Roman circus games: Roman chariot-racing mosaic from Vienne, France Chariot-racing and gambling In addition to gladiatorial games, people in ancient Rome also really loved chariot-racing. Both men and women went to [...]
Roman gladiators mosaic, from the Borghese estate near Rome (200s AD) Why were there gladiators? Romans liked watching other people die. They thought that was fun, like maybe you think [...]
The Colosseum - the Flavian Amphitheater - in Rome, Italy. Built in the 70s AD by the emperor Vespasian What were Roman amphitheaters for? Most people have heard of the Colosseum in [...]
An early Christian house church at Dura Europos, in Syria (200s AD) Christian persecution pauses During the forty years between 261 AD and 303 AD, the Roman government did not officially [...]
Oldest known portrait of Paul (catacomb of Thecla, Rome, 300s AD) Paul starts out as Saul Saul was a Jewish man who converted to Christianity near the very beginning of the new religion. [...]
Montanus and Montanism: This is the amphitheater in ancient Carthage where Romans killed Christians during the Decian persecution. What was Montanism? Montanism was a Christian heresy. A man named Montanus [...]
One of the earliest images of Jesus, from St. Callisto catacomb in Rome (ca. 250 AD) Around the time of the beginning of the Roman Empire, a new religion began among [...]
Cicero, a Roman philosopher The Stoics were a group of philosophers who first began teaching their ideas in the Hellenistic period. Stoicism was founded by a man named Zeno, who lived from 335-263 [...]
A Roman carving of a midwife at a birth (Isola Della Sacra, Ostia, 1st century AD) Who delivered babies in the ancient world? A midwife is a woman who helps [...]
Dowry: Peleus, future father of Achilles, greets the guests at his wedding; the bride Thetis waits inside the house (Sophilos; British Museum, ca. 580 BC) When did people start to [...]
