Ptolemaic Empire: Did you mean...?

Map of the Diadochi successor kingdoms to Alexander the Great's empire, before the Battle of Ipsus (301 BCE).

A bust of Roman Emperor Vitellius, 69 CE (Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen)

Approximate borders in Europe around 220 BC. Based on the Pengiun Atlas of History.

Ptolemy I Soter (367 - 283 BCE) was a trusted Macedonian general of Alexander the Great, and became ruler of Egypt. Engraved by an unknown artist after an ancient Roman relic. It was published in a history of Italian Renaissance art in 1883...

A map showing the major empires, kingdoms, tribes, and ethnic groups of the Eastern Hemisphere in 100 BC.

The Roman Empire, at its height (c. 117 CE), was the most extensive political and social structure in western civilization. By 285 CE the empire had grown too vast to be ruled from the central government at Rome and so was divided by Emperor...

The Western Roman Empire is the modern-day term for the western half of the Roman Empire after it was divided in two by the emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305 CE) in c. 285/286 CE. The Romans themselves did not use this term. At its height...

The Empire of Nicaea was a successor state to the Byzantine Empire, or rather a Byzantine Empire in exile lasting from 1204 to 1261 CE. The Empire of Nicaea was founded in the aftermath of the sacking of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade...

The Neo-Assyrian Empire (912-612 BCE) was, according to many historians, the first true empire in the world. The Assyrians had expanded their territory from the city of Ashur over the centuries, and their fortunes rose and fell with successive...

The Byzantine Empire, often called the Eastern Roman Empire or simply Byzantium, existed from 330 to 1453 CE. With its capital founded at Constantinople by Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE), the Empire varied in size over the centuries, at one...