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Definition
Commodus
Commodus was Roman emperor from 180 to 192 CE. With the death of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in March of 180 CE, the long reign of the five good emperors came to an end and with it so did the Pax Romana (the Roman Peace). Those emperors who followed for the next century would witness a time of both chaos and decline. The first of these inept emperors was Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, who...
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Definition
Mau Mau Rebellion - Nationalism & Terror in British Kenya
The Mau Mau rebellion (1952-60), led by the Kikuyu people of Kenya, was a guerrilla war conducted against British colonial rule, motivated by anger at land...
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10 Crowned Monarchs on Crusade for the Holy Land (1107–1254) - Kings and Emperors Who Personally Led Crusades to Jerusalem
Between 1107 and 1254, ten crowned European monarchs personally led or joined major Crusades to the Holy...
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Map of the Allied Pacific Counteroffensive, 1942–1945 - WWII's Pacific War
From mid-1942, the Allied war against Japan shifted from containing expansion to sustained counteroffensive. The Battle of the Coral Sea (May...
Latest Content
Definition
Kish - The First City of Political Prominence in History
Kish was one of the most significant and politically prestigious city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. According to the Sumerian King List, it was the first...
Article
Battle of Guam - The US Takes Back its Territory in WWII
The Battle of Guam, in the Mariana Islands, took place in July and August 1944 during the Pacific War of the Second World War (1939-45). Guam had been US...
Article
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan took place in June-July 1944. US forces engaged in a titanic three-week struggle with Japanese defenders to finally take the island, part of the Mariana Islands, during...
Article
South Carolina Declaration of Secession - Why South Carolina Left the Union
On 20 December 1860, 169 delegates met in Institute Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, to consider the motion of secession from the United...
Article
Jefferson Davis' Message to Congress - States' Rights and Defense of Slavery
There were many events leading up to the American Civil War, with tensions becoming increasingly heightened between the Fugitive Slave Act...
Definition
Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign - The US Island-Hopping Advance in the Pacific
The Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign (November 1943 to February 1944), a key strategic step forward in WWII's Pacific War, saw...
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10 Crowned Monarchs on Crusade for the Holy Land (1107–1254) - Kings and Emperors Who Personally Led Crusades to Jerusalem
Between 1107 and 1254, a small number of Europe's reigning monarchs personally led or joined military...
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Map of Spanish Conquest in Northern South America - Andes, Amazon & Caribbean Expeditions, 1499–1561
Spain’s rapid expansion into South America followed the consolidation of its Caribbean footholds by 1512, marking a decisive...
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Crusader Military Orders of the Latin East - Faith, Warfare & Power in the Outremer
The military orders of the Latin East emerged during the 12th and 13th centuries as institutions combining religious devotion, communal...
For You
Definition
Khamsa of Nizami
Khamsa (also known as Quintet or Panj Ganj) is the best-known work of Nizami Ganjavi (c. 1141-1209 CE) and without a doubt one of the most prominent works of Persian literature. Written...
Definition
Gaius Cassius Longinus - Liberator, Tyrannicide, or Traitor?
Gaius Cassius Longinus (circa 86-42 BCE) was a leader of the 'Liberators', the faction of Roman senators who assassinated Julius Caesar on the Ides of...
Definition
Lancaster Bomber
The Avro 683 Lancaster bomber was a four-engine heavy bomber flown by the Royal Air Force and allies during the Second World War (1939-45). Lancasters were particularly used in nighttime...
Definition
Atalanta - The Huntress of Greek Mythology
Atalanta is a figure from Greek mythology famed as a huntress, wrestler, and runner. The heroine was a key participant in the Calydonian boar hunt, striking the first...
Book Reviews
Book Review
The Army of Alexander the Great
The Army of Alexander the Great (2025) is a highly detailed and insightful examination of one of the most influential military forces in history. Rather than presenting Alexander...
Book Review
The Inner Life of Catholic Reform: From the Council of Trent to the Enlightenment
Ulrich Lehner’s The Inner Life of Catholic Reform: From the Council of Trent to the Enlightenment came into fruition after Lehner published...
Book Review
Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World
Ever since the beginning of time people all over the world have worshipped something more than themselves. Ancient history is peppered with temples, mausoleums...
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Ancient Period
Definition
Byzantine Coinage
The coinage of the Byzantine Empire continued that of its more ancient predecessors and functioned as a convenient method of payment for goods and services, especially to soldiers and officials...
Article
Naval Warfare in Ancient India
The navy in ancient India carried out three roles: it was used to transport troops to distant battlefields, participate in actual warfare, and was primarily meant for protecting...
Definition
Vespasian - The Commoner Who Became Roman Emperor
Vespasian (9-79 CE) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79 CE. Despite his low birth, he worked hard to rise through the ranks of Roman politics and eventually achieved...
Definition
Byblos
Byblos was the ancient Phoenician port city of Gebal (called Byblos by the Greeks) on the coast of the Mediterranean sea in what is, today, Lebanon. According to the historian Durant, “Byblos thought...
Definition
Trebizond
Trapezus (Greek: Τραπεζοῦς) or Trebizond was a Greek city on the southern shore of the Black Sea, modern Trabzon. According to the Christian author Eusebius, writing more than a millennium after...
Article
North Africa During the Classical Period
Phoenician traders arrived on the North African coast around 900 B.C. and established Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) around 800 B.C. By the sixth century B.C., a Phoenician...
Definition
Phoenician Religion
The Phoenician Religion, as in many other ancient cultures, was an inseparable part of everyday life. Gods such as Baal, Astarte, and Melqart had temples built in their name, offerings...
Definition
Chavin Civilization
The Chavin civilization flourished between 900 and 200 BCE in the northern and central Andes and was one of the earliest pre-Inca cultures. The Chavin religious centre Chavin de Huantar...
Medieval Period
Definition
Aethelwulf of Wessex
Aethelwulf (r. 839-858) was King of Wessex, a region in modern-day Britain, son and successor to Egbert of Wessex (r. 802-839), who had unified and expanded his kingdom with Aethelwulf's...
Definition
Illuminated Manuscripts
Illuminated manuscripts were hand-made books, usually on Christian scripture or practice, produced in Western Europe between c. 500-c. 1600. They are so called because of the use of...
Definition
Saxon Wars
The Saxon Wars (772-804) were a series of conflicts between the Franks under Charlemagne, who sought to conquer Saxony and convert the populace to Christianity, and the Saxons who resisted...
Article
The Camel Caravans of the Ancient Sahara
The camel caravans which crossed the great dunes of the Sahara desert began in antiquity but reached their golden period from the 9th century CE onwards. In their heyday...
Article
Global Trade in the 13th Century
In the 13th century, astonishing quantities of spices and silk passed from the Far East to Europe. Exact amounts are not known, but spice popularity in both cuisine and medicine...
Definition
Etowah Mounds
Etowah Mounds (also known as Etowah Indian Mounds) is a National Historic Landmark and archaeological site near Cartersville, Georgia, USA, enclosing the ruins of a prehistoric Native American...
Article
The History of Japanese Green Tea
The history of green tea in Japan goes back to the 8th century when it was a popular stimulant for meditating monks. In this article, we examine tea's origins and cultivation...
Article
The Early Christianization of Armenia
The Christianization of Armenia began with the work of Syrian apostles from the 1st century CE and was boosted in the early 4th century CE by such figures as Saint Gregory...
Early Modern Period
Article
Coal Mining in the British Industrial Revolution
Coal mining boomed during the British Industrial Revolution as it provided fuel for steam engines of all kinds in factories, transport, and agriculture. Draining...
Collection
Maya Religion & Culture
Maya religion and culture is among the most advanced and sophisticated of the Pre-Colombian Americas as evidenced by the ruins of their great cities and what remains of their writings...
Definition
James Madison
James Madison (1751-1836) was a statesman, diplomat, and a Founding Father of the United States, who served as the fourth US president from 1809 to 1817. He played an important role in the...
Article
The Resuscitation of the Only Daughter
The Resuscitation of the Only Daughter is a Sioux story about a young maiden who dies and returns to life, helped by a hunter and his wife, and then lives into old age...
Article
Power Struggles in the Reign of Terror
The autumn of 1793 saw the Jacobins consolidate their authority in France as the Reign of Terror intensified and the Jacobins' defeated rivals were executed by guillotine...
Definition
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War took place from 1700 to 1721 and was fought between Russia and Sweden during the reign of Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great). One of the key causes of the war was...
Article
HMS Victory - Nelson's Flagship & Oldest Ship of the Royal Navy
Smasher of Napoleon's invasion dream, veteran of three major wars, and scene of the death of the Royal Navy's greatest hero, HMS Victory is one of Britain's...
Collection
Daily Life in Tudor England
Life in 15th century CE Tudor England witnessed great changes as Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) swept away the monasteries and challenged the Catholic Church. Rebellions...
Modern Period
Article
Battle of Lundy's Lane
The Battle of Lundy's Lane (25 July 1814) was one of the bloodiest battles of the War of 1812. Fought near the location of present-day Niagara Falls, it saw a US army under Jacob Brown...
Definition
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a two-engined medium bomber plane used by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) throughout the Second World War (1939-45). Ju 88s were involved in the Battle of Britain and...
Article
Key German Weapons of World War I
Superior weapons can win wars, and during the First World War (1914-18) all sides attempted to gain an advantage over the enemy by producing more and more destructive devices...
Definition
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was a Czech composer best known for his symphonies, symphonic poems, operas, and chamber music. Dvořák's best-loved works include his 9th Symphony (From The New...
Definition
German East Africa
German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a colony of Imperial Germany from 1885 until 1918. The territory, much larger than Germany itself, covered what is today Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi...
Definition
Edouard Manet
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) was a French modernist painter whose work is celebrated for its candid realism. Works like Olympia, an entirely modern nude, broke the artistic convention that great...
Definition
Bloody Sunday in 1905 - The Massacre at the Tsar's Winter Palace
Bloody Sunday on 22 January 1905 was the massacre of peaceful and unarmed protestors by soldiers outside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia...
Definition
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy (1868-1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman who served as regent for the Kingdom of Hungary from 1920 until his forced abdication in 1944. During the interwar period and...
Prehistoric Period
Definition
Woolly Mammoth
The woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, is an extinct herbivore related to elephants who trudged across the steppe-tundras of Eurasia and North America from around 300,000 years ago until...
Definition
Migration Age
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or German: Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between 300 to 700 CE...
Definition
Stone Age
From the dawn of our species to the present day, stone-made artefacts are the dominant form of material remains that have survived to today concerning human technology. The term “Stone Age”...
Definition
Neolithic Period
The term Neolithic Period refers to the last stage of the Stone Age - a term coined in the late 19th century CE by scholars which covers three different periods: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic...
Definition
Ҫatalhöyük
Ҫatalhöyük is one of the largest Neolithic settlements ever discovered. Built more than 9000 years ago in modern Konya Plain, central Turkey, it is known in archaeology as a proto-city, a link...
Article
The Megalithic Temples of Malta
The megalithic temples of Malta and Gozo rank amongst the oldest free-standing buildings in the world. Construction of these temples started c. 3500 BCE, an impressive architectural...
Definition
Long Barrow
A long barrow is a class of Middle Neolithic (approximately 3500-2700 BCE) burial monument which is found extensively throughout the British Isles and is related to other forms of contemporary...
Article
The Meaning of European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art
Rock art (also known as parietal art) is an umbrella term which refers to several types of creations including finger markings left on soft surfaces, bas-relief...
