Delphic Oracle and priestess Pythia
The Oracle of Delphi was a Greek center of shrine and predictions in Phocis (Central Greece) under the Mount Parnassus. For nearly a thousand years,...
Rome and Carthage Compared
Rome and Carthage differed in many ways including social, cultural, religious, and military aspects yet the final Punic War determined which power would survive....
Cleopatra (51-30 BC) last Egyptian pharaoh
Hardly a ancient woman can fascinate as much as the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra VII (born 69 BC) or queen of Ptolemaic Kingdom (founded in...
![Map of ancient Ostia from Vatican Museum gallery. Photo by [Ken Trethewey, 2003]](https://www.shorthistory.org/images/Ancient-Ostia-Vatican-Muzeum-Ken-Trethewey2003-324x235.jpg "Ancient Roman Port-City Ostia")
Ancient Roman Port-City Ostia
For almost six hundred years, the Roman port of Ostia served as the chief conduit of trade between Rome and the rest of the...
Claudius, Roman Emperor (41-54 AD)
Tiberius Claudius Drusus was born in Lugdunum (Lyon) in Gaul on August 1, 10 BC, according to historical sources, as the second son of...
Ancient roman games as a killing machine for wild animals
The games in the Roman arenas were above all a huge killing and extermination machine for wild animals. It was not the gladiatorial fights,...
Circus Maximus in ancient Rome
The Circus Maximus was considered the largest and most famous circus complex in the ancient world. First and foremost, chariot races were held in...
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC)
Cicero (philosopher, lawyer, statesman and rhetorician) was born 106 BC in Arpinum (now Arpino) in Lazio, a region that was also the home of...
Akhenaten and his concept of religion in Egypt
Changing his name and moving his capital from Thebes to Amarna, Amonhotep IV replaced traditional Egyptian gods with the worship of Aten, the great...
Naval Battle of Actium
The battle of Actium ended the Second Triumvirate and shifted the power base of Roman rule of the Mediterranean to the West. Octavian’s subjugation...
Ancient Tombs
How the ancients viewed death and how they defined the Afterlife varied considerably through Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures. In some civilizations, practices and...
Similarities and Differences in Near East Ancient Civilizations
The rise of civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia occurred about the same time and both civilizations grew along mighty rivers. There were many similarities...
