

The vastness of Rome
For the Romans, without modern modes of transport, the world must have felt like a much larger place. For many, however, this was no impediment to setting out.

The “Treasury of Atreus”
A Late Bronze Age tomb near Mycenae
Very near the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae (Greece) lies a monument that is referred to as the “Treasury of Atreus”. But it is not a treasury, and the name of its original owner is unknown.

A face from the past
A plaster head from Mycenae
From the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae comes a plaster head of a figure with a penetrating gaze, white skin, and red rosettes on the forehead, cheeks, and chin. Who or what does this figure represent?


The Empress Messalina
Teenage nymphomaniac or smooth operator?
The Empress Messalina has received more than her fair share of attention in popular culture, mostly likely due to her scandalous reputation in the ancient sources. What is often overlooked is that she was also a political force in Rome’s first imperial dynasty.

Change and Archaeology
A book by Rachel J. Crellin
In this recent book (2020) in Routledge’s Themes in Archaeology series, Rachel J. Crellin examines archaeological approaches to change, why those used in the past have been insufficient, and outlines a new approach.

Drink, talk, and praise the gods!
Cultural aspects of the Athenian symposium
The ancient Greek symposium was a drinking party in which the participants engaged in a number of activities. In this article, Daniel Woon focuses on cultural aspects of the symposium.


Nisus and Euryalus
Poetry as philosophy
How should readers of Virgil’s Aeneid interpret the relationship between the Trojan soldiers Nisus and Euryalus? Harrison Voss argues that the pair is best understood as a depiction of the “ideal” pederastic relationship described in Plato’s Symposium.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Exploring Ptolemaic Egypt
Assassin’s Creed: Origins is a game developed and published by Ubisoft that is set in Ptolemaic Egypt around the time of Cleopatra’s accession to the throne, with the player controlling Bayek of Siwa.

An ancient stigma
Greek tattoo culture, part 2
The ancient Greeks had very strong views on tattoos, but that did not stop them from trying to understand other tattoo cultures. Their relationship with tattooing was affected by their interaction with these other societies.

An ancient stigma
Greek tattoo culture, part 1
To the Greeks, a tattoo was a mark of disgrace and enslavement. Their word for it, stigma, today embodies this disdain and has certainly influenced European social views on tattooing for many centuries.