A recent study conducted by researchers at the National University of Mar del Plata (Argentina) has revealed new details about the famous Antikythera Mechanism, considered the world’s oldest computer. This device, discovered in a Greek shipwreck from the 1st century BCE, was used to predict astronomical phenomena such as eclipses and planetary movements. However, the […]
Ancient Greece
Posted inAncient Greece
The Mysteries of the Pythia, the Great Priestess of the Temple of Apollo Who Embodied the Oracle of Delphi
Sibyl, Phymonoe, Xenoclea, Aristocleia, Perialla, Themistoclea… These names will sound unfamiliar to almost everyone, and it’s no wonder, because although they belong to women of Ancient Greece, they weren’t queens or royal consorts, nor were they goddesses, muses, philosophers, or poets. These were the names of some of the most famous Pythias, that is, the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Bias of Priene, the most prominent of the Seven Sages, recommended loving friends as if they were enemies and freed women from slavery
In the 6th century BC, at the peak of the Greek Archaic period, Priene was a small Ionian city overlooking the Aegean Sea. Located on the coast of Caria in Anatolia, north of Miletus, Priene was not known for its military power or its conquests, but for being the home of one of the Seven […]
Posted inAncient Greece
The Strange Story of Sosipatra, the Greek Philosopher to Whom Mysterious Beings Granted the Power of Divination
Eunapius of Sardis, a Greek historian and rhetorician who lived between the 4th and 5th centuries AD, wrote a Life of the Sophists, in which he recounted the biographies of twenty-three philosophers of his time. This work remains the only surviving source on Neoplatonism from that period. One of the figures associated with this movement […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Art
The Extraordinary Chigi Olpe: The Oldest Depiction of the Judgment of Paris and the Formation of Hoplite Phalanxes
In 1882, in an Etruscan tomb near Veii, about 16 kilometers north of Rome, a Greek pitcher—an olpe—was discovered. It had remained hidden in a burial chamber that had been sealed off in antiquity due to a collapse, which allowed it to reach us in an exceptional state of preservation. It was not Etruscan but […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Pausanias, the Spartan King Who Defeated the Persians at Plataea and Died Entombed by His Own Fellow Citizens
It was the year 467 BC when an enraged woman approached the door of the Temple of Athena Chalkioikos in Sparta and placed a brick with an inscription that read: Unworthy of being a Spartan, you are not my son. That harsh message, according to Diodorus of Sicily, was directed at her son, who had […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Ancient Rome, Art
A Study Reveals That Greek and Roman Statues Were Not Only Painted and Adorned with Textiles and Jewelry but Also Perfumed
A recent study published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology has revealed a little-explored aspect of ancient art: the use of perfumes and aromatic substances in Greco-Roman sculptures. This research, led by archaeologist Cecilie Brøns, proposes a new way of understanding classical art, challenging the traditional perception of sculpture as a purely visual art form. […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Ancient Rome
Did Herodes Atticus Murder His Wife Appia Annia Regilla? A Strange Case in Which No One Was Convicted Thanks to the Protection of Marcus Aurelius
It was the year 160 AD when Appius Annius Atilius Bradua filed a complaint before the Roman Senate regarding the murder of his sister. The direct perpetrator of the crime was a freedman named Alcidemus, but Bradua was convinced that he had acted on the orders of his master. That master was none other than […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Poliochne, the First City of Europe, Was the Nemesis and Rival of Troy Situated Across From It
In the history of humanity, early settlements provide a fascinating glimpse into the development of civilization. One such place is Poliochne (in Greek Πολιόχνη), an ancient city located on the eastern coast of the island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. Considered the oldest city in Europe, Poliochne flourished during the Late Copper Age and […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Art
The Sanctuary of the Nympholyptos on Mount Hymettus, a cave filled with reliefs and inscriptions created by a sculptor possessed by the nymphs in the 5th century BCE
In the heart of the Attica region in Greece, nestled among the majestic hills of Mount Hymettus, lies an enigmatic place that has witnessed the passage of time and the devotion of ancient peoples. The Cave of the Nympholyptos is an archaeological site of exceptional historical and cultural importance. Surrounded by myths and sculptures carved […]
