Ancient olympic games: Did you mean...?

If there was one thing the Roman people loved it was spectacle and the opportunity of escapism offered by weird and wonderful public shows which assaulted the senses and ratcheted up the emotions. Roman rulers knew this well and so to increase...

Female gladiators in ancient Rome – referred to by modern-day scholars as gladiatrix – may have been uncommon but they did exist. Evidence suggests that a number of women participated in the public games of Rome even though this practice...

The ancient Greeks are often credited with building the foundations upon which all western cultures are built, and this impressive accolade stems from their innovative contributions to a wide range of human activities, from sports to medicine...

Alexander I of Macedon, also known as Alexander I the Philhellene ('friend of the Greeks') or 'The Wealthy', was king of ancient Macedon from around 498 to 454 BCE. He is known for the role he played in the second Persian invasion of Greece...

The term “Athenian Calendar” (also called the “Attic Calendar”) has become somewhat of a misnomer, since Ancient Athenians never really used just one method to reckon the passage of time. Athenians, especially from the 3rd Century BCE forward...

The Greek Archaic Period (c. 800-479 BCE) started from what can only be termed uncertainty, and ended with the Persians being ejected from Greece for good after the battles of Plataea and Mykale in 479 BCE. The Archaic Period is preceded...

Pindar (c. 518 to c. 448/7 BCE) was an ancient Greek lyric poet, probably the greatest of his time. His works have been divided into 17 books of different types of poetry, but only those containing 44 choral victory songs composed for the...

Panathenaic Games prize amphora, terracotta vase decorated by the Euphiletos Painter, c. 530 BCE. The artwork on this vase is attributed to the Athenian artist known today as the Euphiletos Painter (c. 550 to c. 500 BCE), perhaps best known...

Nemea was a religious sanctuary in the northern Peloponnese of Greece where pan-Hellenic athletic games were held every two years from 573 BCE until 271 BCE, after which, the Games were definitively moved to Argos. Early Settlement Situated...

A Greek coin commemorating the Isthmian Games. Corinth, 117-138 CE. (Numismatics Museum, Athens)