Ancient History Magazine

GETTING AWAY WITH IT IN ANCIENT ROME One only has to search on YouTube for a brief time to find someone with a large following espousing some miracle cure or obscure religious philosophy. In ancient Rome, a world where superstition and fear of the go

THE ROYAL ARTISANS OF DEIR EL-MEDINA The archaeological evidence seems to suggest that the village was founded by Tuthmose I (ca.1504-1492 BC), third king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, since it is his royal cartouche that was discovered stamped into mud

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS This piece will discuss some of the categories of migration and colonization in the Bronze Age and the evidence we have for it. In doing so, it will interrogate some of the modern narratives of these activities. It will conc

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO GREEK HAD GONE BEFORE! The term ‘colony’ is not always appropriate, as it implies a formal, state-sponsored programme resulting in a settlement dependent on the mother city; the Greek term apoikia (‘home away from home’) is more

Hippodamus, son of Euryphon, is often thought of as the inventor of the grid plan used in Greek cities – Aristotle says he “invented the art of dividing up cities” – but rectilinear urban division predates him by over a century (and much longer in th

FOUNDATIONS, MOTIVES, CONSEQUENCES This was an urban network of impressive proportions, especially by pre-modern standards, though many of these poleis were rather small (5000 inhabitants or less). All of these cities were self-contained political en

NAME, MEANING, ORIGINS Within these two extremes lies the story of a region, in present day Southern Italy and Sicily, that has played a large part in the cultural history of Western Europe. The origin of the name and the time of its emergence are a

The Greek occupation of new lands did not always go without a fight. There were local tribes to deal with, either peacefully or by force. The Messapians lived in southern Italy, and were one of three Iapygian tribes in the area. The region that the M

SPREADING ROMAN CIVILIZATION THROUGH COLONIZATION The first Roman settlements outside the City of Seven Hills were founded in the eighth century BC to defend territory in east Latium from attacks by mountain-based tribes. They mostly failed, yet the

THE BIRTH OF A NEW SOCIAL ORDER Sitting at the top of Roman society as aristocrats, equites were still beneath the senators who inhabited the pinnacle of the social pyramid. It was a man’s wealth that qualified him for higher society, but it was ulti

NEW FOOD CULTURE ON THE ROMAN BORDER The Roman army settled in various fortresses along the limes, which ran right through the Netherlands. In the army camps, camp villages, and cities that emerged, cultures, eating habits, and ingredients were excha

ANIMALS IN NEO-ASSYRIAN STATE IDEOLOGY AND PROPAGANDA Due to their role in human society, prominence in mythological contexts, and the populace’s familiarity with them, animals have always played key roles in crafting state propaganda. Metaphors for

In the middle of the Cantabrian and Asturian War (29-19 BC), Emperor Augustus needed to find homes for retiring army veterans of Legiones X Gemina, V Alaudae, and possibly XX Valeria Victrix. In 25 BC, Roman surveyors laid out streets on elevated gro