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What happened to the Great Library at Alexandria?
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 Egypt, is popularly believed to have...
Article
Parthia: Rome's Ablest Competitor
As a superpower in its own right and in competition with Rome, Parthia's empire - ruling from 247 BCE to 224 CE - stretched between the Mediterranean in the west to India in the east. Not only did the Parthians win battles against Rome they...
Article
Sassanian Kings List & Commentary
The Sassanian Empire (224-651) was the greatest expression of Persian culture in the ancient world. It was consciously modeled on the earlier Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) which established Persian supremacy in the region and developed...
Article
Legions of Spain, Roman Africa & Egypt
The legions of Spain, Roman Africa, and Egypt did not see the intensity of action that prevailed elsewhere in Europe. However, the presence of these four legions - VII Gemina, IX Hispana, XXII Deiotariana, and II Traiana Fortis - was still...
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Follow the Money. The Coinage of Later Imperial Rome: A Reflection of Economic Stress and Decline
Unlike the practice of professional numismatists, I prefer to see the “big picture”. So, my entire Roman coin collection, all 250 pieces, from Julius Caesar to Valentinian III is laid out on a single pane of glass in a cabinet, in chronological...
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Legions of Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, & Arabia
As the Roman Empire expanded further eastward, annexing territories that were once the domain of the Parthians, the legions of Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, and Arabia were called upon to safeguard these newly acquired territories. Mesopotamia...
Interview
Interview: Metsamor Archaeological Site
Metsamor, which is located 32 km (20 mi) west of Yerevan, Armenia is one of the most interesting archaeological sites in the Caucasus. While first settled and founded as a Bronze Age city, people continuously inhabited Metsamor through Urartian...
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Opening the Way to India
Possibly being overjoyed by the tales of mythical exploits of Heracles, Semiramis, the fabled queen of Assyria, Cyrus, King of Persia and so on, Alexander the Great set out from the tiny kingdom of Macedon for a daring adventure, unheard...
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Roman Empire 271 CE
The Roman Empire by 271 CE before the reconquests of the Palmyrene Empire and Gallic Empire by Aurelian.
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Palmyrene Funerary Relief Bust of a Priest
The overall depiction of the man is Palmyrene but the provenance of excavation is unknown. Roman Period, first to second century CE. (Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul, Turkey).