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Cultural links between India & the Greco-Roman world
Cyrus the Great (558-530 BCE) built the first universal empire, stretching from Greece to the Indus River. This was the famous Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia. An inscription at Naqsh-i-Rustam, the tomb of his able successor Darius I (521-486...
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Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (c. 90 - c. 20 BCE), better known simply as Vitruvius, was a Roman military engineer and architect who wrote De Architectura (On Architecture), a treatise which combines the history of ancient architecture and engineering...
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Menelaus of Alexandria
Menelaus of Alexandria was a Greek astronomer, scientist, and mathematician who lived around 100 CE. Menelaus made a significant and lasting contribution to the fields of astronomy, geometry, and trigonometry. His major work, the Spherics...
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Daily Life in Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks kept themselves busy and there were plenty of chores, distractions and entertainments available to keep daily life varied. Shopping in the markets of the agora, performing jury service, watching sporting events or listening...
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Comedy & Tragedy: the Drama of Greek Theatre
Greek theatre likely sprang from the lyrical performance of ancient epic poetry and the rituals performed in the worship of the god Dionysos where goats were sacrificed and participants wore masks. From the 6th century BCE, Greek tragedy...
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Greek Architecture
Greek architecture is concerned with simplicity, proportion, perspective, and harmony in buildings. Greek architecture includes some of the finest and most distinctive buildings ever built. Examples of Greek architecture include temples...
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Greek Alphabet
The Greek Alphabet developed from the Phoenician script at some point around the 8th century BCE. The earlier Mycenaean Linear B script, used primarily for lists and inventories, had been lost during the Greek Dark Age, and the technology...
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Hygieia, the Goddess of Health
Modern medicine has its origin in the ancient world. The oldest civilizations used magic and herbs to cure their sick people, but they also used religion to free them from harm and to protect their health. The medical care of today has its...
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The Plays of Cratinus
Cratinus was a highly successful writer of Attic Old Comedy, but the very fragmentary nature of his surviving plays means that he is not as well remembered as Aristophanes (eleven of whose plays come down to us intact). Despite this, it is...
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Magic in Ancient Greece
For the Greeks magic (mageia or goeteia) was a wide-ranging topic which involved spells and evil prayers (epoidai), curse tablets (katadesmoi), enhancing drugs and deadly poisons (pharmaka), amulets (periapta) and powerful love potions (philtra...