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Protagoras of Abdera: Of All Things Man Is The Measure
Protagoras of Abdera (l.c. 485-415 BCE) is most famous for his claim that "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not" (DK 80B1) usually rendered simply as "Man...
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Protagoras's Paradox
The sophists in ancient Greece were a class of teachers who, for a fairly high fee, would instruct the affluent youth in politics, history, science, law, mathematics and rhetoric as well as the finer points of grammar and history. They professed...
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Sumerian Civilization: Inventing the Future
Imagine something that has never been thought of before. If one holds a book in one's hands, one can imagine an e-book, a large-print book, a picture book, all kinds of books. But how does one imagine a book in a world where even the concept...
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Passing of Philosophy to Religion: The Death of Hypatia
The death of the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria (l. c. 370-415) has long been considered the "passage of philosophy to religion", exemplifying the transition from the pagan values of antiquity to those of the new religion of Christianity...
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The Roman Domus
The Roman domus was much more than a place of dwelling for a Roman familia. It also served as a place of business and a religious center for worship. The size of a domus could range from a very small house to a luxurious mansion. In some...
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The Battle of Kadesh & the First Peace Treaty
Ramesses II (The Great, 1279-1213 BCE) ruled Egypt for 67 years and, today, the Egyptian landscape still bears testimony to the prosperity of his reign in the many temples and monuments he had built in honor of his conquests and accomplishments...
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Herodotus on the Egyptians
II:35. The Egyptians in agreement with their climate, which is unlike any other, and with the river, which shows a nature different from all other rivers, established for themselves manners and customs in a way opposite to other men in almost...
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Herodotus on Animal Sacrifice in Egypt
II:38. The males of the ox kind they consider to belong to Epaphos, and on account of him they test them in the following manner: If the priest sees one single black hair upon the beast he counts it not clean for sacrifice; and one of the...
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St. Augustine: from The Literal Meaning of Genesis
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) most famous for his work Confessions and his City of God, is regarded as one of the Fathers of The Church in the tradition of Catholicism. In this brief essay from his The Literal Meaning of Genesis...
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The Brothers Gracchi: The Tribunates of Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were a pair of tribunes of the plebs from the 2nd century BCE, who sought to introduce land reform and other populist legislation in ancient Rome. They were both members of the Populares, a group of politicians...