Ancient Web

Language and Identity in the Roman Empire

• by Bravelung
• 3 Comments

The most detailed records we have of ancient Europeans come to us from early Greek historians who describe to us the various tribes and peoples that lived at the periphery of their known world. The Romans later shaped these defintions into the provinces that shaped there Empires, influencing the language areas that make up European society to this day.

Illustrating the New World Through a European Lens

• by Lautaro
• 8 Comments

The natives that paddled out to the first ships ashore in the new world were part of a momentous meeting of two divergent lines of humanity that had been separated for tens of thousands of years.

Vampires & Vikings: The ancient origins of "True Blood's" more interesting residents

• by Persephone
• 7 Comments

Last season's 5.3 million viewers of HBO’s True Blood miniseries, prove that cannibalism, drinking blood, running around naked in the woods, still haven't lost their appeal on the publics imagination and hunger for things ancient...

The Ancient Wall as a Cultural Barrier

• by Pulaski's Ghost
• 5 Comments

The Great Wall of China is the most monumental barrier ever created in the ancient world and certainly the msot famous, but did you know about the walls that helped define the nation of Denmark, or walls that effectively preserved the celtic identity of the people that would become the nation of Scotland?

Ancient Rome on Film, Part 1: From Spartacus to the Fall of the Empire

• by Beowulf Blitzer
• 5 Comments

From the Silent Era to Spartacus - this first in a two part series on the Ancient World of Cinema, that traces the Roman Empire's rise during the silver screen when movies like Ben Hur ruled, to theeventual Fall of Empire on film, when the sword and sandal genre finally drove audiances away from the big screen...

Largest Anglo-Saxon treasure since Sutton Hoo, has been discovered buried in Staffordshire, England

• by Dr. Atl
• 4 Comments

Historians are saying this could alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, then the famous Sutton Hoo ship burial discoveries of the last century

Ancient Rome on Film, Part 2: The Empire Strikes Back, from Gladiator to Spartacus Blood and Sand

• by Beowulf Blitzer
• 3 Comments

For nearly 3 decades after the epic disasters of the 60's lost out at the box office it seemed that the sword and sandal genre would be dead forever until decades later when a new set of films broke new ground and helped revive the Roman Empire...

The Origins of Halloween Part 1: Samhain and the Celtic Time of Spirits

• by Lord Crom
• 4 Comments

Did you know that the Jack O’ Lantern is actually thought to represent a severed human head captured in battle? Follow along as we describe the origins of this most macabre of all holidays in this first of a two part series on Halloween...

The Origins of Halloween Part 2: The Day the Dead Return, Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico

• by Lord Crom
• 4 Comments

In Mexico the dead walk with the living, and the brides of death meet their otherworldly companions to bring them treats and blessings on the night after Halloween...