History – J.D. Anthony

My Podcast: The Re-Engineered You!

Stop telling the universe what you want! Instead, check out some science and history, and make an actionable plan with this new podcast!

5 Facts About Arrows D&D Players Neglect

5 facts about arrows in combat that D&D players couldn’t give two twiddly-figs about.

Your Fighter Would Be A Terrible Soldier

A few weeks back I talked about how archery is misunderstood by fantasy gamers. And wouldn’t you know, someone disagreed with me. But the respectful counter-argument raised about my archery post wasn’t in defense of rangers in D&D. Or much about archery at all, really. Our discourse seemed to focus on the plausibility of small, elite groups,Continue reading “Your Fighter Would Be A Terrible Soldier”

Dracula is Secretly About Syphilis

Was Dracula originally a story of a brooding bad-boy written to get us excited for bats? Or was it about Syphilis?

5 Things Gladiator Got Wrong About Emperor Commodus

Note: This article was originally posted on Masksofmonsters a few years back, before the docu-drama Reign of Blood came out on Netflix. I’ve reposted here for your enjoyment. Actually…more for my enjoyment. While watching Gladiator last week I got curious about Joaquin Phoenix’s sneering portrayal of Emperor Lucius Aurelius Commodus (161 – 192 AD). Was he playingContinue reading “5 Things Gladiator Got Wrong About Emperor Commodus”