Julian the Apostate: Did you mean...?

Juan de Grijalva (aka Grijalba, 1489-1527) was a Spanish conquistador who explored the eastern coast of Mexico in 1518. His notable achievements included a demonstration that the Yucatán Peninsula was just that and not, as previously...

Augusta Raurica is a former Roman colony and city located on the Rhine River some 11 km (7 miles) east of the modern Swiss city of Basel, in between the towns of Kaiseraugst and Augst. Founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus (90 BCE...

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) was an Italian composer best known for his operas La Bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. Puccini drew inspiration from a wide range of literary sources, and his late Romantic music with its...

The Year of the Four Emperors (69 CE) was a moment of deep instability in the Roman Empire, marked by the rapid succession of Galba (June 68–January 69 CE), Otho (January–April 69 CE), Vitellius (April–December...

The "schøtstue" was a traditional building and assembly room of the Hanseatic merchants in Bergen during the Middle Ages. The picture is of the Jakobsfjorden and Bellgården's Schøtstue, which is part...

Childbirth in ancient Rome was considered the main purpose of marriage. Roman girls married in their early teens, and in elite society, some married before they reached puberty. The legal age for marriage was 12 for a...

The intoxicant known in English as beer takes its name from the Latin bibere (by way of the German bier), meaning "to drink", and the Spanish word for beer, cerveza, comes from the Latin word...

Emperor Augustus (27 BCE – 14 CE) accomplished much during his time on the Roman throne, far more than many of his successors. According to historian Mary Beard in her book SPQR, he transformed the structures of Roman Empire...

Letters and their delivery via a state communication system was a feature of many ancient cultures. The writing medium may have differed but the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Incas all had the means...

The Mausoleum of Augustus was actually one of the first of many large building projects undertaken in the reign of Rome's first emperor. When the Mausoleum was completed in 28 BCE, it was easily the biggest tomb in the Roman...