Carolingian Empire: Did you mean...?

The Crisis of the Third Century (also known as the Imperial Crisis, 235-284) was the period in the history of the Roman Empire during which it splintered into three separate political entities: the Gallic Empire, the Roman Empire, and the...

As the Roman Republic transformed into an empire that encircled the entire Mediterranean and cities across the provinces undertook Roman government functions, they also developed distinctly Roman features such as a Roman forum, Roman baths...

The Avars were a confederation of heterogeneous (diverse or varied) people consisting of Rouran, Hephthalites, and Turkic-Oghuric races who migrated to the region of the Pontic Grass Steppe (an area corresponding to modern-day Ukraine, Russia...

The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) was the first great Persian political entity in Western and Central Asia which stretched, at its peak, from Asia Minor to the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia through Egypt. It was founded by Cyrus II (the...

Yazdegerd III (r. 632-651) was the last monarch of the Sassanian Empire (224-651), ruling – or attempting to rule – amidst the chaos of its final decline and fall to the invading Muslim Arabs. He was the son of the prince Shahriyar (d. 628...

Germanic influence reigned in the Roman Empire from the end of the 4th century CE through the 5th. Germanic individuals took important posts in the government and the military, and Germanic tribes penetrated ever further into lands that had...

The Roman Empire was forged through warfare and in this collection we look at some of the key battles and revolts that shaped its borders from the reign of Augustus onwards. We look at Varus' shocking defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest...

Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334 - 2279 BCE) was the king of the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, the first multi-national empire in history, who united the disparate kingdoms of the region under a central authority. He is equally famous today as...

Ancient Mesopotamian government was based on the understanding that human beings were created to help and serve the gods. The high priest, king, assembly of elders, governors, and any other officials were recognized as stewards chosen by...

Bodo was a early 9th-century Frankish farmer. He and his family hailed from a manor owned by the monastery of St.-Germain-des-Prés near Paris and worked as its tenants. He ploughed the farmlands while his wife, Ermentrude, took care of their...