The Ancient World

Strengths of Athenian democracy include: The public exercised direct democracy, which extended an opportunity for citizens to deliberate on a myriad of government policies before expressing their...

The country now called Greece consists of an arid, mountainous section of the mainland of South-Eastern Europe, surrounded by a great many islands. Most of them are small, but one in particular,...

Justinian I, the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, sponsored committees of jurists who reviewed existing laws and, after eliminating outdated or contradictory laws, placed the laws and legal...

There are indeed a number of similarities between the ancient Mesopotamian and Harappan civilizations. Much more is known about the Mesopotamian civilizations than Harappa as the former left...

Rome contributed to democracy by creating a government where the people ruled. While Rome was a republic and not a democracy, the Romans established the framework for future democratic governments....

The first great civilizations all developed in river valleys, as the rivers provided a source of water and irrigation for crops. Over time, these civilizations developed a surplus of food that...

There are a number of factors that make the Empire significant. First of all, the Romans were remarkably tolerant of cultural and religious differences, and did not force conquered people to adopt...

This question likely refers to the whole history of Rome from 8th B.C.E to the 5th century C.E. despite the reference to the Empire that existed from the time of Augustus to the Barbarian invasions...

As a republic, Rome was ruled by a Senate and various executives. It was governed by two consuls and, later in the life of the republic, one praetor and then later still two. The Senate was known...

The first major issue people faced in these areas was the problem of how to sustain a food supply. The neolithic transition, in which people settled down in one area to farm rather than moving as...

This is a complex question, but we'll take it step by step. First let's look at a definition of democracy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, democracy is: government by the people,...

The Persian and Roman empires shared many similarities in religion, governments and architecture. The people of the Persian empire initially believed in more than one god. However, in the sixth...

Both civilizations were river civilizations dependent on the rivers for their sustenance; however the Nile was far more important to Egypt than were the Tigris and Euphrates to Mesopotamia. The...

The Romans, according to the Histories of Polybius, had three forms of government, though the Roman constitution was never codified as a written document. All the functions were distributed among...

The greatest strength of the Roman system of government was also its greatest weakness: the reliance on precedent. The way the government was formally constituted was not the way it operated in...

Roman culture borrowed and improved on Greek culture and other foreign cultures, making it difficult to adequately point out its distinct features. It should be noted that sections of the Roman...

The cultural achievements of Sparta include a well-organized society, gender empowerment, and military prowess. Sparta was made up of three main communities: Spartans, Perioeci, and Helots. The...

If you want to know where you can go to read about the themes you mention, there are two places you can go. First, there are the primary sources - the plays themselves. We have three main tragic...

I would argue that the biggest similarity between the Roman and Athenian political systems lies in the historical context which underlines the evolution of Athenian democracy and the Roman...

The Hellenic world describes the Greek-speaking world from the sixth century BCE to the exploits of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. This is the period usually imagined as "classical"...

To answer your question, we will compare two civilizations in the ancient world: Mesopotamia and Egypt. By 4000–3000 B.C., Mesopotamia consisted of independent city-states (each with its own...

Harappa shares its name with the civilization it was part of. Both cities were part of the Harappan civilization. Harappa was around much earlier and much longer. Evidence points to it being...

Chichen Itza was a large Mayan city established in the fifth century BC in the central Yucatan. From its very beginning, Chichen Itza was a very important religious center. This is evidenced by the...

On the most basic level, the ancient river valley civilizations influenced classical empires because they influenced civilization, period. The river valley civilizations are the most lasting and...

Hello! Chanakya was the prime minister of Emperor Chandragupta, the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire. As a Brahmin statesman, he was well known for his role in Chandragupta's defeat of the Nanda...

Like many elements of ancient Roman society and culture, physical education was heavily influenced by the Greeks. Romans eagerly adopted the Greek notion that mental health is closely tied to...

The Assyrians had many achievements. One of them was that their empire rose a couple of times after being defeated. Their empire covered a good deal of land, especially in the Middle East. They...

Here are four reasons why Mesopotamia was susceptible to invasions (Hurrians, Medians, Hittites, Elamites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Parthians). First, there were many nomadic tribes, which...

There were a number of factors that allowed the Assyrians to become the most feared fighting unit in the world. Geography, especially the lack of natural protection from attack played an important...

The differences between these three civilizations is more striking than their similarities. All three were river civilizations, that is dependent on particular rivers for their survival; all three...

Whether you consider the nature of gurukula or schools run as communities headed by gurus (also known as ashrams) as advantages or disadvantages for the pupils really depends on your point of view....

There was something truly god-like about Alexander in both his personality and his achievements, a status that has awed and inspired successive generations ever since. He was a deeply ambitious...

Since the world's earliest civilizations developed in the Fertile Crescent, it is not hard to imagine that there are many geographical advantages. The presence of two rivers and the sediment they...

Alexander the Great conquered a vast amount of territory. By the time he died, his kingdom stretched from Macedonia and Egypt in the west all the way to India and Afghanistan in the east. This...

The Byzantine Empire survived for many reasons. First, it had ample agricultural supplies, and it had a good infrastructure system that funneled these supplies back to Constantinople. It was...

The Babylonian economy was rooted in its agricultural production and extensive networks of trade. The Babylonian empire was situated in the Fertile Crescent, and as such, farmers were able to...

The image of Sparta as a brutal, illiterate, unenlightened civilization is rooted more in Athenian propaganda then in truth. While the Spartans are mostly remembered for their heroism on the field...

We know that Julius Caesar was liked by the people early in the play when Flavius and Marullus chastise the common people for celebrating and for putting decorations on Caesar's statue. They ask,...

Both Akkad and Babylon were part of the ancient Akkadian empire, which lasted about 180 years in the historical region of Mesopotamia. Babylon was built on the Euphrates River whereas recent...

At their fullest extent, the Persian Achaemenid Empire (500 B.C.) and the Roman Empire (117 A.D.) each covered approximately two million square miles. Both empires are known for their developed...

Since the first 2 posters covered political ties and architecture, I'll focus on art & philosophy. In addition to finding the fundamental basis of our republic, the seeds of our ethical codes...

The Assyrian Empire, which existed in the Near East from approximately the 25th century BCE to its collapse around 600 BCE, was historically significant in part because it conquered Mesopotamia and...

There were several religious practices in Mecca before Muhammed and the start of Islam. For example, some people followed a polytheistic religion. Arab polytheism involved worshipping deities such...

Athenians lived in Athens, Greece, in the 5th century BCE under the rule of Pericles. Athens's population was relatively small compared to other Greek cities of that time, but the creative...

When people began farming, they began to take an active role in adjusting the landscape and environment to suit their needs. Before agriculture, people hunted wild animals and gathered wild plants...

As the fifth century B.C. opened, the Persian Empire was moving westward in a quest to consolidate control over the whole of the Near East. Then, in 499 B.C., reacting against the demand for taxes...

Having existed between three and five thousand years ago, there are many differences between Harappan society and today's. However, there are also a number of striking similarities. Leaving aside...

Mesopotamia and Egypt are River Valley Civilizations—some of our earliest agricultural civilizations that centered around rivers. Mesopotamia, which means "between two rivers," was centered over...

This is an interesting question, but in asking it, you would need to answer a second question: when you speak of Greece, do you mean the Greek-speaking world, or do you mean the modern-day country...

One aspect of Justinian’s Code, which is often forgotten, is that it was significant for women in the Byzantine Empire. Remember that the societies of the ancient world were largely patriarchal...