We took some kids yesterday to the Museum of Civilization in Hull Quebec (now Gatineau, due to a renaming orgy by the Province) to see the ‘Treasures of China’ exhibit. It’s quite amazing, and I confess an utter ignorance on Chinese history and material culture. Interestingly enough, the curators of the exhibit provided panels with timelines of Chinese history, against which was a timeline of major points in Western history, for comparison purposes.

So far, so good.

And then I noticed – the curators have the destruction of Pompeii by Mt. Vesuvius as taking place in 79 BC, and Julius Caesar as Emperor of Rome in 45 BC.

So two quite basic flubs – but if that material isn’t correct, how can I trust the information I’m being told about ancient China?

(Pompeii: destroyed in AD 79 – 158 years later – and Julius Caesar was never Emperor. Octavian, Caesar’s heir, became the first Emperor, when the Senate called him Augustus on January 16, 27 BC and the ‘First Settlement’ was reached.)

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