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Definition
Bellerophon
Bellerophon (aka Bellerophontes) is the Corinthian hero of Greek mythology who famously battled and killed the fantastical Chimera monster, a fearsome...
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Image
Rumelihisarı
Ottoman fortress Rumelihisarı, Istanbul, built by Mehmed II (1432-1481 CE), Sultan of the Ottoman empire, in 1452 CE.
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Article
A Weekend on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
The Isle of Skye, Scotland, is a land of myth, legend, and swirling mists that easily transport a visitor through time. The history of the island goes...
Definition
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães (c. 1480-1521), was a Portuguese mariner whose expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe in 1519-22...
Definition
Matariki
The Maori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) have long observed the heliacal (pre-dawn) rising of the star cluster commonly known throughout the world...
Article
Agoge, the Spartan Education Program
The agoge was the ancient Spartan education program, which trained male youths in the art of war. The word means "raising" in the sense of raising livestock...
Definition
Legio V Alaudae
Legio V Alaudae, referenced in early accounts only as the "Fifth", was one of the many legions of the Roman army that helped Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE...
Article
Spartan Women
Spartan women had more rights and enjoyed greater autonomy than women in any other Greek city-state of the Classical Period (5th-4th centuries BCE...
Image Gallery
Imagining the Amazons: Women Warriors in Greco-Roman Art
Amazon warriors frequently appeared in the art, literature, and mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The idea of a female warrior society existing...
Definition
Portuguese Goa
Goa, located on the west coast of India, was a Portuguese colony from 1510 to 1961. The small coastal area was conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque (c...
Definition
Sappho of Lesbos
Sappho of Lesbos (l. c. 620-570 BCE) was a lyric poet whose work was so popular in ancient Greece that she was honored in statuary, coinage, and pottery...
Interview
Interview: The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
In this interview, World History Encyclopedia is joined with Elodie Harper, the author of the novel The Wolf Den. Kelly (WHE): Do you want to start...
Article
Ten Famous & Not-so-Famous Same-Sex Couples in Ancient History
History is recorded by individual human beings with their own beliefs and interests guiding what they choose to record, and, as such, many events and...
Definition
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire officially lasted from 962 to 1806. It was one of Europe’s largest medieval and early modern states, but its power base was unstable...