The era known as the Renaissance began approximately around the beginning of the fifteenth century. The philosophy behind the whole movement is one of "rebirth" or the re-establishing of ancient classical culture. Following the collapse of the Roman civilization, much of Europe fell into decline,...

Four thousand years ago the humanities were introduced by the Ancient Greeks. The men began to record their feelings and ideas in the form of architecture, sculpture, plays, and paintings which make up the humanities. These numerous artists, writers, and politicians set the foundation for the whole...

Raphael's "School of Athens" is considered by many art historians to be the absolute masterpiece of the Renaissance. It is the perfect pictorial counterpart to the enormous changes in thinking that came about in the 1300s as a result of economic and technological developments. Its rational perspe...

The creation of sculptures of Ancient Greece is definitely one of the most influential artistic movements of any ancient culture. Even though Greece itself was influenced visibly in the beginning by strong trade routes, especially with Persia to the East and Egypt to the south, they quickly gathered...

During the period of crisis in the Roman Republic when the Greek influence on art became increasingly strong, Roman art began to emerge as an entity in itself. In 146 B.C.E., a sculptural style came into being that is generally known as Greco-Roman, a term which indicates that the two styl...

Where does democracy come from' Why is the U.S. Constitution so invaluable and where did the framers gain such foresight. These are some of the many questions students and future historians have asked when they consider the origins of Western civilization and how it is that our ...

Gaius Julius Caesar is perhaps one of the most prominent Romans of the classical period that can be associated with Rome. This is because Julius Caesar can be most credited with, or blamed for both the downfall of the Roman Republic, and the subsequent creation of the Roman Empire. Many questions as...

Eternal Prominence: The Impact of Ancient Greece In the eighth century B.C. a revolutionary force embarked on a cultural conquest that would change the western world forever. Greece was conceived, a lustrous gem in a world dominated by routine and rigid conformity. Egypt, renowned up to that poin...

Just as we use tombstones to mark graves and commemorate our dead, so too did ancient civilizations. One way to do so in the ancient world was through the use of steles. A stele is a stone slab, usually decorated in relief and inscribed, that honored the death of a person. Three of the ancient cu...

The Greeks were one of the most advanced cultures of ancient times and this was reflected in their artwork. They had a preoccupation with the human figure that resulted in beautifully and geometrically perfect pieces. Since the Greeks were such an advanced culture, one would assume the equality sta...

Today's society in which we live in has based itself on the past achievements and failures of previous civilizations which rose and fell with the hands of time. Every one of those civilizations made certain contributions to history as well as developing human intellectuality in order to enhance its...

What possible similarity, one might be tempted to ask, could exist between the apparently profoundly secular author of "Letter to Peregrino Zambeccari" the Italian humanist and proto-nationalist Coluccio Salutati, whose life was filled chiefly by political and administrative matters and th...

The Gladiators Munera gladitoria (gladiatorial contests) hold a central place in our perception of Roman behavior. They were also a big influence on how Romans themselves ordered their lives. Attending the games was one of the practices that went with being a Roman. The Etruscans, who introduced th...

The poetry of Ovid spans several genres and varies in style and theme as it follows the tragic life of the exiled literary giant. With fame coming to Ovid early, it is a baffling mystery as to why Ovid was exiled to Tomis, a small colony on the Black Sea. Despite his pleas for exoneration and salvat...

The middle ages 2000 The Roman Empire geographically established the original concept of a European boundary. With all of it's great achievements likee civil law, politics and literature, the collective willpower of the Roman Empire would eventually degrade over time and give way to new id...