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Alex Garner
1. Mycenaen Society- The settlement pattern at Mycenae during the Bronze Age
was a fortified hill surrounded by hamlets and estates. Missing is the dense
urbanity present on the coast. Since Mycenae was the capital of a state that ruled
or dominated much of the eastern Mediterranean world, the rulers must have
placed their stronghold in this less populated and more remote region for its
defensive value. Since there are few documents on site with datable contents and
since no dendrochronology has yet been performed upon the remains here, the
events are here listed according to Helladic period material culture.
2. Cyrus-As leader of the Persian people in Anshan, Cyrus conquered the Medes and
unified the two separate Iranian kingdoms. However once he became king, he
reigned over the new empire from 559 BC until his death. The empire expanded
under his rule, eventually conquering most of Southwest Asia. Cyrus was born in
either 576 BC or 590 BC. Little is known of his early years. In 539 BC Cyrus'
armies attacked Opis on the Tigris river and defeated the Babylonians after a
minor uprising. Cyrus died in the year 529 BC, while warring against tribes northeast of the headwaters of the Tigris.
3. Croesus-was the king of Lydia from 561 BC until his defeat by the Persians in
about 547 BC. Croesus was renowned for his wealth and in Greek and Persian
cultures his name became a synonym for a wealthy man; in English, expressions
such as "rich as Croesus" or "richer than Croesus" are used to indicate great
wealth. launched a campaign into the Persian Empire. He was intercepted near the
Halys River in central Anatolia and an inconclusive battle was fought. Croesus
settled down for the winter, but Cyrus didn’t. He captured Croesus and the story
goes that he was sentanced to be burned alive. However, Cyrus ordered that the
fire be put out and he put him on the board of advisors.
4. Cambyses-Cambyses is the name of several great monarchs of Achaemenid line
of ancient Persia. Cambyses III was the most famous of these. He was successor
and son of Cyrus the Great. He ruled Persia from 530 to 522 BCE. He is famous
for his conquest of Egypt, and the havoc he wrought upon that country.
5. Darius- Darius the Great was Persian Emperor from 521 BC to 486 BC. Daruis
was a firm believer of Zorastrianism. He was also a great statesman and
organizer. Darius thoroughly revised the Persian system of administration and
also the legal code. His revisions of the legal code revolved around laws of
evidence, slave sales, deposits, bribery, and assault. He divided the Persian
Empire into twenty provinces, each under the supervision of a governor. Every
province, however, was responsible for paying a gold or silver tribute to the
emperor. These taxes were tough on the provinces however.
6. Eyes & Ears of the King- Darius the Great established a network of spies known
as “The Eyes and Ears of the King”
7. Xerxes- Xerxes I was a Persian Emperor of the Achaemenid dynasty. He ruled
from 485 until 465 BC. He was appointed King of Persia by his father in
preference to his elder half-brothers, who were born before Darius had become
king. He suppressed the revolts in Egypt and Babylon which had broken out in
486 BC. He also apointed his brother as a governor. Xerxes in 484 BC took away
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from Babylon the golden statue of Bel. This proceeding led to two rebellions,
probably in 484 BC and 479 BC.
8. Seleucus- Seleucus, who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the camp" under
Perdiccas since 323 BC, received Babylonia, and from that point continued to
expand his dominions ruthlessly. Seleucus established himself in Babylon in 312
BC, used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He ruled over not only
Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's empire. Seleucus
went as far as India, where he reached an agreement with Chandragupta Maurya,
in which he exchanged his eastern territories for a considerable force of 500 war
elephants, which were to play a decisive role at Ipsus.
9. Mithradates I- Mithradates was the "Great King" of Parthia from about 171 BC to
138 BC. Mithridates I made Parthia into a major political power and expanded the
empire westward into Mesopotamia. During his reign, the Parthians took
Babylonia, Media and Persia. Mithridates I extended his control into Margiana,
Aria and Bactria, thus completing Parthian control of the overland trade routes
between east and west, the Silk Road and the Persian Royal Road. Mithridates I's
son, Phraates II of Parthia succeeded him on his death as King.
10. Shapur I- Shapur was King of Persia from 241 to 272. The Persian legend which
makes him the son of an Arsacid princess is not historical. Shapur I conquered the
Mesopotamian fortresses Nisibis and Carrhae and advanced into Syria. Shapur I
conquered Armenia, invaded Syria, and plundered Antioch. Shapur I advanced
into Asia Minor, but Ballista beat him back. From his titles we learn that Shapur I
claimed the sovereignty over the whole Earth, although in reality his domain
extended little farther than that of Ardashir I.
11. Zarathustra- Zarathustra was an ancient Iranian prophet and the founder of
Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is practiced today by the Parsee community of
India, and which was the national religion of the Sassanian Empire of Persia.
Zoroaster is generally accepted as a historical figure, but efforts to date Zoroaster
vary widely. A cosmic struggle between "The Truth" and "The Lie" is presented
as the foundation of our existence.
12. Archaemenids13. Persepolis- Persepolis was an ancient ceremonial capital of the second Iranian
dynasty. To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Parsa. The largest and
most complex building in Persepolis was the audience hall. the reason behind the
construction of Persepolis was the need for a majestic atmosphere, a symbol for
their empire and to celebrate special events.
14. Satrapy- Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient
Median and Persian Achaemenid empires and in several of their heirs, the
Sassanid and later Hellenistic empires. The satrapic administration and title were
retained by Alexander the Great. They would ultimately be replaced by
conquering empires, especially the Romans.
15. Royal Road- The Persian Royal Road was an ancient highway built by the Persian
king Darius I. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout
his very large empire from Susa to Sardis. The course of the road has been
reconstructed from the writings of Herodotus. From near Babylon, it is believed to
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have split into two routes, one traveling northwest then west through Ecbatana
and on along the Silk Road, the other continuing east through the future Persian
capital Susa.
16. Persian Wars- The Persian Wars were were a series of conflicts between several
Greek city-states and the Persian Empire. They started about 500 BC and lasted
until 448 BC. Notably not all Greeks fought against the Persians, some were
neutral and others were allied with Persia. What is known today of this conflict is
derived primarily from Greek sources.
17. Seleucids-The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the
Great's dominion. At its greatest extent, the Empire comprised Anatolia, Syria,
Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia. There were over 30 kings of the Seleucid
dynasty from 323 to 60 BC. Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian
Empire within a short time-frame and died young, leaving an expansive empire of
partly Hellenized culture without an adult heir. The vast eastern domains of the
Seleucids proved difficult to assert control over.
18. Parthians-Parthia was led by the Arsacid dynasty, who reunited and ruled over the
Iranian plateau. The Parthian empire lasted five centuries, longer than most
Eastern Empires. They were consummate horsemen, known for the 'Parthian
shot': turning backwards at full gallop to loose an arrow directly to the rear. Little
is known of the Parthians; their own literature has not survived. Their power was
based on a combination of the guerilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe, with
organisational skills sufficient to build and administer a vast empire.
19. Sasanids- The Sassanid era, encompassing the length of the Late Antiquity period,
is considered to be one of the most important and influential historical periods in
Iran. After establishing his rule over Persis, Ardashir I rapidly extended his
territory, demanding fealty from the local princes of Fars, and gaining control
over the neighboring provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Susiana, and Mesene.
20. Qanat-is a water management system used to provide a reliable supply of water to
human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates. The
technology is known to have developed in ancient Persia, and then spread to other
cultures, especially along the Silk Road as far east as China as well as by Arabic
cultures as far west as Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula. Qanats are constructed
as a series of well-like vertical shafts, connected by gently sloping tunnels.
21. Zorastrianism- Zorastrianism is a dualistic religion that believes in a single god
Ahura Mazda who is supreme. Communication between Himself and humans is
by a number of Attributes, called Amesha Spentas or Bounteous Immortals.
Within the Gathas, the original Zoroastrian sacred text, these Immortals are
sometimes described as concepts, and are sometimes personified. An all powerful
God Ahura Mazda who is the only deity worthy of being worshipped, and an evil
spirit of violence and death, Angra Mainyu, who opposes Ahura Mazda.
22. Parsis- are members of the close-knit Zoroastrian community based in the Indian
subcontinent. Parsis are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to
the Indian subcontinent over 1,000 years ago to escape religious persecution after
the Islamic conquest. Although the Parsis of India originally emigrated from
Persia, they no longer have social or familial ties to Persians, and do not share
language or recent history with them.
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23. Ahura Mazda-Ahura Mazda is an exalted divinity of ancient proto-Indo-Iranian
religion that was declared by Zoroaster to be the one uncreated creator of all. The
Zoroastrian faith is described by its adherents as Mazdayasna, the worship of
Mazda. In Zoroastrian tradition, to worship a lesser divinity is to worship Ahura
Mazda, since all the divinities are but a manifestation of the Creator.
24. Angra Mainyu- In Zoroastrianism, Angra Mainyu is the hypostasis of the "malign
spirit". The concept appears as Middle Persian Ahriman in the Zend
commentaries on the Avesta. Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu are the "twin"
offspring of Zurvan, 'Time'. This monist development, with 'Time' as the supreme
and transcendental God, retained Ahura Mazda as the Creator, but made Angra
Mainyu the former's adversarial equal.
25. Magi-The Magi was a tribe from ancient Media, who were responsible for
religious and funerary practices. Later they accepted the Zoroastrian religion,
however, not without changing the original message of its founder. Their religion
is today known as "Zurvanism", which would become the predominant form of
Zoroastrianism during the Sassanid era, however no traces of Zurvanism exist
past the 10th century.
26. Gathas-are the most sacred of the texts of the Zoroastrian faith, and are
traditionally believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself. The Gathas
are in verse, metrical in the nature of ancient Indo-Iranian religious poetry, which
is extremely terse, and in which grammatical constructs are an exception. The 17
hymns of the Gathas consist of 238 verses, of about 1300 lines or 6000 words in
total. They were later incorporated into the 72-chapter Yasna.
27. Avesta-The Avesta is the primary collection of sacred texts of Zoroastrianism.
Although some of the texts are very old, the term Avesta itself only dates to the
second century CE. The texts of the Avesta was collated over several hundred
years. The most important portion is the Gathas. In its present form, the Avesta is
a compilation from various sources, and its different parts date from different
periods and vary widely in character.
28. Phalanx- A phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed
entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, or similar weapons. The
troops were disciplined to hold a line which created a nearly impenetrable forest
of points to the front. The phalanx is a hallmark of Hellenistic or ancient Greek
warfare. The word phalanx is derived from the Greek word phalangos, meaning
finger.
29. Hoplite-A hoplite was a infantryman that was the central focus of warfare in
Ancient Greece. These soldiers probably first appeared in the late eighth century
B.C. They were a citizen-militia, and so were armed as spearmen, which are
relatively easy to equip and maintain. they were primarily drawn from the middle
class, who could afford the cost of the armaments. Almost all the famous men of
ancient Greece, even philosophers and playwrights, fought as hoplites at some
point in their lives.
30. Homer-was a legendary early Greek poet traditionally credited with the
composition of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He is commonly assumed to have lived
in the 8th century BC, but the dates are uncertain. Tradition holds that Homer was
blind, and various Ionian cities claim to be his birthplace, but otherwise little is
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known about his life. There is considerable scholarly debate about whether Homer
was a real person, or the name given to one or more oral poets who sang
traditional epic material.
31. Solon- Solon was a famous Athenian lawmaker and poet. Solon is known as one
of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He first gained public attention by urging the
Athenians to go to war over possession of a nearby island. Athens listened to his
advice and won the war. Solon became an Athenian hero. Solon began a series of
political reforms that greatly increased citizen participation in Athenian
government.
32. Pericles- was a prominent and influential statesman, orator, and general of Athens
in the city's Golden Age. Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian
society that Thucydides, his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first
citizen of Athens".Pericles promoted the arts and literature; this was a chief
reason Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural centre of
the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that built most of the
surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon.
33. Philip II of Macedon- Philip II was the king of Macedon from 359 BC until his
assassination. He was the father of Alexander the Great. The deaths of Philip's
elder brothers, King Alexander II and Perdiccas III, allowed him to take the
throne in 359 BC. Originally appointed regent for his infant nephew Amyntas IV,
who was the son of Perdiccas III, Philip managed to take the kingdom for himself
that same year. Philip was elected as leader of the army of invasion against the
Persian Empire.
34. Alexander III of Macedon- Alexander III is more commonly known as Alexander
the Great. He was one of, if not the most successful military commanders in
history. Before his death, he conquered most of the world known to the ancient
Greeks. he is regarded as one of the greatest military strategists and tacticians who
ever lived. Alexander is also known in the Zoroastrian text, Arda Wiraz Nāmag,
as "the accursed Alexander" due to his conquest of the Persian Empire and the
destruction of its capital Persepolis.
35. Menander- Menander was a king in Greece. His territories covered the eastern
dominions of the divided Greek empire of Bactria and extended to the modern
Pakistani province of Punjab with diffuse tributaries to the south and east,
probably as far as Mathura. His reign was long and successful. Generous findings
of coins testify to the prosperity and extension of his empire (with finds as far as
Britain): the finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of
all the Indo-Greek kings. Precise dates of his reign, as well as his origin, remain
elusive however.
36. Sappho- Sappho was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, born in Eresos on the island of
Lesbos. In history and poetry texts, she is also sometimes associated with
Mytilene. She was born sometime between 630 BC and 612 BC, and it is said that
she died around 570 BC. The bulk of her poetry has been lost, but her reputation
is immense. Plato called Sappho The Tenth Muse, and the rest of the ancient
critics agreed. She was one of the canonical nine lyric poets of archaic Greece,
which meant that her works were studied by all those wishing to claim that they
were properly educated.
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37. Socrates- Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who is widely credited for
laying the foundation for Western philosophy. He was born and lived in Athens,
where he spent most of his time in enthusiastic pursuit of wisdom. He "followed
the argument" in his personal reflection, and in a sustained and rigorous dialogue
between friends, followers, and contemporary itinerant teachers of wisdom. Later
in his life he became known as the wisest man in all of Greece. As an old man, he
fell into grave disrepute with the Athenian state powers, and was commanded to
stop his public disputes, and his associations with young aristocrats. He carried on
as usual. Finally, he was arrested and accused of corrupting the youth, inventing
new deities, and disbelieving in the divine. According to traditional accounts, he
was sentenced to die by drinking poison. Presented with an opportunity to leave
Athens, he believed it would be more honorable to stay in his home country.
Therefore, at the age of 70, he drank the hemlock and died.
38. Plato- Plato was an immensely influential ancient Greek philosopher, a student of
Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in
Athens where Aristotle studied. Plato lectured extensively at the Academy, and
wrote on many philosophical issues, dealing especially in politics, ethics,
metaphysics, and epistemology. The most important writings of Plato are his
dialogues, although some letters have come down to us under his name. It is
believed that all of Plato's authentic dialogues survive. However, some dialogues
ascribed to Plato by the Greeks are now considered by the consensus of scholars
to be either suspect or probably spurious. The letters are all considered to
probably be spurious, with the possible exception of the Seventh Letter.
39. Aristotle-was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of
Alexander the Great. He wrote on diverse subjects, including physics, poetry,
zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, and biology. Aristotle, along
with Plato and Socrates, is generally considered one of the most influential of
ancient Greek philosophers. They transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into
the foundations of Western philosophy as we know it. The writings of Plato and
Aristotle founded two of the most important schools of Ancient philosophy.
40. Euripides-was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. Ancient
scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-two plays, although four of
those were probably written by Critias. Eighteen of Euripides' plays have survived
complete. It is now widely believed that what was thought to be a nineteenth,
Rhesus, was probably not by Euripides. Fragments, some of them substantial, of
most of the other plays also survive. More of his plays have survived than those of
Aeschylus and Sophocles together, partly because of the chance preservation of a
manuscript that was probably part of a complete collection of his works in
alphabetical order.
41. Minoan Society-The Minoans were a pre-Hellenic Bronze Age civilization in
Crete in the Aegean Sea, flourishing from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC when
their culture was superseded by the Mycenaean culture, which drew upon the
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Minoans. Based on depictions in Minoan art, Minoan culture is often
characterized as a matrilinear society centered on goddess worship.
42. Knossos- is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, probably the
ceremonial and political center of the Minoan culture. It is a popular tourist
destination today, as it is near the main city of Heraklion and has been
substantially if imaginatively "rebuilt", making the site accessible to the casual
visitor in a way that a field of unmarked ruins is not. The palace is about 130
meters on a side and since the Roman period has been suggested as the source of
the myth of the Labyrinth, an elaborate mazelike structure constructed for King
Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary artificer Daedalus to hold the
Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by
the Athenian hero Theseus.
43. Linear A-Linear A is one of two scripts used in ancient Crete. They were
discovered and named by Arthur Evans. Linear B was deciphered in the 1950s by
Michael Ventris as representing an ancient form of Greek. Linear A remains an
undeciphered script. Its decipherment is one of the "holy grails" of ancient scripts.
Though the two scripts share many of the same symbols, using the syllables
associated with Linear B in Linear A writings produces words that are unrelated
to any known language. This language has been dubbed Minoan or Eteocretan,
and corresponds to a period in Cretan history prior to a series of invasions by
Mycenean Greeks around 1450 BC.
44. Roman Consul-was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an
appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states,
and revived in modern states, notably Republican France before Napoleon turned
it into an Empire. In Latin, consules means "those who walk together". If a consul
died during his term, which was not uncommon when consuls were in the
forefront of battle, another would be elected, and be known as a suffect consul.
Caligula was famous for threatening to make his favorite horse a consul.
45. Linear B- is a script that was used for writing Mycenaean, an early form of Greek.
It preceded the Greek alphanet by several centuries: it seems to have died out with
the fall of Mycenaean civilization; the intervening period, in which there is no
evidence of written language, is known as the Dark Ages.The script appears to be
related to Linear A, an undeciphered earlier script used for writing the Minoan
language, and the later Cypriot syllabary; derivation from another writing system
is held to be the reason for its poor compliance with the phonemic principle. It is
partly syllabic, with additional logographic signs that are "determinative", or
"designational". As such, it rather resembles modern Japanese writing in
graphemic structure
46. Trojan War- The Troajan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the
city of Troy in Asia Minor. by the armies of the Achaeans, after Paris of Troy
stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is among the
most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of
Greek literature, of which the two most famous are the Iliad and the Odyssey of
Homer. The Iliad relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy, and the
Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the Achaean leaders.
Other parts of the story were narrated in a cycle of epic poems, which has only
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survived in fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy
and other works of Greek literature, and Roman poets like Virgil and Ovid.
47. Polis- A polis is the word for a city or city-state. The word originates from the
ancient Greek city-states, which developed during the Archaic period, the
ancestor of both modern city and state, and persisted well into Roman times,
when the equivalent Latin word was civitas, also meaning 'citizenhood', while
municipium applied to a non-sovereign local entity. The bounds of the ancient
polis often centred around a citadel, called the acropolis, and would of necessity
also have an agora and typically one or more temples and a gymnasium. Note that
many of a polis' citizens would have lived in the suburbs or countryside. The
Greeks did not regard the polis as a territorial grouping so much as a religious and
political association: while the polis would control territory and colonies beyond
the city itself, the polis would not simply consist of a geographical area.
48. Sparta-is a city in southern Greece. In antiquity it was a Dorian Greek militarist
state, whose territory included Laconia and Messenia, dominating over
Peloponnese. During the classical age of Greece, she had the most powerful
Greek army. The modern town is situated some kilometres away from the ancient
site. Technically, 'Sparta' was the name of the ancient town; Lacedaemon, was the
wider city-state. Sparta is now normally used for both. The Spartans were
believed to be the descendants of Heracles.
49. Athens-Ancient Athens was a powerful city-state and a renowned center of
learning, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. It is considered to
have been the cradle of Western civilization, largely due to the immense impact of
its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the
rest of the then known European Continent. The heritage of the Athenian
Enlightenment is still evident in the city, portrayed through a number of
spectacular ancient monuments and artworks, the most famous of all being the
Parthenon on the Acropolis, nurtured by Ictinus, Callicrates and Phidias. The
latter is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Classical Greek
architecture, still standing as an epic legacy to the West and indeed to the rest of
the world.
50. Delian League-The Delian League was an association of Greek city-states in the
5th century BC. It was led by Athens. Because many of the league's poleis were
too poor to contribute ships to the collective navy, they paid taxes to Athens so
that there would be enough money to build the expensive triremes.In 478 BC,
following the defeat of Xerxes' invasion of Greece, Pausanias the Spartan led
Hellenic forces against the Persians. He was an unpopular commander (who may
have conspired with the Persians), and Sparta was eager to stop prosecuting the
war. They surrendered the leadership of the ongoing campaign to Athens, which
was eager to accept it. The Delian League was inaugurated in 477 BC as an
offensive and defensive alliance against Persia. The principal cities in the League
were Athens, Chios, Samos, and Lesbos, but many of the principal islands and
Ionian cities joined the league.
51. Peloponnesian War-The Peloponnesian War (431 BC–404 BC) was an Ancient
Greek military conflict fought by Athens and its empire and the Peloponnesian
League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three
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phases. In the first, the Archidamian War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of
Attica, while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of
the Peloponnese while attempting to suppress signs of unrest in its empire. This
period of the war was concluded in 421 BC, with the signing of the Peace of
Nicias. That treaty, however, was soon undermined by renewed fighting in the
Peloponnese. In 415 BC, Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to
attack Syracuse in Sicily; the attack failed disastrously with the destruction of the
entire force in 413 BC. This ushered in the final phase of the war, generally
referred to either as the Decelean War or the Ionian War.
52. Macedon-Macedon was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part
of ancient Greece, bordering the kingdom of Epirus on the west and the region of
Thrace to the east. For a brief period it became the most powerful state in the
ancient Near East after Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world,
inaugurating the Hellenistic period of Greek history. It was the home of both
Philip II and Alexander the Great.
53. Hellenistic Age-as established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to
refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek peoples that were
conquered by Alexander the Great. According to Droysen, the Hellenistic
civilization was a fusion of Greek and Near Eastern cultures. The main cultural
centers expanded from mainland Greece, to Pergamon, Rhodes, Antioch and
Alexandria. Modern historians see the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC as
the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Alexander's armies conquered the eastern
Mediterranean, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Iranian plateau, Central Asia, and
parts of India. Following Alexander's death, there was a struggle for the
succession, known as the wars of the Diadochi. The struggle ended in 281 BC
with the establishment of four large territorial states.
54. Antigonid Empire-The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Macedonian kings
descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus.
Antigonus himself ruled mostly over Asia Minor and northern Syria. His attempts
to take control of the whole of Alexander's empire led to his defeat and death at
the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. Antigonus's son Demetrius I Poliorcetes survived
the battle, and managed to seize control of Macedon itself a few years later, but
eventually lost his throne, dying in prison. After a period of confusion,
Demetrius's son Antigonus II Gonatas was able to establish the family's control
over the old Kingdom of Macedon, as well as over most of the Greek city-states,
by 276 BC.
55. Ptolemaic Empire-Ptolemy, a Macedonian and one of Alexander the Great's
generals, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305
BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" (saviour). The
Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of
independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30
BC.All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens,
some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra,
Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen,
Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius
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Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her suicide at
the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.
56. Seleucid Empire- The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of
Alexander the Great's dominion. At its greatest extent, the Empire comprised
Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia. There were over 30 kings of
the Seleucid dynasty from 323 to 60 BC. The Seleucid empire's geographic span,
from the Aegean Sea to Afghanistan, brought together a multitude of races:
Greeks, Persians, Medes, Jews, Indians, to mention only some. Its rulers were in
the position of having a governing interest to implement a policy of racial unity
initiated by Alexander. By 313 BC, Hellenic ideas had begun their almost 250year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures.
57. Ai Khanum-Ai Khanum was probably the historical Alexandria on the Oxus, also
possibly later named Eucratidia, was founded in the 4th century BC, following the
conquests of Alexander the Great. The city is located in the Kunduz area in
northeastern Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Oxus river and the Kokcha
river. The site was excavated through archaeological searches by a French DAFA
mission under Paul Bernard between 1964 and 1978, as well as Russian scientists.
The searches had to be abandoned with the onset of the Soviet war in
Afghanistan, during which the site was looted and used as a battleground, leaving
very little of the original material.
58. Olympic Games-There are many legends surrounding the origin of the ancient
Olympic Games. One of these associates the first Games with the ancient Greek
concept of Oympic Truce. The date of the Games' inception based on the count of
years in Olympiads is reconstructed as 776 BC, although scholars' opinions
diverge between dates as early as 884 BC and as late as 704 BC. They are
practiced every four years.
59. Plato’s Forms-The Theory of Forms typically refers to Plato's belief that the
material world as it seems to us is not the real world, but only a shadow of the real
world. All relation as form becomes the basis for discovery of the form, an
inference of the ancient Greek schools. The allegory of the cave then becomes the
distinction in their inference as objective. Plato spoke of forms in formulating his
solution to the problem of universals. A cause to the relation then clearly appears
this singluar inference form relative to all other.The forms, according to Plato, are
roughly speaking archetypes or abstract representations of the many types and
properties of things we see all around us
60. Cult of Dionysus-
61. Stoicism- Stoicism is a school of philosophy, the founding of which is associated
with Zeno of Citium, which became the foremost popular philosophy among the
educated elite in the Greco-Roman Empire, to the point where, in the words of
Gilbert Murray, "nearly all the successors of Alexander professed themselves
Stoics." It teaches that self-control, fortitude and detachment from distracting
emotions, sometimes interpreted as an indifference to pleasure or pain, allows one
to become a clear thinker, level-headed and unbiased. A primary aspect of
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Stoicism would be described as improving the individual’s spiritual well-being.
Virtue, reason, and natural law are prime directives. By mastering passions and
emotions, Stoics believe it is possible to overcome the discord of the outside
world and find peace within oneself.
62. Epicureans-Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of
Epicurus (c. 340–c. 270 BC), founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic
materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a
general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—
about whom very little is known—Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to
seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from
fear as well as absence of bodily pain through knowledge of the workings of the
world and the limits of our desires. The combination of these two states is
supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a
form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic good, its
conception of absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a
simple life make it quite different from "hedonism" as it is commonly understood.
63. Trireme-Triremes are several different types of ancient warships. In English no
differentiation is made between the Greek trieres and the Latin triremes. This can
confuse, while in other languages these describe different ships. The early type
had three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar. They
originated with the Phoenicians and are best known from the fleets of Ancient
Greece. The early trireme was a development of the pentekonter, an ancient
warship with a single row of 25 oars on each side. The trireme's staggered seating
permitted three benches per vertical section with an oarsmen on each. The
outrigger above the gunwale, projecting laterally beyond it, kept the third row of
oars on deck out of the way of the first two under deck. Early triremes were the
dominant warship in the Mediterranean from the 7th to the 4th century BC.
64. Republic-Aenean was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess
Aphrodite. His father was also the cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of
Aeneas from Troy, which led to the founding of the city that would one day
become Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important
figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in Homer's
Iliad and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.
65. Romulus-Romulus and Remus the traditional founders of Rome, appearing in
Roman mythology as the twin sons of the priestess Rhea Silvia, fathered by the
god of war Mars. According to the legend recorded as history by Plutarch and
Livy, Romulus served as the first King of Rome.Romulus would slay Remus over
a dispute over which one of the two brothers had the support of the local gods to
rule the new city and give it his name. After founding Rome, Romulus not only
created the Roman Legions and the Roman Senate, but also added citizens to his
new city by abducting the women of the neighboring Sabine tribes, which resulted
in the mixture of the Sabines and Romans into one people. Romulus would
become ancient Rome's greatest conqueror, adding large amounts of territory and
people to the dominion of Rome
66. Gracchi Brothers-The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, went down in history
as martyrs to the cause of social reform. Tiberius was killed by members of the
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Senate for attempting to make the system more friendly to the lower classes of
Rome. They tried to limit the size of the large farms that the patricians (upper
class) owned to keep the plebeians (lower class) able to compete with their
smaller farms. Gaius and many of his followers were killed in 121 BC owing to
the Senate being made up of patricians who owned large farms.
67. Gaius Marius-Gaius Marius was a Roman general and politician elected Consul
an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his
dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens
and reorganizing the structure of the legions into separate cohorts. Marius was
born in 157 BC in the town of Arpinum in southern Latium. The town had been
conquered by the Romans in the late fourth century BC and was given Roman
citizenship without voting rights. Only in 188 BC did the town receive full
citizenship. Although Plutarch claims that Marius's father was a laborer, this is
almost certainly false. The facts that Marius had connections with the nobility in
Rome, that he ran for local office in Arpinum and that he had marriage relations
with the local nobility in Arpinum all combine to indicate that he was born into a
locally important family of equestrian status. The problems he faced in his early
career in Rome show the difficulties that faced a new man.
68. Lucius Cornelius Sulla-Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a great Roman general and
dictator, was usually known simply as Sulla. His character was often described as
being half fox, half lion due to his legendary cunning and bravery; the fox being
by far the most dangerous side to him. Machiavelli later alluded to this description
of Sulla in his work "The Prince." In character he was unusual for a Roman, in
that he had a highly developed sense of humour and was completely
unpredictable, both in his actions and moods. Although a clinically practical man,
cynical too, he was also superstitious to the extreme. He believed in his luck,
hence his choice of Felix as an agnomen. He was a thoughtful man, who would
plan out his strategy, however, if faced with an immediate adversity, he would
strike swiftly and with extreme prejudice. Of all the great men of ancient Rome,
he is perhaps the most mysterious and difficult to understand.
69. Julius Caesar-Julius Caesar was a Roman military and political leader and one of
the most influential men in world history. He played a critical role in the
transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of
Gaul extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, and he was
also responsible for the first Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC. Caesar was
widely considered to be one of the foremost military geniuses of his time, as well
as a brilliant politician and one of the ancient world's strongest leaders.
70. Augustus Caesar-for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, was the first and among
the most important of the Roman Emperors.Although he preserved the outward
form of the Roman Republic, he ruled as an autocrat for 41 years, and his rule is
the dividing line between the Republic and the Roman Empire. He ended a
century of civil wars and gave Rome an era of peace, prosperity, and imperial
greatness, known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace.
71. Cicero- Cicero was an orator, statesman, political theorist, lawyer and philosopher
of Ancient Rome. He is considered by many to be amongst the greatest of the
Latin orators and prose writers. In 58 BC, the populist Publius Clodius Pulcher
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introduced a law exiling any man who had put Roman citizens to death without
trial. Although Cicero maintained that the sweeping decree senatus consultum
ultimum granted him in 63 BC had indemnified him against legal penalty, he
nevertheless appeared in public and began to beg for support from the people.
Since he could not go out in public without being threatened by Clodius's heavies,
he dedicated a statue to Minerva in the Forum and left Italy for a year and spent
his quasi-exile setting his speeches to paper. In letters to his friend Atticus, Cicero
maintained that the Senate was jealous of his accomplishments, and therefore did
not save him from exile.
72. Jesus of Nazareth-Jesus of Nazareth, commonly known as Jesus or Jesus Christ, is
the central figure of Christianity. He is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ,
where "Christ" is a Greek-derived title meaning "Anointed One" which
corresponds to the Hebrew-derived "Messiah".The main sources of information
regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical Gospels of the New
Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Most scholars in the fields of biblical
studies and history agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee, who was
regarded as a healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in
Jerusalem on orders of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate under the accusation
of sedition against the Roman Empire. A small minority of scholars question the
historical existence of Jesus.
73. Paul of Tarsus-Paul of Tarsus, also known as Paul the Apostle or Saint Paul is
widely considered to be central to the early development and spread of
Christianity, particularly westward from Jerusalem. Many Christians view him as
an important interpreter of the teachings of Jesus. Paul is described in the New
Testament as a Hellenized Jew and Roman citizen from Tarsus in present-day
Turkey. He was a persistent persecutor of Early Christians, almost all of whom
were Jewish or Jewish proselytes, until his experience on the Road to Damascus
which brought about his conversion to faith in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God.
After his baptism, Paul sojourned in Arabia until joining the early Christian
community in Jerusalem and staying with Simon Peter for fifteen days (Gal 1:13–
18). Through his epistles to Gentile Christian communities, Paul articulated his
position on the relationship between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, and
between Mosaic Law and the teachings of Jesus.
74. Carthaginians- The term Carthage refers both to an ancient city in North Africa
located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the
city's sphere of influence. The city of Carthage was located on the eastern side of
Lake Tunis across from the center of modern Tunis in Tunisia.
75. Etruscans-The Etruscan civilization is the name given today to the culture and
way of life of people of ancient Italy whom ancient Romans called Etrusci or
Tusci. The ancient Greeks' word for them was Tyrrhenoi, or Tyrrsenoi. The
Etruscans themselves used the term Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or
Raśna. As distinguished by its own language, the civilization endured from an
unknown prehistoric time prior to the foundation of Rome until its complete
assimilation to Italic Rome in the Roman Republic; numerous artifacts of
Etruscan culture survived the Roman conquest. At its maximum extent during the
foundation period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three
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confederacies: of Etruria, of the Po valley and Latium and of Campania. Rome
was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome
was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked Veii in 396 BC.
76. Roman Senate-The Roman Senate (Latin, Senatus) was the main governing
council of both the Roman Republic, which started in 510 BC, and the Roman
Empire, which ended in the 6th century AD. The word Senatus is derived from
the Latin word senex, meaning old man or elder. So literally Senate means
something like Council of Elders. Tradition held that the Senate was first
established by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome, as an advisory council
consisting of the 100 heads of families, called Patres ("Fathers"). Later, when at
the start of the Republic, Lucius Junius Brutus increased the number of Senators
to three hundred (according to legend), they were also called Conscripti
("Conscripted Men"), because Brutus had conscripted them. From then on, the
members of the Senate were addressed as "Patres et Conscripti", which was
gradually run together as "Patres Conscripti”
77. Punic Wars-The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome
and the Phoenician city of Carthage. They are known as the Punic Wars because
the Latin term for Carthaginian was Punici. The main cause of the Punic Wars
was the clash of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the
expanding Roman sphere of influence. The Romans were initially interested in
expansion via Sicily, most of which lay under Carthaginian control. At the start of
the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Mediterranean, with
an extensive maritime empire, while Rome was the rapidly ascending power in
Italy. By the end of the third war, after the death of many hundreds of thousands
of soldiers from both sides, Rome had conquered Carthage's empire and razed the
city, becoming in the process the most powerful state of the Western
Mediterranean. With the end of the Macedonian wars and the defeat of the
Seleucid Emperor Antiochus III the Great in the eastern sea, Rome emerged as the
dominant Mediterranean power and the most powerful country in the classical
world. This was a turning point that meant that the civilization of the ancient
Mediterranean would pass to the modern world via Europe instead of Africa.
78. Twelve Tables-According to traditional, semi-legendary historical accounts
preserved in Livy, during the earliest period of the Republic the laws were kept
secret by the pontifices and other representatives of the patrician class, and were
enforced with untoward severity, especially against the plebeian class. A plebeian
named Terentilius proposed in 462 BC that an official legal code should be
published, so that plebeians could not be surprised and would know the law. For a
long time patricians opposed this request, but in 451 BC a Decemvirate, or board
of ten men, was appointed to draw up a code. They allegedly sent an embassy to
study the legislative system of the Greeks, particularly the laws of Solon, possibly
in the Greek colonies of southern Italy.
79. Roman Roads-The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their empire, by
enabling them to move armies. A proverb says that "all roads lead to Rome."
Roman roads were designed that way to hinder provinces organising resistance
against the Empire. At its peak, the Roman road system spanned 53,000 miles and
contained about 372 links. The Romans, for military, commercial and political
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reasons, became adept at constructing roads, which they called viae. The word is
related to the English way and weigh, as in 'to weigh anchor'.
80. Colosseum-The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally known as the Flavian
Amphitheatre, is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome. Originally
capable of seating 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and
public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with
construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The
amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80
under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.
81. Patricians-The distinction between patricians and plebeians in ancient Rome is not
wholly clear and no particular definition is offered by the ancient sources.
Patricians are often portrayed as the rich and powerful families who managed to
secure power over the less fortunate plebeian families, though some historians
argue that this is too simplistic a view. Regardless of the initial division between
the two groups, by the late Republic the lines had become blurred, with many
plebeian families becoming rich and powerful while some patrician families fell
into poverty and obscurity.
82. Circus Maximus-Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills,
the location was first utilised for public games and entertainment by the Etruscan
kings of Rome. Certainly, the first games of the Ludi Romani (Roman Games)
were staged at the location by Tarquinius Priscus, the first Etruscan ruler of
Rome. Somewhat later, the Circus was the site of public games and festivals
influenced by the Greeks in the 2nd century BC. Meeting the demands of the
Roman citizenry for mass public entertainment on a lavish scale, Julius Caesar
expanded the Circus around 50 BC, after which the track measured approximately
600 m in length, 80 m in breadth and could accommodate an estimated 250,000
spectators.
83. Plebeians-The true origin of the test distinction between plebeians and patricians
is unknown; there is little evidence for any sort of a racial basis, nor many signs
of a distinction during the time of the kings. However, the populace of the city of
Rome during the reigns of Romulus, Numa Pompilius, and Tullus Hostilius were
all called patrician as they were the only inhabitants of Rome. It is during the
reign of Ancus Marcius that the plebeians came to Rome from diplomatic
alliances as secondary citizens. In any case, around the time of the foundation of
the Roman Republic, the plebeians were excluded from religious colleges and
magistracies, and the law of the Twelve Tables disallowed intermarriage. Atthe
same time, plebeians were enrolled in the gentes and tribes, served in the army,
and could become military tribunes.
84. Mithraism-Mithraism was a mystery religion prominent in the Roman world. It is
uncertain when it began; some say in the 1st century BC, some in the 1st century
AD to the 5th century AD. It was centered around worship of the god Mithras.
Only limited information about Mithras has come down to us, and scholars
disagree on how it should be interpreted. It was believed to have had a Persian
origin, but whether this is really so is disputed: see Mithra. It is most famous for
suggestions in ancient and modern times that it was a rival of or resembled
Christianity.
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85. Cult of Isis-
86. Essenes-The Essenes were followers of a religious way of living in Judaism that
flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Many scholars today
argue that there were a number of separate but related groups that had in common
mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs that were referred to as the
"Essenes". There are also contemporary movements which identify themselves as
Essenes.
87. Spartacus-Spartacus, according to Roman historians, was a gladiator-slave who
became the alleged leader of an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman
Republic, known as the Third Servile War. Little is known about Spartacus
beyond the events of the Third Servile War, and the historical accounts of the war
that have survived into modern times are sketchy and often contradictory.
However, Spartacus' struggle, often perceived as the struggle of an oppressed
people fighting for their freedom against a large powerful State, has found new
meaning for modern writers since the 19th century. The figure of Spartacus, and
the struggle of the Third Servile War have become an inspiration to many modern
literary and political writers, who have made the character of Spartacus an
ancient/modern folk hero.
88. Sophists-Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly
respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. Today, a
sophism generally refers to a particularly confusing, illogical and/or insincere
argument used by someone to make a point, or, perhaps, not to make a point.
Sophistry refers to the practice of using such arguments, and is used as derogative
for rhetoric that is designed to appeal to the listener on grounds other than the
strict logical cogency of the statements being made. The Sophists are known
today only through the writings of their opponents, which makes it difficult to
formulate a complete view of the Sophists' beliefs. However, modern research has
shown that their views were much more complex than Plato's depiction
89. New Testament-The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or
Greek Scriptures, and sometimes also New Covenant which is the literal
translation of the Greek, is the name given to the final portion of the Christian
Bible. It was written by various authors after c. 45 AD and before c. 140 AD. Its
books were gradually collected into a single volume over a period of several
centuries. The New Testament is more or less the root of the Christian religion,
which has played a major role in shaping modern Western morality and culture.
90. Pax Romana-Latin for "the Roman peace", is the long period of relative peace
experienced by the Roman Empire. The term stems from the fact that Roman rule
and its legal system pacified regions, sometimes forcefully, which had suffered
from the quarrels between rival leaders. During this time the Romans still fought a
consistent number of wars against neighboring states and tribes, most notably the
Germanic tribes and Persians, and there was still political unrest among the noble
families. Nonetheless, the Pax Romana was an era of relative tranquility, in which
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Rome endured neither major civil wars, such as the perpetual bloodshed of the
first century BCE, nor serious invasions, such as those of the Second Punic War
three centuries prior.
91. Constantine-Constantine was known as the first Christian ruler. He was born
around 275 AD. He married Fausta, who was his stepmother’s sister. His father
died of an illness around 306 AD, so he was proclaimed emperor of Rome. By
313 all of Rome’s enemies were defeated. In 330 Constantinople was completed
and was named the capitol of Rome. He backed Christianity, and allowed them to
openly practice their faith.
92. Diocletian-Diocletian was known as the “annihilating eradicator”. He was the
second to last TRADITIONAL Roman Emperor. He restored peace to Rome. He
started the tetrarchy. He divided up the empire and decentralized the government.
He split it in to East and West. People didn’t like this because it led to inflation
and higher taxes. He ruled form 284-305 AD. In 303 he began persicution of the
Christians. The tetrarchy lasted until 309 AD.
93. Herodotus-Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in
the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father of history". He is almost
exclusively known for writing The Histories, a collection of 'inquiries' about the
places and peoples he encountered during his wide-ranging travels around the
Mediterranean. The theme for this work was the conflict between the ancient
Greeks and the Persians or 'Medes'.
94. Iliad and Odyssey-The Iliad is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient
Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blind Ionian poet. The epics
are considered by most modern scholars to be the oldest literature in the Greek
language (though some believe that the works of the poet Hesiod were composed
earlier, a belief that was also held by some classical Greeks). For most of the
twentieth century, the Iliad and the Odyssey were dated to the 8th century BCE,
but many scholars prefer a date in the 7th or even the 6th century BCE.
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