Reading History

This past week I helped my son study for his world history final exam. This was a comprehensive test, and included everything from the origins of human history to the fall of the Byzantine empire in the 15th century.

The scary thing was, I actually had recall of much of the material, especially the history related to Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Near East, the Assyrian, Greek, and Roman empires. I even found myself waxing nostalgic about Hammurabi, the ancient Babylonians, the origins of the alphabet with the Phoenicians, and world religions.

Of course, my son wanted to know, "Why do I need to know this stuff?"

My answer: "So that some day you can be a source of useless information, just like your father."

???

"And remember," I told him, "you never know when someone might walk up to you on the street and ask, 'What was the name of that Roman emperor who divided the Roman empire into two parts?'"