Thrace: Did you mean...?

The Thracian landscape in Rhodope in the early spring. The name of the region emerged from Rhodope, a Thracian naiad and daughter of the river Strymon. The naiads, daughters of the river gods Potamoi, were water nymphs who lived in lakes...

Close-up of a silver rhyton with a reclining Silenus. Late 3rd or early 2nd century BCE. Vassil Bojkov Collection Photographer: Marin Karavelov for the Thrace Foundation www.thracefoundation.org

The Scythians were a nomadic culture that flourished between the seventh and the third centuries BCE, as their territory expanded from Thrace in the west across the Central Asian Steppe (a steppe is basically just an open swathe of grassland...

A Roman gladiator was an ancient professional fighter who usually specialised with particular weapons and types of armour. They fought before the public in hugely popular organised games held in large purpose-built arenas throughout the Roman...

The Byzantine Empire existed from 330 to 1453. It is often called the Eastern Roman Empire or simply Byzantium. The Byzantine capital was founded at Constantinople by Constantine I (r. 306-337). The Byzantine Empire varied in size over the...

Ancient Asia Minor is a geographic region located in the south-western part of Asia comprising most of present-day Turkey. The earliest reference to the region comes from tablets of the Akkadian Dynasty (2334-2083 BCE) where it was known...

The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies came in two stages: from c. 460 to 446 and from 431 to 404 BCE. With battles at home and abroad, the long and complex conflict was damaging to both sides. Sparta...

Aphrodite was the ancient Greek goddess of love, beauty, desire, and all aspects of sexuality. She could entice both gods and men into illicit affairs with her beauty and whispered sweet nothings. Aphrodite was born near Cyprus from the severed...

The Persian Wars refers to the conflict between Greece and Persia in the 5th century BCE which involved two invasions by the latter in 490 and 480 BCE. Several of the most famous and significant battles in history were fought during the Wars...

Thermopylae is a mountain pass near the sea in northern Greece which was the site of several battles in antiquity, the most famous being that between Persians and Greeks in August 480 BCE. Despite being greatly inferior in numbers, the Greeks...