Images

Fresco by the Italian Renaissance master Piero della Francesca, painted around 1463-65 CE. (Pinacoteca of Borgo San Sepulcro, Italy)

This map shows the Roman conquest of Italy from 500 BCE to 218 BCE.

It is possible that the head and body were not originally part of a single statue. From Girsu (modern Telloh), southern Mesopotamia, Iraq, reign of Gudea, c. 2130 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

The age-old vulnerability of libraries in times of warfare applied as ever during the sack of Nineveh. Many tablets were badly smashed, while others probably perished altogether. With some, such as this tablet of lunar omens, severe burning...

K'inich Janaab' Pacal otherwise known as Lord Pacal and Pacal the Great, 603-683 CE and Mayan king of Palenque. (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City)

An incense burner thought to depict K'inich Yax K'uk Mo, the first Maya ruler of Copan. (Archaeological Museum of Copan, Honduras)

The Fisherman Fresco from Akrotiri on the Aegean island of Thera (Santorini). The male may actually be a youth offering fish as part of a religious ceremony rather than a fisherman. From Room 5 of the West House, c. 17th century BCE. (National...

A view of the flooded crater of the Thera volcano, Santorini. The present active cone can be seen on the right of the picture. The volcano exploded between 1650 and 1550 BCE with devastating consequences for the island and the Aegean in general...

The Pula Arena is the name of the Roman amphitheatre located in Pula, Croatia. It was first constructed in wood during the time of Augustus (27 BCE) and later replaced by an enlarged stone building completed during the reign of Vespasian...

The Pula Arena is the name of the Roman amphitheatre located in Pula, Croatia. It was first constructed in wood during the time of Augustus (27 BCE) and later replaced by an enlarged stone building completed during the reign of Vespasian...