Library: Classics by Credo Reference: General History

Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Greece: Topic Page
Ancient civilization that flourished 2,500 years ago on the shores of the Ionian and Aegean Seas (modern Greece and the west coast of Turkey).
Ancient Rome: Topic Page
Ancient Rome was a civilization based on the city of Rome. It lasted for about 800 years.
Ancient Egypt: Topic Page
Ancient civilization, based around the River Nile in Egypt, which emerged 5,000 years ago and reached its peak in the 16th century BCE.
Minoan civilization: Topic Page
Ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization. It is named for the legendary King Minos of Crete.
Mycenaean civilization: Topic Page
An ancient Aegean civilization known from the excavations at Mycenae and other sites.

Athens: Topic Page
Capital city of Greece and of ancient Attica; population (2003 est) 747,300, urban agglomeration 3,247,000.
Rome: Topic Page
Capital of Italy and of Lazio region, on the River Tiber, 27 km/17 mi from the Tyrrhenian Sea; population 2,459,800.
Sparta: Topic Page
City of ancient Greece, capital of Laconia, on the Eurotas (Evrótas) River in the Peloponnesus.
Troy: Topic Page
Ancient city in Asia Minor (modern Hissarlik in Turkey), just south of the Dardanelles.

Peloponnesian War: Topic Page
War fought 431-404 BCE between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies, involving most of the Greek world from Asia Minor to Sicily and from Byzantium (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) to Crete.
Trojan War: Topic Page
In Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta.

Classicism: Topic Page
A term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic quality of high distinction. More precisely, the term refers to the admiration and imitation of Greek and Roman literature, art, and architecture.
Classical Poetics
In The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Ancient Greek poetics at its inception was shaped by two features of archaic culture: the treatment of the Homeric epics as a source of authoritative knowledge and the nature of early poetry as song or recitation performed in social contexts.
Greek Literature
In The Macmillan Encyclopedia
The epics of Homer date from the 8th century BC, though their echoes of Mycenaean civilization suggest that they may have existed in oral form for considerably longer. A little later (c. 700) Hesiod's poems portray the lives and concerns of farmers.
Greek art: Topic Page
Works of art produced in the Aegean basin, a center of artistic activity from very early times.

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE): Topic Page
Or Alexander III, king of Macedon, conqueror of much of Asia.
Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE): Topic Page
Roman general and dictator, considered Rome's most successful military commander.
Cleopatra (69-30 BCE): Topic Page
Queen of Egypt, one of the great romantic heroines of all time.
Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE): Topic Page
Or Cato the Censor, Lat. Cato Major or Cato Censorius, Roman statesman and moralist, whose full name was Marcus Porcius Cato.