Ctesias was a Greek physician who stayed at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes II Mnemon from 404 to 398/397. He wrote several books about Persia and India. These books are now lost but were quoted by ancient authors;…
In the Cyrus Cylinder, a cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum, Cyrus describes how he had conquered Babylon (October 539 BCE). It is interesting because the Persian king presents himself to his new subjects as the perfect ruler, carefully…
Dio Chrysostom (c.40 - after 112) was a Greek politician and philosopher, and one of the first representatives of the Second Sophistic. In 111, he was accused of lèse-majesté. As it happens, the governor who preseded this trial was Pliny…
Epic Cycle (᾽Επικὸς κύκλος): set of twelve archaic epic poems, known to every educated Greek. The best-known were Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, which are also the only epics that have survived.
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Simon ben Kosiba, surnamed Simon bar Kochba ("son of the star") was a Jewish Messiah. Between 132 and 135, he was the leader of the last resistance against the Romans. After the end of the disastrous rebellion, the rabbis called…
Publius Annius Florus (c.70? - c.140?): Roman author, published a brief work on the history of the Roman empire during the reign of the emperor Hadrian (r.117-138).
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Gospel of Peter: apocryphal text about Jesus' trial, burial, and resurrection. The text breaks off when we expect the risen Christ to appear to his disciplesThe Gospel of Peter is part of a small book that was discovered in the…
The Carthaginian general Hannibal (247-182 BCE) was one of the greatest military leaders in history. His most famous campaign took place during the Second Punic War (218-202), when he caught the Romans off guard by crossing the Alps.
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