Visual History of the World

 (CONTENTS)
 

 

 




The Ancient World

ca. 2500 B.C. - 900 A.D.
 


The epics of Homer, the wars of Caesar, and temples and palaces characterize the image of classic antiquity and the cultures of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. They are the sources from which the Western world draws the foundations of its philosophy, literature, and, not least of all, its state organization. The Greek city-states, above all Athens, were the birthplace of democracy. The regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and great parts of Northwest Europe were forged together into the Roman Empire, which survived until the time of the Great Migration of Peoples. Mighty empires also existed beyond the ancient Mediterranean world, however, such as those of the Mauryas in India and the Han in China.

 



 

 

 
 

 


The Culture of the Greeks and Romans
 

 
 

see also:
The Odyssey of Homer

illustrations by John Flaxman
***

 Greek and Roman Myths in Art

***

see also EXPLORATION (in Russian):

Homer  "Iliad "and "Odyssey"
***


 Apuleius "The Golden Asse"

illustrations by Jean de Bosschere and Martin Van Maele
***

 Longus

 "The Pastorals, or the Loves of Daphnis and Chloe"

 illustrations by Marc Chagall

 ***
 

 

The Greek and Roman civilizations of antiquity are regarded today as the origins of Western civilization. The Greek thirst for knowledge and structure and the Roman achievements in political organization have shaped European culture to the present day, and their influence has radiated out to other parts of the world as well.
 



Greek and Roman Myths in Art
 

 


Part IV
 


 



 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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