We have already talked in previous articles about the ancient Greek theater. About Thespis, who is considered the first actor whose name is known and to whom the invention of tragedy is attributed, and about Phrynicus, a contemporary and collaborator of his, who seems to have also had an influence o
Why did pharaohs of the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties choose to be buried in hypogea in the Valley of the Kings, rather than in pyramids like their predecessors? Why did you choose the place now known as the Valley of the Kings? Some Egyptologists have a hypothesis in this regard:the presence of a
If all the cuisine of ancient Greece was characterized by its frugality, derived from the difficult conditions of its agriculture, Spartan gastronomy did not have a reputation for precisely the opposite but for being even stricter and more sober. In fact, some of their dishes were so unpleasant for
In the year 2686 B.C. ascended the throne Necherjet, better known later as Dyeser or Zoser, the second pharaoh of the third dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. According to Manetho, Djoser ruled for 29 years, although the Turin list says it was only 19. However, the many important construction proj
Volcanic eruptions contributed to the collapse of dynasties in China over the past 2,000 years by temporarily cooling the climate and affecting agriculture, according to a Rutgers University study. Large eruptions create a cloud that blocks some sunlight for a year or two. That reduces the heating
The current town of Locri, on the Calabrian coast in southern Italy, is the site of the ancient Greek city of Locros, founded in the 8th century BC. by settlers from the Locrida region north of the Gulf of Corinth. Strabo states that they were Ozolian locrians (literally smelly ) and came from the
The initial discovery of the mosaic was made in 2020 by Jim Irvine, son of the owner of the agricultural field where it was found, Brian Naylor, who contacted the archaeological team at Leicestershire County Council, heritage advisers to the authority. local. Given the exceptional nature of this dis
Today we are used to sequels, in movies, in literature, sometimes even in music. When a work is successful, the second part immediately arrives to continue exploiting the vein. But that was not always the case. There was someone who invented sequels, before whom there had never been one. He was a Gr
In todays football, but also in other sports, we are used to seeing how players constantly change teams, mainly due to economic interests. Sometimes they even go to the rival team or the eternal enemy . Well, the first of them all to be documented was a Greek athlete from the 5th century BC. His na
The Etruscan civilization, which flourished during the Iron Age in central Italy, has intrigued scholars for millennia. The Etruscans, with their remarkable metallurgical skills and their now-defunct non-Indo-European language, distinguished themselves from their contemporary neighbors, prompting in
In general, the historiography concerning ancient Sicily is overwhelmingly Grecocentric, that is, focused on its Greek immigrants. Given that the architectural remains of the indigenous population are relatively invisible, while those of the Greek immigrants are monumental, the accepted historiograp
One of the most profusely cultivated literary genres by the ancient Egyptians is the sebayt , which literally means teachings or instructions . Not only that but many sebayt they are among the earliest texts of Ancient Egyptian literature. It is about moral advice and guidelines to face life, usuall
Gaeta is not usually part of the reference destinations when one is thinking of taking a trip to Italy. However, those who prefer to discover less frequented corners may be attracted by this municipality located in the homonymous gulf of Lazio, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea on a high cliff and poss
On July 4, 68 AD. Ulpia Marciana gave birth to a girl. Ulpia, who was married to a wealthy praetor from Vicetia (present-day Vicenza) named Gaius Salonius Matidio Patruinus, was a Hispanic noblewoman whose brother (Marcus Ulpius Trajan) would rule the Roman Empire 30 years later (from 98 AD) as the
New research on a little-known text written in ancient Greek shows that accented poetry «, predecessor of all modern poetry and song, was already used in the second century of our era, 300 years earlier than previously thought. In its shortest version, the four-line anonymous poem reads «they say w
In the place where the ancient city of Melite stood, the current towns of Mdina and Rabat on the island of Malta stand. Melite, which would eventually give the island and the modern country its name, was a settlement originating in the Bronze Age, then occupied by Phoenicians and Romans until its de
It may seem surprising that of one of the greatest Greek sculptors not even Roman copies of his works have survived. But that is what happens, if we pay attention to Pliny the Elder, Pausanias and others, with a sculptor whose life and work is wrapped, as if that were not enough, in several mysterie
Sometime between 579 and 323 B.C. During the Persian Achaemenid period, the citadel of Bam (in Persian Arg-é Bam) was built in the southeast of present-day Iran, a huge fortress made of mud that is considered to be the largest building in the world made of adobe. It is located next to the city of t
Titus Flavius Josephus, whose birth name was Yosef ben Matityahu, was a Jewish-Roman historian from Jerusalem who fought against Rome as head of the Galilee forces until its surrender in 67 AD. Vespasian gave him Roman citizenship and used him as a translator and advisor. In his work Jewish Anti
Ancient Athens was famous in the Mediterranean world for many things, such as its culture and democracy, but also for its festivals. Towards the end of the 5th century B.C. the city had about 120 public holidays a year, which gives an average of one festival every three days. That is why the autho
Near the town of Blythe, located in the southeast of the state of California near the border with Arizona in the Colorado desert, there is a series of huge figures carved into the ground. They are not the only ones, but they are the most famous among the approximately 200 that are distributed along
According to tradition, Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus on the Palatine Hill in 753 BC. J.-C. Romulus is the first king of this city resulting from the gathering of Latin, Sabine and Etruscan tribes around common laws. Romulus and Remus are referred to as the sons of Mars, god of war, and a p
When the Persian king Darius marched against the Scythians in 513 B.C. Pursuing them for several months to the East, he took care to leave a contingent of his troops guarding the bridge he had built over the Danube, to ensure retreat in case of need. Leading this group, made up mainly of Greeks from
In 2007 a Rolex Oyster 3525 chronograph and some letters were put up for auction, paying sixty-six thousand pounds for the whole. Six years later it was learned that another watch of the same make and model sold for sixty thousand pounds. In the first case, it was the one that Corporal Clive James N