The word “household slave” seems strange to us today but in the Roman Empire it was a well known term. Half of all slaves (2.5m) worked...

Ever wondered why there are so many black street vendors in Rome selling fake Louis Vitton bags when - according to Italian authorities -...

Yesterday, we learned that the citizens of Rome consumed around 300’000 tons of wheat per year and needed the equivalent of 500 Carpe...

When we travelled as young studente to Rome, my then girlfriend and me had of course no money. We had to put up our little tent on a...

One of the delights of our cruise will be the fabulous wines now produced in Turkey. The Rosés start to match the French Rosés of the...

Sadly, Amos was the most eastern point of our trip. We had to return. The time we won by crossing the Aegean Sea in two days to minimise...

After Loryma we decided to head further east to an old Caria town called Kaunas. It once had direct access to the sea but 2'000 years of...

We are on the way to Knidos or Cnidus at the tip of the Datça peninsula. Cnidus was one of the members of the Dorian Hexapolis, a...

The new sailors came on board in Pylos. We sailed via Methoni to Koroni (Coron), the sister town. Tomorrow morning, before we leave, we...

Arriving in Methoni today where we change crew. Methoni and Koroni, a bit further to the East, were called the eyes of Venice. These two...

Cotton just ready for harvesting Some of you must be packing their bags by now. Did you pack your heavy woollen jacket, trouser and shirt...

The use of sugar in food is so widespread today that we have to carefully read the nutrition labels to make sure that we do not consume...

Did you ever wonder why we are not sailing along Minarets, Turkish Towns and Turkish Fortresses on our trip? Having conquered all...

In the last few issues of "A minus x" we talked about goods flowing from the East to the West: silk, pearls, cotton, spices, lapis...

Thanks to Spartacus we all know about slaves in the Roman Empire. Fewer people however know about the large scale slave trading in the...