Concepts

On this page, you will find an overview of the mental concept of Antiquity, from acropolis to ziggurat, from ephor to tetrarch, from barbarian to tyrant.

There are 132 items in Concepts:

Fourth Syrian War (219-217)

Syrian Wars: series of conflicts between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires in the third and second centuries BCE; at stake was an area called Coele Syria, which is more or less identical to modern Israel, the Palestine territories, Lebanon, and…

Click to continue reading

Gladiator

Gladiator: professional (or slave) fighter who engaged in combat in a Roman amphitheater.  Mosaic of two gladiators (Kourion) Gladiator – nearly everybody has…

Click to continue reading

Governor (Roman)

Governors: senators (or knights) who ruled the provinces of the Roman empire.The first Roman province, Sicily, was conquered after the First Punic War (241 BCE), and the Senate decided that it had to be ruled by a praetor. This meant…

Click to continue reading

Helot

Helots: class of unfree peasants in Spartan society, who may be defined as state-owned serfs.In Antiquity, all humans were unequal. Citizenship was a privilege; magistracies were usually reserved for men; not everyone was allowed to serve in the army; the…

Click to continue reading

Herald

Herald: in ancient Greece the man who made announcements on behalf of a king or the city's government. Sabouroff Painter: Hermes,…

Click to continue reading

Homo novus

Homo novus ("new man"): Latin indication for the first member of a Roman family to be elected consul.In a society in which ancient families had great privileges, it was quite something when someone without long list of noble ancestors reached…

Click to continue reading

Hoplite

Hoplites (Greek: Ὁπλιτης): ancient Greek soldiers, armed with spears and shields. A running hoplite (without greaves) The hoplites were the main soldiers of…

Click to continue reading

Imperator

Imperator ("commander"): Roman title, awarded to victorious commanders and emperors. The Greek equivalent is strategos autokrator.Iberian origin? The Roman word imperator simply means "commander" or "general" and is the equivalent of Greek strategos. However, the expression had a second, more specific…

Click to continue reading

Insula

Insula ("island"): Latin name for a housing block in a city built according to the Hippodamian Plan. The insulae of Pompeii…

Click to continue reading