In the history of ancient Greece, the Archaic period is usually dated to between ca. 800 and 500 BC. Often, the date is extended down to around 480 BC Some authors hold that the Archaic period proper starts with the first supposedly historic event, the Olympic Games of 776 BC. Others have the Archaic period start at around 700 BC.

A Minoan harbour town
The ancient site of Kommos in Crete
On the southern coast of Crete, a little north of Matala, lies Kommos, the site of a Minoan harbour town. While not open to the public, you can get a good sense of the site from behind the fences.

A Total War Saga: Troy
Thoughts on the game
The newest entry into the Total War series of strategy games is inspired by the Trojan War. While the game looks beautiful, it’s not something that I have enjoyed playing.

An ancient, sacred place
The Melidoni Cave near Rethymno, Crete
Located about 30 km east of Rethymno is Gerontospilios (“Old Cave”), more commonly referred to in English as the Melidoni Cave, an underground site of great historical significance.

Blood, bronze, and balony
An Extra Credits video about battles in the Bronze Age
With the recent release of the strategy game A Total War Saga: Troy, there has been a flood of videos about the Trojan War. Sadly, many of them are not very good. The recent video by Extra Credits on “Battles in the Bronze Age” is an example.

Greek warfare and Homer
Last month, Josho Brouwers gave a lecture about the cultural signifcance of the Homeric epics to ancient Greek warfare, which was also recorded on video. Here you can read the text of this lecture.

The Lion of Kea
An Archaic enigma
A great stone monument dated to the Archaic period (ca. 600 BC), the Lion of Kea is an impressive early Greek monument. But it is almost entirely ignored in the history of Greek art.

Why abandon the phalanx?
Problems from Rome
Did the hilly terrain of Italy force the Romans to abandon the hoplite phalanx? Did they even use the phalanx to begin with? In this article, we suggest “no” to both of those questions.

Sanctuaries in ancient Greece
The regular team consisting of Joshua Hall, Matthew Lloyd, and Josho Brouwers talk about sanctuaries and other sacred places in ancient Greece.

The birthplace of Zeus?
The Psychro Cave in Crete
High in the Dicte mountain range along the Lasithi Plateau in Crete is the Psychro Cave, which may have been the place where, according to myth, the great god Zeus was raised.

The Chigi Vase
Ceci n’est pas une phalange
A jug made in Corinth but unearthed in an Etruscan tomb features an image that has been widely interpreted as representing hoplites fighting in phalanx formation. But a closer examination of this artefact casts serious doubts on this view.