Did ancient technological advancements drive social innovation, or vice versa? Studying cause and effect in the ancient world may seem like a fool’s errand, but researchers built a database to do just that.
Articles on Roman Empire
Displaying 41 - 60 of 85 articles
Voices on the extremes don’t represent society.
The Atlantic slave trade isn’t Britain’s first brush with forced labour.
Some fringe conspiracy theorists are connecting COVID-19 vaccines to the mark of the beast. A religion scholar explains why the biblical reference should be considered in its first-century context.
Despite opposition from the early church, dance was an integral part of Christian devotion for many centuries before falling out of favor.
In early Christianity, soldiers could be baptized only if they refused to kill other human beings. While this changed over the years, tensions linger over Christian goals.
The 40-day Lenten season, when many Christians observe fasting, began in mid-February. A scholar explains how the practice may have emerged around the fifth century.
Societies and cultures that seem ossified and entrenched can be completely upended by pandemics, which create openings for conquest, innovation and social change.
New research suggests ancient climate change shaped the fate of western civilisation.
The history of early Christianity shows the power of the Bible used as a sign of resistance against repression at the hands of the Romans.
Through archaeological studies of architecture, excavated trade goods, and ecofacts we can trace globalisation back thousands of years.
With much public discussion of President Donald Trump as, potentially, a king, a scholar of Roman history and rhetoric sees 2,000-year-old parallels.
The British prime minister is fond of a common form of political rhetoric especially loved by the Romans: the promise of a ‘new age’.
The pagans paved the way for our modern festivities.
Although the universe of “Game of Thrones” evokes the medieval era, several key figures in the series are directly inspired by characters from Roman antiquity.
With the launch of the Libra cryptocurrency, Mark Zuckerberg reveals his dreams of building a new virtual country, perhaps inspired by the Roman Empire.
Tacitus’ Annals is a powerful and darkly humorous examination of imperial Rome. Though his work was little read in the Roman world, it has influenced great thinkers such as Hobbes and Montesquieu.
In the fourth century, Christian churches in North Africa faced a crisis of trust. A separate church of the Donatists emerged that lasted for centuries.
Behind today’s mythical Santa Claus from the North Pole, is a real saint – St. Nicholas. How he came to be today’s gift-giving jolly figure from the North Pole is a fascinating story by itself.
Once Britain slipped away from the Roman Empire in the early 5th century, signs of Roman life began to disappear.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University
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Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Researcher, Historian and Complexity Scientist, University of Toronto
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Gale Research Fellow in Ancient Glass and Material Culture, Macquarie University
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Professeur d'histoire ancienne, Université de Lorraine
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Professor of Classics and Head of the Centre for Classical Studies, Australian National University
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Professor of Archaeology, Durham University
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Professor of Ancient History, Macquarie University
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Head, Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney
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Teaching Fellow, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
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Professor of Roman Archaeology, University of Glasgow
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Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, University of Leicester
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Lecturer in Ancient History, Cardiff University
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Senior Lecturer of Archaeology, University of Exeter