Yu the Great: Did you mean...?

View of Great Zimbabwe's 'Great Enclosure'. This is the largest collection of ruins in southern Africa. The Gokomere Empire flourished here from the 11th Century CE to its collapse in the early 15th century CE.

The conical tower of the Great Enclosure of Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe. Built in the 13-14th century CE using granite, the purpose of the structure is not known.

A section of the Great Enclosure of Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe. Built in the 13-14th century CE using granite, the wall is 5.5 metres (18 ft.) thick in places and 9.7 metres (32 ft.) high.

The age-old concept of the “divine right of kings” allowed that a country's ruler received his or her power or authority from God. However, few, if any, were delusional enough to actually believe themselves to be a god...

Herod the Great was the king of Judea from 37-4 BCE. As a client king of Rome, Herod's moniker as "Great" was due more to his grand building program throughout the eastern Mediterranean world. Herod's building program...

The Grand Embassy was the name given to the long Western European tour that Tsar Peter I of Russia (aka Peter the Great, r. 1682-1725) undertook during 1697-1698. Peter was joined by hundreds of people, including...

The great cities of Mesopotamia ("the land between two rivers") developed prior to the late 4th millennium BCE along two rivers – the Tigris and Euphrates – and were...

Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, including Homer, Plato, Socrates and many more, the Library of Alexandria, northern...

Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great, l. 1672-1725) was the Tsar of Russia from 1682 to 1721 and the Emperor of Russia from 1721-1725. The lasting impression of Peter's long reign is the significant changes he brought...

History is not predictable; in many ways it can take on a life of its own. But sometimes, an individual's sheer presence is enough to bend history to his will. One such individual was Alexander...