Book Review: Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh.

Battling the Gods by Tim Whitmarsh Battling the Gods explores the ancient origins of atheism. Most of the book deals with ancient Greece. Most other civilizations of the ancient world were decidedly not fertile grounds for nurturing atheists, but the culture of ancient Greece bred philosophy, and some of the strains of Greek philosophy allowed […]

Book Review: Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate Warfare, and the Rise of Rome by Arthur M. Eckstein

This book is for serious students of ancient Rome and its place in antiquity, for those who desire a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, economic and political dynamics of the ancient Mediterranean world that Rome came to dominate, and an insight into how and why Rome came to rule over this entire region. The […]

Book Review: 300, The Empire, by Theo Papas

In 300. The Empire, Theo Papas tells the story of how the Greeks of the 5th century B.C. united to fight off the encroachment of the massive and powerful Persian Empire, ruled by King Xerxes. King Xerxes’ father, Darius I, was defeated at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. by the Athenians under General […]

Epicurus, History’s First Atheist.

Epicurus, History’s First Known Atheist. Epicurus, an Athenian philosopher who lived from 341 to 270 BCE, was not really an atheist as we understand the term today. He was raised in a polytheistic culture and he acknowledged the existence of gods, but he believed that these gods did not interact with humans or interfere in […]

The Athenian Empire-A Guest Post. By Van Bryan in Classical Wisdom Weekly

I found this account of the history of the Athenian empire very interesting and asked permission from the author to share it with readers. “You might remember two weeks ago we had something of a chat about a rather interesting bit of history. How is it that an alliance of cities with the unobjectionable goal […]

Odyssey of an Etruscan Noblewoman by Rosalind Burgundy

Etruria was a region in Northern Italy with a language and culture unique in the ancient world. The civilization flourished from about 650 B.C. until it was conquered and absorbed by the Romans. the last stronghold, Velzna fell to Rome around 265 B.C. In Odyssey of an Etruscan Noblewoman, Rosalind Burgundy tells the story of […]