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Pythagoras’ Greed Cup and Other Lesser-Known Ancient World Facts

Khalid Elhassan July 31, 2020 34 min

Roman Empire - Roman emperor — The assassination of Caligula. Quora

1. Trying to Live Forever Backfires

Expedition sent by Chin Shi Huang in search of the Elixir of Life. Wikimedia

Another manifestation of Chin Shi Huang’s megalomania was his pursuit of immortality drugs. He lavishly funded searches for a “Life Elixir”, including an expedition with hundreds of ships that sailed off into the Pacific in search of a mythical “Land of the Immortals”. It was never heard from again. He also patronized alchemists who claimed that they were close to inventing the Life Elixir, but their R&D was hobbled by a lack of funding – a problem which Shi Huang generously put to rights.

One of those charlatans gave the emperor daily mercury pills. Swallowing mercury every day, the emperor gradually poisoned himself and gradually grew insane. He became a recluse who concealed himself from all but his closest courtiers, listened constantly to songs about “Pure Beings”, ordered 400 scholars buried alive, and had his son and heir banished. Rather than prolong his life, Shi Huang shortened it in his pursuit of immortality and died of mercury poisoning at the relatively young age of 49.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Ancient Origins – Exploring the Little Known History of Celtic Warriors in Egypt

Ball, Warwick – Rome in the East: The Transformation of an Empire (2000)

Clements, Jonathan – The First Emperor of China (2006)

Encyclopedia Britannica – Gladius

Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe, Part II (1994)

Grant, Michael A. – Caligula: The Corruption of Power (1989)

Guardian, The, January 11^th, 2010 – Great Pyramid Tombs Unearth Proof Workers Were Not Slaves

Harvard Magazine, July-August 2003 – Who Built the Pyramids?

Herodotus – The Histories

Historum – Scythia, the Scythians, and Darius

Houston Chronicle – Historical Events You Had No Idea Happened at Around the Same Time

Huffington Post – 8 Surprising Historical Facts That Will Change Your Concept of Time Forever

Livy – Rome and Italy, Books VI – X

Sherwood, Andrew N., et al – Greek and Roman Technology, a Sourcebook of Translated Greek and Roman Texts (2003)

Sima Qian – Records of the Grand Historian

Stone, George Cameron – A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times (1989)

Suetonius – The Lives of the Twelve Caesars

Vine Pair – The Pythagorean Cup Will Keep You From Drinking Too Much

Vintage News – The Romans Used Urine For Mouthwash

Wikipedia – Ephialtes of Traches

Wikipedia – Phanes of Halicarnassus

Wikipedia – Xiphos

World Atlas – Did Woolly Mammoths Still Roam Parts of the Earth When the Great Pyramids Were Built?

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.