Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine history is so important to understand the modern world. It gives us the context for the orthodox/west divide; it gives us an example of a economic and intellectual superpower needing to live with the realities of barbarian neighbors, and being destroyed! It shows us great statecraft lasting a thousand years. It even shows us why generals and senior civil servants were eunuchs and how the next best thing was celibate people. This is the reason why catholic priests should be celibate and therefore the answer against nepotist corruption. We all know how nepotism is a serious issue in  states everywhere in the world.<p>I became a fan of the Byzantines and seriously found team Roman Catholic to be a bunch of barbarians. I say team Roman Catholic because this small book[1] makes Byzantine history and trivia so humorous.<p>[1] <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-cabinet-of-byzantine-curiosities-9780190625948?cc=ru&lang=en&" rel="nofollow">https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-cabinet-of-byzanti...</a>