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Inca architecture includes some of the most finely worked stone structures from any ancient civilization. Inca buildings were almost always practical and pleasing to the eye. They are also remarkably uniform in design with even grand imperial...

The Minoan civilization flourished in the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 - c. 1450 BCE) on the island of Crete located in the eastern Mediterranean. With their unique art and architecture, and the spread of their ideas through contact with other...

The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) was a period of relative peace and stability across the Roman Empire which lasted for over 200 years, beginning with the reign of Augustus (27 BCE - 14 CE). The aim of Augustus and his successors was to guarantee...

Assyria was the region located in the ancient Near East which, under the Neo-Assyrian Empire, reached from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) through Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and down through Egypt. The empire began modestly at the city of Ashur...

The Yuan Dynasty was established by the Mongols and ruled China from 1271 to 1368. Their first emperor was Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294) who finally defeated the Song Dynasty which had reigned in China since 960. Stability and peace within China...

The city of Akkad was the seat of the Akkadian Empire (2350/2334-2154 BCE), the first multinational political entity in the world, founded by Sargon the Great, who unified Mesopotamia under his rule and set the model for later Mesopotamian...

Thutmose III (also known as Tuthmosis III, r. 1458-1425 BCE) was the 6th king of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, one of the greatest military leaders in antiquity, and among the most effective and impressive monarchs in Egypt's history. His throne...

Claudius (10 BCE to 54 CE) was the fourth Roman emperor, who reigned from 41 to 54 CE. Though a member of the imperial Julio-Claudian Dynasty, his rise to power had always seemed unlikely. Indeed, for much of his life, he had been ostracized...

The Parthians ruled from 247 BCE to 224 CE creating a vast empire that stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to India and China in the east. East of the Caspian Sea there emerged from the steppe of Central Asia a nomadic Scythian tribe...

The government of the Byzantine Empire was headed and dominated by the emperor, but there were many other important officials who assisted in operating the finances, judiciary, military, and bureaucracy of a huge territory. Without elections...