Ancient Greek pottery

Ancient Greece

Solon, an Athenian statesman (left) laid the foundations for democracy

Your guide to...the history of democracy

Sparta. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The tomb of Pharaoh Djoser, built at Saqqara

Timeline: the evolution of ancient empires

The Parnethon, Athens

How to build a democracy (Athenian-style)

Athenian red-figure cup showing a seated man with a naked boy in the inside tondo, 470 BC

What was pederasty in ancient Greece?

Colourised print of the Lighthouse of Alexandria as imagined in the 18th century

General ancient history

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: what were they, and what happened to them?

Ancient Greece: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alexander the Great

Where is Alexander the Great buried? And other questions about his death…

York Minster's rose window features 16th-century Tudor Roses white on red (left) and Lancastrian Roses, red

A brief history of the English rose

Illustration of Alexander the Great marching to war (Illustration by Sue Gent_

What if…Alexander the Great had lived longer?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bottle of 'love potion'

General ancient history

Spanish fly, holy bread and mashed worms: history's weirdest aphrodisiacs and love potions

Portrait of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), who disappeared in 1974 following a bloody homicide

The curious case of Lord Lucan + 10 other mysterious disappearances from history

A sculpture dedicated to King Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWere there really only 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae?

Medieval trepanning

General prehistory

Q&AWhat is trepanning?

The Venus de Milo sculpture

Q&AWhen was the Venus de Milo found?

The ancient Greek physician Dioscorides

General ancient history

Happy plants and laughing weeds: how people of the ancient world used – and abused – drugs

Wrestlers in ancient Greece

Q&AHow did ancient athletes prepare for the Olympics?

Charlton Hetson races a chariot in Ben-Hur

Wacky races: 10 weird and wonderful contests through history

Women in ancient Athens

Love, magic and murder: the strange death of Philoneos in 430BC

A brief history of marathons

The food served at the wedding of Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell may be inspired by accounts of ancient Roman excess, says Ayelet Haimson Lushkov. (© Home Box Office, Inc/Sky Atlantic)

Power plays and scheming queens: the ancient history behind Game of Thrones

The ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus, which boasts superb acoustics and aesthetics. (Photo by Alamy)

My favourite place: the Peloponnese, Greece

Thessaloniki's Rotunda of Galerius, Greece, built in the fourth-century by Roman occupiers

ExploreThessaloniki, Greece: Greece's cultural melting pot. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Beard presents an episode of the BBC's 2018 headline arts series, 'Civilisations'. (Image credit: BBC/Nutopia)

Mary Beard: “I couldn’t give a toss what Roman emperor Donald Trump was most like” plus 3 other things we learned about her

Mary Beard on the HistoryExtra podcast

Mary Beard’s life in Classics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

The history of birthday presents dates back to the Roman period. (Photo by Lambert/Fototrove/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWhen did people start giving birthday presents?

Crowds of women from ancient Greece gather round a man holding a vase

Q&AWhat was life like for Spartan women?

The history of today. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Sultanahmet district in Istanbul, Turkey, which is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO. (Photo by DOZIER Marc via Getty Images)

A new civilisation rises