20th Century: Did you mean...?

The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 CE) began with the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander (reign 222–235 CE) in 235 CE, triggering the collapse of centralized imperial authority. Over the next five decades, Roman power fractured...

In the late 8th century CE, the interconnected caravan routes later termed the “Silk Road” formed a transcontinental system linking East Asia, Central Asia, the Islamic world, and parts of Europe. The label “Silk Road” (German: Seidenstraße...

The Indian Ocean trade network of the 15th and 16th centuries formed one of the most extensive and dynamic systems of exchange in the premodern world, linking East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. This maritime system...

The Migration Period in Europe (c. 4th–6th centuries CE) marks a prolonged era of movement, conflict, and political transformation rather than a single moment of collapse. Following the death of Emperor Theodosius I (reign 379–395 CE) and...

This map illustrates the Parthian Kingdom (c. 247 BCE–224 CE), also known as the Arsacid Empire after its ruling dynasty. Emerging on the northeastern fringes of the Seleucid realm, the Parthians expanded their power as Seleucid control weakened...

A drawing of a typical 17th-century musketeer. Musketeers were a standard component of European infantry armies of the period and particularly during the English Civil Wars (1642-51). Ink and watercolours. Drawn in the 19th century. (British...

A map of Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600 CE).

This map illustrates the sweep of Viking exploration between the late 8th and early 11th centuries, charting longship routes from Scandinavia to the British Isles, Normandy, Iberia, Russia, the Mediterranean, and across the North Atlantic...

A map showing the extent of the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire in the 7th century.

A map showing the early expansions of Rome, in the 2nd century BC.