Napoleon commissioned the sword, filled with classical motifs, after being elected as consul for life by the senate in 1802.

The French Emperor is famous for a lot of things, but this lasting myth about Napoleon has shaped the way we see him through history.

The Romans quarried it for centuries, and it's featured in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, as well as Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte's tomb. But mining this marble ground to a halt nearly 70 years ago ...