Articles

Athens is mostly associated with its ancient past rather than its modern turbulent state of the latest two hundred years. While walking the centre of the luminous city, the visitor can easily observe both ends of Hellenic culture. The city...

Eunuchs were powerful political players in ancient Chinese government. Originating as trusted slaves in the royal household they were ambitious to use their favoured position to gain political power. Advising the emperor from within the palace...

For centuries, the Parthenon has been Athens' biggest tourist magnet. Pausanias gushed over it in the 2nd century CE, Elgin coveted it, Byron mourned for it, and countless tour groups and camera-toting enthusiasts swarm over it today. But...

The Battle of Megiddo (c. 1457 BCE) is one of the most famous military engagements in history in which Thutmose III (1458-1425 BCE) of Egypt defeated the coalition of subject regions led in rebellion by the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo. The...

The ancient site of Megiddo was the scene of a number of battles in antiquity and is best known as the source of the word armageddon, the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Har-Megiddo ('Mount of Megiddo') from the biblical Book of Revelation...

In any society, members of the community recognize they are required to restrain certain impulses in order to participate in the community. Every civilization has had some form of law which makes clear that the benefits of peaceful coexistence...

Insei or 'cloistered government' describes the strategy of emperors during the late Heian Period (794-1185 CE) in ancient Japan where they abdicated in favour of a chosen heir yet still ruled in some capacity, typically after retiring to...

The 'horse-rider theory' is a controversial proposal that Japan was conquered around the 4th or 5th century CE by a culture from northern Asia to whom the horse was especially important. Although archaeological evidence and genetics point...

Among the duties of any Egyptian monarch was the construction of monumental building projects to honor the gods and preserve the memory of their reigns for eternity. These building projects were not just some grandiose gesture on the part...

The crossbow was introduced into Chinese warfare during the Warring States period (481-221 BCE). Developing over the centuries into a more powerful and accurate weapon, the crossbow also came in versions light enough to be fired with one...