The Buffed Historian

Bust and artistic recreation of Cleopatra Selene II This post takes a much deeper look into what turned out to be a rather popular thread on my official Legionary Books Facebook Page . The story of Cleopatra's oft-forgotten daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, and their family can best be described as "complicated." First off, in light of that atrocious Netflix series claiming to be a documentary, let's sort out the whole racial elephant in the room and get that out of the way. I don't care what Jada Pinkett Smith says, Cleopatra was not black. Nor was she white. She looked nothing like Adele James or Elizabeth Taylor. Heck, she wasn't even Egyptian! The Ptolemies ruled Egypt, but were ethnically Alexandrian Greek and Macedonian. And because they were obsessed with keeping their bloodlines "pure," they were notoriously inbred. And we're not even talking cousins. Cleopatra's first two husbands were also her brothers! Given the attention-to-detail an

  Laverie Vallee (stage name: Charmion), pioneer strongwoman and trapeze artist I've always been attracted to strong women. I was six years old when I first saw Conan the Barbarian (the classic original starring Arnold, not the crappy remake). When I saw Sandahl Bergman fighting alongside Arnold as Valeria the Valkyrie, I was immediately enthralled. Despite being years away from finding the opposite sex interesting, seeing an athletic, genuinely strong woman was as enthralling as Arnold's massive chest and biceps. It was the same when, a year later, I gazed upon Virginia Hey in The Road Warrior ... and before you ask, yes, my parents let us watch pretty much anything growing up. A few years later, when I was eleven, Aliens became one of my favourite films. Sigourney Weaver was a bad-ass, though I was immediately drawn to Jenette Goldstein as Marine PFC Jenette Vasquez. The moment she started doing behind-the-neck pullups, I was enraptured. There are other examples, such as Li

  #booksandbiceps  My thirty-first book,  Soldier of Rome: Kingdoms Fall  (Book 7 of the Artorian Dynasty), has been released! It is available on Kindle , paperback , and most eBook readers . *** The year is 104 A.D. Two years have passed since King Decebalus knelt in submission to Emperor Trajan. The recent war between Rome and Dacia was brutal and costly for both sides. The graves of many thousands lie between the River Danube and the gates of Sarmizegetusa. With peace finally come to the frontier, Trajan returns to Rome in triumph. Yet Decebalus’ feigned surrender was but a ruse. With echoes of the previous war, the spirits of vanquished warriors crying out for retribution, and the humiliation of kneeling before the Emperor of Rome, the King of Dacia renews the call to arms. Tiberius Artorius Castus’ tenure as Deputy Prefect of the Imperial Horse Guards is ending. But before he can begin the next chapter in his life, perhaps returning to his native Britannia, the emperor asks he re

  Sup·ple·ment, noun    1. Something that completes or enhances something else when added to it. 2. Add an extra element or amount to. 3. (in real-world terms) A multi-billion pound / euro / dollar industry, often full of snake oil peddlers selling overhyped or completely ineffective mystery substances to the desperately gullible seeking that elusive "magic pill" which will make them lean and fit. - Full disclosure: I spent most of my life as that very person seeking the magical quick fix in a bottle. List a supplement, I've probably tried it. Everything I rant about in this post I am 100% guilty of. And I still use supplements to this day, because there are some that actually work ... however , the key is in their name, they supplement health and fitness. They are not the solution in and of themselves. - Newsflash: You cannot "lose thirty pounds of fat in thirty days" with the aid of a pill. I mean, sure, you can lose thirty pounds of body weight through extre

  Ham and Bacon Omelette, with Toast Who said eating healthy has to be boring?? As mentioned in my previous blog, I've always been reasonably fit, even when fat. Many of the rants in this post are the very mistakes I've made over the vast majority of my forty-eight years on this planet. Hopefully, some of my rather painful lessons learned will help you avoid making the same nutritional pitfalls! With that in mind, let's dive in. - Calories In vs Calories Out (CICO):  Let's get this out of the way. There is no "special trick" or great secret that will cause one to lose or gain bodyfat. Any diet and exercise program works for one simple reason: you're burning more calories in a day than you're taking in. That's it. Period. Full Stop.  Coach Greg Doucette has a slew of videos on this very subject that I highly recommend. Below is one example you should watch now: - Forget dieting: To put it bluntly, diets are bullshit . Why is this? Because they are