Petra, originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies on the slope of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley tha...

History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, is an account of a war that happened centuries ago between Athenas and Sparta. Of course, you might think that the subject is trivial to you. After all, how important can a book like that be?...

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist. At eighteen, he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BC). His writings cover many subjects – including physics, biology, zoology, metaphys...

Demosthenes, Athenian politician, has always been regarded as the greatest orator of Antiquity, and it is not exaggerated to say that his death marked the end of Greek political speech. Many of his speeches have survived, because in the thi...

Philip II of Macedon was a Greek king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III. In 340 BC, Philip started the siege of Perinthus. Philip began another siege in 339 of...

The last Persian Great King of the Achaemenid dynasty - Darius III Codomannus - is remembered in history as the premier enemy who was beaten by Alexander. Darius had to abandon his commanding battlefield position twice, both at Issus and Ga...

Theophrastus, a Greek native of Eressos in Lesbos, was the successor of Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Ar...

Ptolemy I Soter I, was a Greek Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt (323–283 BC) and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In 305/4 BC he demanded the title of pharaoh. His mo...

Seleucus I (Seleucus the Victor) was a Macedonian officer of Alexander the Great and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire...

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon, a state in the north eastern region of Greece, and by the age of thirty was the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history, stretching fro...

Pytheas was a Greek merchant, geographer and explorer from the Greek colony Massilia (today Marseille). He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe around 325 BC. He probably travelled around a considerable part of Great Britain,...

Essestially an inquiry into morality, Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Containing crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy, it is also a literary masterpiece: the philoso...

It has been said that, after the Bible, Plato's dialogues are the most influential books in Western culture. And of the dialogues, the Symposium is the most delightful and accessible, requiring no special knowledge of ancient Greek philosop...

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher as well as the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism. Only a few fragments and letters of Epicurus's 300 written works remain. Much of what is known about Epicurean philosophy deri...

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Mauryan Empire and the first emperor to unify India into one state. He ruled from 322 BC until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favour of his son Bindusara in 298 BC. Chandragupta Maur...