Social history
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Sex and sexuality
idea
What rude jibes about Caesar tell us about sex in ancient Rome
‘Every woman’s man and every man’s woman’ was a slur Julius Caesar’s political opponents levied. What did it mean?
by Aven McMaster
![Historic map filled with fantastical sea creatures, ships, and compass roses, depicting the ocean’s geographical and mythical elements.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/39734a56-16d6-47b7-9ce7-f4db0091aba2/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
History of ideas
idea
How 12th-century Genoese merchants invented the idea of risk
From the docks of 12th-century Genoa to the gambling tables of today, risk is a story that we tell ourselves about the future
by Karla Mallette
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Social history
idea
The rise of the bystander as a complicit historical actor
‘The appalling silence of the good people’: how the bystander rose to prominence as a morally complicit actor in history
by Dennis Klein
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/204f2259-8c9a-479a-803a-4ba79500d8cc/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Sex and sexuality
idea
A long history of aphrodisiacs, from health tonic to sexual aid
Long before Viagra, people around the world and throughout history used aphrodisiacs to boost health and improve fertility
by Alison M Downham Moore
![People walking past a green wall with illustrations of vintage computing devices and Chinese text.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/79e11f43-2503-48e3-84b1-6493614dbec4/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Creativity
idea
How a solitary prisoner decoded Chinese for the QWERTY keyboard
China’s personal computing revolution was born not in a suburban garage but a prison cell, and fine-tuned on a teacup
by Thomas S Mullaney
![Black-and-white photo of a crowd outside The New York Herald building reading news bulletins, with clocks displaying international times.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/1e9f5267-75d3-4da7-a14e-6a9d2bc73d75/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Social history
idea
What history tells us about the dangers of media ownership
The media bias problem as a clash of power and psychology – the historic argument between Upton Sinclair and Walter Lippmann
by Maia Silber