Tiberius Claudius Narcissus plays a major role in the court of Roman Emperor Claudius (r. 41 - 54 AD). A former slave, he gains great...

Freedmen in ancient Rome (liberti or libertini) belong to a social class of former slaves given freedom and rights. Roman slaves are used...

Valeria Messalina, known as Messalina, is a provocative figure in Roman history. She's notorious for her strong sexual appetites and...

Poppaea Sabina is a beautiful, ambitious woman embroiled in the plots and schemes of Imperial Rome. She manipulates her way to the bed of...

Wolfsbane, monk's hood (Aconitum) delivers a lethal dose of poison. In the ancient world, poison plays a vital part, from death by elixir...

Cleopatra the Physician is an early Greek medical writer and author of a manual entitled Cosmetics. Six fragments of her Cosmetics...

Zis of Thrace is the first god of creation, with mother goddess Bendis. HIs adventures are many as he fills roles of creator god, horse...

The mining industry of Cyprus dates back to c. 4000 BCE, primarily focused on copper extraction. Cyprus derives its name from Kúpros, the...

The Wild Boar is the ancestor of domestic pigs. The Boar represents the warrior spirit and unbridled ferocity. With the Bear and Wolf the...

Neolithic salt production in Europe centers around sites such as Solnitsata in today's Bulgaria, and Lunca (Poiana Slatinei), Romania....

The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture is a Neolithic and Copper Age archaeological group (c. 5500 - 2750 BCE) of SE Europe. From the Carpathians...

Dnieper (Dnipro) River is one of most important waterways of ancient European trade and travel. Since the early Stone Age, from the sedge...

Thrace is an ancient region of Bulgaria bordering the Black Sea. In Neolithic and Chalcolithic times the seaport Varna and salt center...

The Vistula River is among the most important rivers of Europe. From its source in the Carpathian Mountains, the river travels north to...

Solnitsata is the oldest known town in Europe, dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the 5th millennium BCE. A major center of the Neolithic...

The Aetsi are a north Germanic-Baltic group described by Roman Tacitus in 98 CE. With strong connections to the trade of coveted amber,...

The Aesti (Aestii, Astui, Aests) appear at a time when European cultures mingle, and trade routes connect north to south. Neither Germans...

The Vistula Lagoon (Zalew Wiślany) is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea 90 km (56 mi) long, 10 to 19 km (6 to 15 mi) wide, and up...

The Old Prussians are hardy fishers, hunters, farmers, and cattle breeders. They occupy the Baltic coast between the lower Vistula and...

Neman River is the primary feed into the Curonian Lagoon at the Baltic Sea. It's the main reason the sea lagoon is freshwater. The...