Images

Marble bust of a Roman woman, possibly Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, 20-10 BCE. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Cast of a portrait of Octavia Minor, photograph by G.dallorto, 30 March 2008. Museum of the Ara Pacis, Rome.

The Crusader States, collectively known as Outremer (from Old French outre-mer, “overseas”), were a group of Latin Christian polities established in the eastern Mediterranean following the First Crusade (1096–1099). Emerging from the conquest...

The Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the collapse of imperial authority and the emergence of a radically new political order. Years of military defeat, economic strain, and social inequality culminated in the February Revolution (8–16 March...

Medea, oil on panel painting with gilded background by Frederick Sandys, 1868. Medea is a key figure in the story of the quest for the Golden Fleece and a recurring subject of art and musical productions. According to Greek mythology, she...

Bust of Lucian of Samosata, image included by William Faithorne in John Dryden's The works of Lucian, translated from the Greek by several eminent hands, London, 1711. Born in Roman Syria in the 2nd century CE, Lucian was a well-known satirist...

A statue of the snake god Glycon, whose cult became popular in the 2nd-century CE Roman Empire. The Roman satirist Lucian credits the founding of the cult to the mystic and apparent oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus. Museum of National History...

The westward expansion of the Scythians (c. 700–300 BCE) illustrates how mobile steppe societies could reshape the political and cultural landscapes of Eurasia without building territorial empires. Originating in the Central Asian steppes...

Hekate, painting by Maximilian Pirner, 1901. A depiction of the Greek goddess Hekate, or Hecate, with her many symbols and faces in an art nouveau style. She is associated with the domains of magic, witchcraft, night, light, crossroads...

Europe on the eve of World War I was defined by a volatile mix of alliance politics, imperial rivalry, and rising nationalism. The continent was divided into two heavily armed blocs, the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, binding the...