Texas, we're kind of over everything. Gone is the youthful hope that we once had, our plans for the future. Traveling the world and learning about other cultures is also out of the question. If we don't want to think about the sh*tshow we're dealing with, and the future is uncertain, what can we turn to? You got it, the past.
While poring over history tomes and watching educational television shows are both fine and dandy, we prefer to get our fix via memes. And history memes are far from hard to come by. They're all over Reddit and Instagram, dropping some serious knowledge and inspiring some very hearty chuckles. Though some of these memes may feel like they require a history degree to understand, we're pretty sure even a high school dropout would understand some of the other references. And hey, by scrolling through these memes you might even learn something.
The implication of vowels was not good enough for the Greeks, who altered the Phoenician alphabet by changing some of its symbols and adding unique vowels.
You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. While the city-states of Athens and Sparta could generally be found battling one another, they united to fight against Persia in the Greco-Persian wars.
For those of you who are unawares, the Gates of Janus (the doors to a temple that also bore the name of the God) were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war.
This meme references what's now known as the "Varian Disaster." The debacle took place when Publius Varus and his men were tasked with consolidating the new province of Germania. Unfortunately for Varus, one of his auxiliary officers was not to be trusted. While the Germanic officer Arminius had acquired Roman citizenship, his loyalty lay elsewhere. He was the mastermind behind an ambush that destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries. The ambush in Teutoburg was so brutal that the Romans never tried to conquer the territories that lay East of the Rhine.
Hannibal was SUCH a badass. The Carthaginian general is considered one of the greatest military commanders of all time. Mostly because he crossed the Alps with elephants. Let's be real.