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Rosetta Stone
Definition

Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is an incomplete grey and pink granodiorite stela dating from 196 BCE which presents a priestly decree concerning King Ptolemy V of Egypt. The text is in three different versions: Hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek...
Tarascan Civilization
Definition

Tarascan Civilization

The Tarascan civilization (aka the Purépecha, after their language) dominated western Mexico and built an empire that would bring it into direct conflict with that other great Mesoamerican civilization of the Post-classic...
Paul the Apostle
Definition

Paul the Apostle

Paul was a follower of Jesus Christ who famously converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus after persecuting the very followers of the community that he joined. However, as we will see, Paul is better described as one...
Coatlicue
Definition

Coatlicue

Coatlicue (pron. Co-at-li-cu-e) or 'Serpent Skirt' was a major deity in the Aztec pantheon and regarded as the earth-mother goddess. Coatlicue is represented as an old woman to symbolise the antiquity of earth worship. Coatlicue was...
Gordian Emperors
Definition

Gordian Emperors

When Maximinus Thrax was named Roman emperor upon the death of Alexander Severus, the news was not well-received by many in Rome and the Roman Senate considered him an illiterate barbarian. His financial excesses, principally...
Roman Law
Definition

Roman Law

Roman laws covered all facets of daily life. They were concerned with crime and punishment, land and property ownership, commerce, the maritime and agricultural industries, citizenship, sexuality and prostitution, slavery and manumission...
Maximinus Thrax
Definition

Maximinus Thrax

Maximinius Thrax ruled briefly as the Roman emperor from 235 CE to his death in 238 CE. The young Roman Emperor Alexander Severus secured the imperial throne after the assassination of his cousin Elagabalus by the Praetorian Guard...
Texcoco
Definition

Texcoco

Texcoco (aka Tezcoco or Tetzcoco), located near the eastern shores of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, was the capital of the Acolhua people. It was a major power in the Aztec period and a member of the Triple Alliance along with...
Alexander the Great
Definition

Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great (l. 21 July 356 BCE – 10 or 11 June 323 BCE, r. 336-323 BCE), was the son of King Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BCE) who became king upon his father's death in...
Ancient Greece
Definition

Ancient Greece

Greece is a country in southeastern Europe, known in Greek as Hellas or Ellada, and consisting of a mainland and an archipelago of islands. Ancient Greece is the birthplace of Western philosophy (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle...
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