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Innocent III was one of the most powerful of the medieval popes. He exerted a strong influence over the states of Europe, claiming supremacy over all of Europe's kings. This claim to temporal power over the Christian world allowed him to increase the size of the Papal States, and at the same time, he built a web of political alliances between the Papacy and several Catholic monarchies throughout Europe.

The deaconess Olympias, to whom 17 of Chrysostom's extant letters are addressed, was born about 368 to a pagan family of high rank. After the death of her father Seleucus, she was brought up under the guardianship of her uncle Procopius who was a devout Christian.

Eutropius (died 399) was the first eunuch to be appointed a consul in Rome, but his enemies Gaïnas, and Eudoxia, the empress he had created, engineered his downfall. After his fall from power, John Chrysostom's pleas kept him alive for a while, but he was eventually executed in the year 399.

These homilies by Chrysostom are great examples of his discourses. St. Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch who suffered martyrdom at Rome in the reign of Trajan about the year 110 CE. St. Babylas was Bishop of Antioch from about 237 to 250. He was martyred in the persecution under Decius.

This letter of St. John Chrysostom to the Bishop of Rome, deals with Theophilus, the leader of the Church in Alexandria. Theophilus had been commanded to go to Constantinople, to answer to the Emperor for accusations against him. He arrived bringing with him a multitude of Egyptian Bishops, showing from the outset that he came for war and antagonism, argues Chrysostom.

John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, was an early Church Father. This series of eight instructions concerning baptism were given by him, most likely at Antioch around the year 390. Their interest derives from Chrysostom's activities for the baptismal candidates and as their instructor in Christian doctrine and morality.

John Chrysostom’s letters to his childhood friend Theodore who had fallen for a young woman after agreeing to live a life of asceticism. John explains to Theodore that he has covenanted with a Heavenly Bridegroom and that to marry Hermione would be adultery. John compares the destruction of the soul of Theodore to the destruction of the Temple of Israel.

St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on the low attendance at church. He is distressed when he calls to mind that on festival days the multitudes assembled resemble the broad expanse of the sea, but not even the smallest part of that multitude is gathered for a church service. He likens the greater part of the body of the Church to a dead and motionless carcass.

This sermon by St. John Chrysostom points out the error of scrutinizing the sins of others with great exactitude while we let our own pass. He argues that we ought to do the contrary, to keep our own faults unforgotten but never even to admit a thought of those of others. He argues that God would be more inclined to forgive their sins if people did that.

John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote this homily against prevalent heresies of his time. Marcionism was an early Christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of Marcion of Sinope around the year 144, while Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a spiritual world of light and a material world of darkness.

St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on spiritual riches that are superior to material wealth, and scorns robbers and housebreakers and slanderers and false accusers and death itself. For they are not parted from the possessor by death, and they accompany them on their journey to the other world, and are transplanted with them to the future life.

The ancient Greek poet Hesiod lived around the same time as Homer. He is considered to be an economist and also wrote works on mythology, ancient time-keeping, and farming techniques. The Hesiod Collection includes The Shield of Heracles, Theogony (the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods), and Works and Days (a farmer’s almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the art of agriculture).

The Shield of Heracles is an archaic Greek epic poem which was attributed to Hesiod in antiquity. The subject of the poem is the expedition of Hercules and his nephew Iolaus against Cycnus, who challenged Heracles to combat as they were passing through Thessaly on their way to the city of Trachis.

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69-after AD 122) was a Roman historian of the equestrian order who wrote during the early Imperial days of the Roman Empire. His most prominent surviving work is a set of biographies of 12 Roman rulers, titled De Vita Caesarum. Suetonius' biography of Titus, the shortest of the 12, is favorable to this emperor.

The Roman biographer Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c. 69-after AD 122) lived about 50 years after the reign of Aulus Vitellius, whose biography forms part of his book De Vita Caesarum. Tacitus and Cassius Dio agree with Suetonius that Aulus Vitellius was a useless glutton who was unfit to rule.

Dante's Purgatory is the second of the three cantos of the Divine Comedy, and is divided into "Antipurgatorio", "Purgatorio", and "Earthly Paradise". It consists of seven frames, in which the seven deadly sins are expiated: pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust. The sinners who complete purgatory move to paradise.

Dante's Paradise is the third of the three cantos of the Divine Comedy, after Hell and Purgatory. Hell and purgatory are places on Earth, but paradise is a non-material and ethereal place, divided into nine heavens.

British flag officer, inspiring military leader, and brilliant strategist. The name of Horatio Nelson is intrinsically linked with a great number of decisive British naval victories. His most notable battles were during the Napoleonic Wars culminating in his death during his final victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Ninth-century Welsh monk Nennius has traditionally been linked to this purported history of the indigenous Britons. Written around 828, this history has been notable for its mention of certain historical figures and even saints. Most notable, however, is the very first mention of the historical King Arthur as a military leader.

Emile Zola applies his keen eye to the human condition in this masterpiece plagued by passions, guilt, and the ghosts that haunt our psyche. Often perceived as a play of temperaments, Zola tells the story of Therese’s unhappy marriage to Camille and her subsequent affair with one of her husband’s friends, Laurent. With his dark symbolism often reaching claustrophobic depths, we become more acquainted with what drives our most animalistic instincts.