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The Olive in the Ancient Mediterranean
Olives and olive oil were not only an important component of the ancient Mediterranean diet but also one of the most successful industries in antiquity...
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The Classical Orders of Architecture - From Greece to Rome, the Five Pillars of Architectural Design
This map illustrates the five classical orders of architecture—Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite—as developed in ancient Greece and Rome...
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Article
Roman Women in Business
Roman women faced legal, ideological, and cultural limitations in several areas of their lives; deep-rooted traditions regarding the role of women in...
Collection
Causes of War in History
This collection of resources examines the causes of various conflicts in the last millennium, from religious and civil wars to revolutions and global...
Definition
John Fletcher - Father of the English Tragicomedy
John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a playwright of the English Renaissance who flourished during the Jacobean Era (1603-1625). The author of over 50 plays...
Article
Italian Colonialism in Libya
One of the most coveted projects of Italian colonial policy was to secure an African colony in the Mediterranean. For this reason, Italy fought and...
Definition
Thomas Middleton - Master of Jacobean Comedy and Tragedy
Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) was a poet and playwright of the English Renaissance, who flourished during the Jacobean Era (1603-1625). One of the most...
Article
The Causes of WWI
The origins of the First World War (1914-18) are many and varied, with some even dating back several decades, but a political assassination in the Balkans...
Definition
William Still - Father of the Underground Railroad
William Still (1819-1902) was an African American abolitionist known as the "Father of the Underground Railroad" for his efforts in helping to free...
Article
Clarissa Davis & Woman Escaping in a Box - No Happy Slaves and Two Great Escapes
Slaveholders in the United States frequently claimed that Blacks were 'happy' to be slaves and could, in no way, function as free people as they would...
Definition
Ben Jonson - The Second Greatest Playwright of Jacobean Theatre
Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was an English poet, playwright, and literary critic, whose influence on English Renaissance literature during the Jacobean Era...
Article
Wallace Turnage - The Slave Who Freed Himself
Many enslaved African Americans in the United States escaped bondage with the help of the Underground Railroad, but many others took it upon themselves...
Definition
Anna Maria Weems - The Girl Who Became a Boy to Escape Slavery
Anna Maria Weems (circa 1840 to circa 1863) was an enslaved African American woman in Rockville, Maryland, who escaped by posing as a young Black livery...
Definition
As You Like It - Learning to Love in Shakespeare's Forest of Arden
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), written in 1599 and likely first performed that same year. Indeed, it is thought...
Article
Slave Hunters in Boston - The Failed Attempt to Capture Ellen & William Craft
In 1848, Ellen and William Craft escaped from slavery in Georgia by Ellen posing as a Southern gentleman and William as 'his' slave (since women were...
Definition
The Tragedy of Richard III - Shakespeare's First Great Villain
The Tragedy of Richard III, often referred to as simply Richard III, is a history play by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), probably written around 1592-94...
Definition
Solomon Northup - 12 Years a Slave
Solomon Northup (circa 1807/1808 to circa 1857/1864) was a free-born African American living in New York State when he was kidnapped in 1841 and sold...
Article
The Immortal Ten - The Daring Rescue of John Doy
The Immortal Ten were a group of abolitionists from Kansas Territory (where slavery was hotly contested) who slipped across the Missouri River into...
