Facts I'm checking

A selection from the fact check sheets: just to give you an idea of the scope of the next phase of book writing. Aren't these fun taken out of context?

• A 9th century vessel displacing 52 tons can carry about 200 amphorae of oil, or 4000 bushels of grain.
• In Venice in 827, you could sell a few dozen casks of black pepper for 600 gold solidi. (2.6kg gold)
• But even a whole ship full of saffron would not be worth 10,000 solidi.
• Women dancers in venice in 827 were considered disreputable.
• In 827, the Pope wore red slippers.
• Sharks exist in the Mediterranean.
• Depths in the Giudecca Canal can range from 3 1/2 to 4 fathoms.
• 9th century fishermen in the Adriatic used hook-and-line to catch big fish
• 6 solidi is a high, but reasonable, price for treating a dislocated shoulder
• Goat droppings come in piles.
• Belaying pins were commonly used in the 9th century.
• An old man with an arrow in his lung would last at least a minute before suffocating.
• A brothel in Constantinople might have a floor made of reed mats.
• The road Makoros Embolos in Constantinople was made of crushed stone.
• "Al-Sinnif" is the Arabic equivalent of the nickname, "Lefty".
• The Coptic pope in December, 827 was named Yakub.
• The Pharos lighthouse was on the left side as one exited Alexandria harbor.
• Catapult stones fired over water can skip if launched at a flat enough angle.
• It is possible to float an iron pin in sea water by coating it in oil.
• A Dromon carried about 150 oarsmen.
• Greens and squash are available in Bari, Italy in January.
• There are carvings of Abraham and Mary on St. Mark's Basilica