Collections

The ancient Mediterranean was a busy place with trading ships sailing in all directions to connect cities and cultures. The Greeks were so keen on the rewards of trade and commerce that they colonized large parts of the coastal Mediterranean...

In this collection, we examine one of the greatest contributions made by the ancient Greeks to world culture: their systems of government and, above all, the ideas of democracy and mass participation in politics. We also consider the society...

The ancient Greeks were masters at picking up ideas from other cultures, mixing these with their own innovations and producing unique contributions to world culture. Greek sculptors adored the human form, painters loved to tell stories on...

The Plantagenets, sometimes referred to as the Angevin-Plantagenets, were the ruling dynasty of England from 1154 to 1485 CE. The name Angevin derives from the family's ancestral lands in Anjou, France and the term Plantagenet (perhaps) from...

The history of medieval Japan (1185-1603 CE) involved the rise of the military and such figures as the shoguns and samurai but there were many other cultural developments in between and during the many wars that troubled the country. In this...

Plagues have swept through humanity ever since communities have gathered together in concentrated groups. In this collection of resources, we look at just some of the pandemics that raged throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages, from the...

Through the 13th and 14th century CE the Mongols forged the largest connected empire the world had ever seen and such figures as Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan were feared as the devil himself, their mounted warriors conquering for their leaders...

The Aztecs of northern Mesoamerica (c. 1345 and 1521 CE) worshipped some of the weirdest, most fantastic and downright scary gods seen anywhere in history. The Aztec civilization and the empire it created revolved around winning special favour...

Winning battles and forging empires was not just about numbers but also the quality of the troops at any commander's disposal. The best-trained, best-equipped and most experienced fighters could be moulded into devastating units that could...

In this collection of resources, we look at ancient societies and examine who was at the top of the social ladder, who were the climbers and who were at the very bottom. In places like ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome men largely dominated...