Photography of Lascaux animal painting / Wikimedia Commons One of the most complex human mysteries involves how and why we became an outlier species in terms of biological success. By Rebecca Howe Research findings published in the March 11 edition of the journal Science by an international team of noted anthropologists, including several from Arizona[…]
Photo by Arizona State University Hunting and gathering activities were the primary way for humans to feed themselves from their natural environments during over 90% of human history. By Dr. Heather Karsten Associate Professor of Crop Production and Ecology Pennsylvania State University Hunting and gathering activities were the primary way for humans to feed themselves[…]
The Amphitheater of Catania / Photo by gnuckx, Wikimedia Commons The Eternal City was not only a world power, a gendarme of the ancient world for a long period of time, but also a power of communication. By Dr. Mădălina Strechie Senior Lecturer in Ancient History University of Craiova Abstract The Eternal City was not[…]
As he led his troops into the mountains, Hannibal vowed: “You will have the capital of Italy, the citadel of Rome, in the hollow of your hands.” (Tomas van Houtryve) He pulled off one of the greatest military feats ever. Now new scientific evidence points to Hannibal’s legendary route to Rome. By Franz Lidz /[…]
The Triumph of Civilization / Photo by Grizzli, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Wikimedia Commons The enormous contribution of ancient Greeks to the progress of philosophy, natural sciences and arts, can’t be contested. Unfortunately, the role they played in the history of psychology is hardly mentioned. By Dr. Vlad Petre Glăveanu Associate Professor of Psychology Webster University Geneva[…]
Cylinder Seal with Griffins, Humans and a Winged Disk / Walters Art Museum, Wikimedia Commons The religions of the ancient world in the Near East and Mediterranean regions developed according to an inner logic of questioning growing out of the historical experience of peoples who were in more or less continuous interaction. By Dr. Eugene[…]
Wide view of Circus Maximus, Rome, Italy / Photo by Peter Clarke, Wikimedia Commons The Circus Maximus as evidence to both the flexibility of public spaces and usages by the aristocracy from pre-Roman times through the Roman Empire. By Cody Scott Ames / 04.06.2016 Abstract It is a place where the general public can gather[…]
Detail of a relief at Persepolis showing a procession of subject peoples bringing gifts characteristic of their homelands as tribute for the Persian king A great transformation in human life took place in ancient Mesopotamia with the rise of the city of Uruk. By Dr. Margarete Van Ess Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology Deutsches Archäologisches[…]
If we take off the cloak of reason and instead clothe with that of madness, we may have the chance to penetrate deeper, more occult realms of the spirit, where essential truths may be revealed to us. At least so thought Socrates. There was however one condition: this madness must be of divine origin. By[…]
The Aristotelian Constitution of the Athenians / British Library (Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 131), Wikimedia Commons Solon’s new constitution was based on ownership of property. Introduction By the early 6th century B.C. social tensions in Athens had become acute, pitting the poorer citizens against rich and powerful landowners. Many citizens were reduced to the status of share[…]
Detail of sarcophagus lid of Ramesses III / The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge Justice was an immensely important concept within ancient pharaonic Egypt, known to them by the word Ma’at. By A.J. van Loon / 12.15.2014 MA Thesis, Ancient History Leiden University Introduction Concerning Egypt, I am going to speak at length, because it[…]
Highlighting the evolution of corruption and represents the highlights of the phenomenon from the social, economic and religious perspective. By (left-to-right) Ciprian Rotaru, Dumitru-Alexandru Bodislav, and Raluca Georgescu Bucharest University of Economic Studies Introduction The phenomenon of corruption can be dated with the rise of mankind. Although it is not an act with[…]
Sacrifice scene during a census: left part of a plaque from the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus known as the “Census frieze”. / Photo by Jastrow, Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons “Quis custodiet ipsos custodies? – “Who watches the watchmen?” By Nico P. Swarz and Eric Ozoo Swarz: University of Botswana Ozoo: Baisago University College of Botswana[…]
Mosaic depicting Roman slaves, Tunisia, 2nd century CE / Wikimedia Commons The forms of servitude known in the classical world varied across time and place. By Keith Bradley Towards the middle of the fifth century AD the Christian presbyter and moralist Salvian of Marseilles composed a highly polemical tract, On the Governance of God, in[…]
Workers depicted in a mural at the tomb of Menna at Thebes, 18th Dynasty / Photo by Horus3, Flickr, Creative Commons Egypt operated on a barter system up until the Persian invasion of 525 BCE, and the economy was based on agriculture. By Dr. Joshua J. Mark / 05.04.2017 Professor of Philosophy Marist College Introduction[…]
The Massacre of the Triumvirate, by Antoine Caron, 1566 / Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons Roman eyes were fixed on Hispania in 75 BCE. By Tristan Hughes / 07.24.2017 Ancient Historian 75 BC and Roman eyes are fixed on Hispania. For the past five years one man has lead a bloody resistance in defiance of the[…]
The Entrance of Cornelius Sulla into Rome, where he was appointed as “Dictator” in the First Century BCE / Wikimedia Commons The truth is complex. By Marc Hyden / 07.27.2015 Historian Introduction For centuries, Lucius Cornelius Sulla has been reviled as a maniacal tyrant who defiled the Roman constitution and instituted bloody purges, but some[…]
The Tarpeian Rock / Photo by Lalupa, Wikimedia Commons The world quickened and mutated, and the Republic with it. By Tom Holland Historian In the beginning, before the Republic, Rome was ruled by kings. About one of these, a haughty tyrant by the name of Tarquin, an eerie tale was told. Once, in his palace,[…]
Antonine baths ruins / Photo by Aymen, Wikimedia Commons The Carthaginian assault on their Numidian neighbours gave the Romans the perfect excuse to crush this troublesome enemy once and for all. By Mark Cartwright / 05.31.2016 Historian Introduction An artist’s impression of what the Roman naval attack on Carthage may have looked like during the[…]
Brysa Hill ruins / Creative Commons The had an international blend of skills and cultures was a recipe for success. By Mark Cartwright / 06.16.2016 Historian Introduction Phoenician or Carthaginian amulets in the form of bearded heads made of sand-core glass, 4th-3rd century BCE (Cagliari, Museo Archeologico Nazionale) / Photo by Carole Raddato, Flickr, Creative[…]
A representation of Draco at the library of the Supreme Court of the United States / Photo by the Draconian Society, Wikimedia Commons Exploring rational and irrational procedural methods in Greek adjudication in archaic times. By Dr. Gerhard Thür Professor Emeritus of Roman Law Austrian Academy of Sciences Abstract The paper deals with what today[…]
A fresco by Cesare Maccari (1840-1919 CE) depicting Roman senator Cicero (106-43 BCE) denouncing the conspirator Catiline in the Roman senate. (Palazzo Madama, Rome) / Wikimedia Commons One man would rise amidst the disorder of civil war, at least in his mind, to save it. By Donald L. Wasson / 02.03.2016 Professor of Ancient/Medieval History Lincoln[…]
Phoenician ship Carved on the face of a sarcophagus, 2nd century CE / NMB, Wikimedia Commons Although overshadowed by the legacy of Greece and of Rome, the Phoenicians opened up trade and commerce and communication on a grand scale. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.28.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Phoenicia was an ancient civilization[…]
The Rape of Lucretia by Titian (1490-1576 CE). Lucretia was raped by Sextus, son of the Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The incident, according to legend, brought about the downfall of the monarchy and the beginning of the Roman republic in 509 BCE. / Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons The corruption of Superbus and the rape[…]
Wikimedia Commons Through his Cyropaedia, Cyrus’s notions of human rights influenced the U.S. Constitution—Thomas Jefferson owned two copies of this text. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.27.2018 Introduction Cyrus (Old Persian Kourosh or Khorvash, modern Persian: کوروش, Kourosh) (ca. 576 – July 529 B.C.E.), also known as Cyrus the Great and Cyrus II of[…]
Looking to the writings of Duncan Kennedy and Hannah Arendt for further insight. By Dr. Elena Giusti Assistant Professor in Latin Literature and Language University of Warwick Abstract The allegedly old-fashioned debate over the pro- or anti-Augustanism of Augustan texts was superseded in 1992 by Duncan Kennedy’s ‘reflections’ over these terms of reference. Since then,[…]
A relief carving of the Egyptian god Thoth from the throne back of a seated statue of Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE), Luxor / Photo by Jon bodsworth, Wikimedia Commons He was the patron god of scribes and it was said that scribes would pour out one drop of their ink in Thoth’s honor before they[…]
The Great Sphinx of Giza / Photo by MusikAnimal, Wikimedia Commons An exclusive title held only by the highest officials of the royal Egyptian court going back to at least early dynastic times. By (left-to-right) Dr. Manu Seyfzadeh, Dr. Robert M. Schoch, and Robert Bauval / 07.21.2017 Seyfzadeh: Independent Researcher Schoch: Associate Professor[…]
Sumer, in southernmost Mesopotamia, was the first true city in the world, some time not very much before 2100 BCE. By Dr. Paul Kriwaczek British Historian Eridu Leave the modern traffic, the bicycles, the cars and delivery lorries fuming along St Giles’ and Beaumont Street in Oxford, and pass through the Ashmolean Museum’s rather overblown[…]
Reconstruction of ancient life and environments is an extremely challenging problem. By Dr. William Irvin Sellers Professor, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Manchester Abstract One of the major goals of palaeontology is the reconstruction of life on earth at specific times in the past. The major pieces of evidence that we can[…]