Ancient HistoryQ&A by dot point

Art, architecture, technology, and the economic basis of Spartan society, including the Eurotas sanctuaries, the Spartan austerity ideal, the iron currency, and the role of the Helots and Perioikoi in the economy

The decline of Spartan power from Pausanias and the Persian Wars through the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, including the rise of the Theban hegemony

The geographical setting and natural features of Sparta, including the Eurotas valley, Mt Taygetus, the territory of Laconia and Messenia, and the relationship of geography to Spartan economy and military strategy

The traditional figure of Lycurgus, the Great Rhetra, and the reforms attributed to him, including the eunomia, the institutional changes, and the historiographical question of whether Lycurgus existed

Geographical, political and social context of New Kingdom Egypt, including the expulsion of the Hyksos, the foundation of the Eighteenth Dynasty under Ahmose I, and the constitutional and religious framework

The early Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs (Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut as regent and pharaoh, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV) and their major achievements in military, religious and cultural domains

Religion, art, architecture, economy and everyday life in New Kingdom Egypt, including the priesthood of Amun, the temple system, mortuary practices, and the social structure

Geographical, political and social context of Old Kingdom Egypt (Dynasties III to VI, c. 2686-2160 BC), including the unification of the Two Lands, the rise of divine kingship, and the centralised administrative state

The major pharaohs of the Old Kingdom (Djoser, Sneferu, Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, the kings of Dynasties V and VI including Unas and Pepy II) and their achievements

The pyramid construction project as the central state activity of the Old Kingdom, the religious and political meaning of pyramids, the social hierarchy, and the eventual decline of central authority

Religion, ritual, and festivals in Sparta, including the cults of Artemis Orthia and Apollo, the major festivals (Hyacinthia, Karneia, Gymnopaidiai), funerary rituals, and the role of religion in state and military life

The Spartan army and military training (the agoge), including its organisation, the hoplite phalanx, the syssitia, the role of the army in Spartan society, and the relationship to the Helot system

The political organisation of Sparta, including the dual kingship, the gerousia, the ephorate, and the apella, and their relationships in practice

The Spartan social structure, including Spartiates (Homoioi), Perioikoi, and Helots, with the legal, economic, and military roles of each, and the historiographical debate over Spartan exceptionalism

The role and status of Spartan women, including their education, property, marriage, religious roles, and the historical debate over Spartan female exceptionalism

The economy of Pompeii and Herculaneum, including trade, commerce, industries, occupations, and the archaeological and inscriptional evidence for them

The eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79 and the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, including the literary evidence (Pliny the Younger), the volcanological evidence, the human evidence (body casts and skeletons), and the date controversy

Everyday life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, including leisure activities, food, housing, water supply and sanitation, and the evidence from frescoes, archaeology, and inscriptions

The geographical setting and physical environment of Pompeii and Herculaneum, including the Bay of Naples, the role of Mt Vesuvius, the natural features, resources, and the historical development of the two cities from Oscan settlement to Roman colony

Investigating and interpreting the sources from Pompeii and Herculaneum, including the history of excavation from 1748, the methodologies of Fiorelli, Maiuri, and Wallace-Hadrill, conservation issues, and ethical debates about display

Local political life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, including magistracies, the decurional council, electoral campaigns, and the evidence from electoral programmata

Religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum, including Roman state cult, the imperial cult, household religion (the lararium), and foreign cults including Isis, the Capitoline Triad, and Sabazius

The social structure of Pompeii and Herculaneum, including men, women, freedmen, and slaves, with archaeological, inscriptional, and skeletal evidence

The First Settlement (27 BC) and the Second Settlement (23 BC), the constitutional powers granted to Octavian (now Augustus), the political theory of the principate, and the verdicts of Syme, Goldsworthy, and Eck

Augustus and the principate, including the political reforms, the administration of the provinces, the relationship with the senate and the equestrians, the army reforms, and the consilium principis

Augustus's foreign policy and the imperial frontiers, including expansion in Spain, the Alps, the Balkans, Germany, the Parthian settlement, the Teutoburg disaster (AD 9), and the recommendation to keep the empire within its frontiers

Survey of the Greek world and the Persian Empire c. 500 BC, the geographical setting, the polis system, the Spartan and Athenian constitutions, the Cleisthenic reforms, and the rise of Achaemenid Persia under Darius I

The foundation of the Delian League in 478 BC, its original aims and organisation, the role of Aristides, the recall of Pausanias, and the early campaigns under Cimon (Eurymedon)

The internal political development of Athens, the reforms of Ephialtes (462 BC), the leadership of Pericles, the introduction of state pay for jurors and officials, the Periclean building program, and the cultural achievements of the period

The First Peloponnesian War (460 to 446 BC), the long walls, the Egyptian disaster, the Five Years' Truce (451 BC), the Peace of Callias (around 449 BC), the Thirty Years' Peace (446 BC), and the significance of the period

The campaigns of 479 BC at Plataea and Mycale, the role of Pausanias, the end of the Persian invasion, the reasons for the Greek victory, and the immediate consequences for Greek leadership

The Ionian Revolt (499 to 494 BC), the burning of Sardis, the Battle of Lade, Darius's first invasion of Greece in 490 BC, and the Battle of Marathon

The careers and significance of Themistocles, Pausanias, and Cimon, including the naval policy, the long walls, the regent's medism, the campaigns at Eurymedon and Thasos, and the ostracism of 461 BC

The transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire, the suppression of revolts (Naxos, Thasos, Samos), the Egyptian disaster, the transfer of the treasury to Athens (454 BC), Athenian imperialism, and the methods of control over the allies

The preparations and invasion of Xerxes (480 BC), the Hellenic League, the battles of Thermopylae, Artemisium, and Salamis, and the strategic role of Themistocles' naval policy

Julio-Claudian administration, including the imperial bureaucracy, provincial governance, the army, the Praetorian Guard, and the financial structure

The reigns of Claudius (AD 41-54) and Nero (AD 54-68), the dynastic crisis of AD 68-69, the historiographical assessment of each, and the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty

The Augustan settlement and its legacy at AD 14; the constitutional position of the princeps; the family dynamics of the Julio-Claudian dynasty; the succession question

Tiberius's accession and reign (AD 14-37), the role of Sejanus, the treason trials, Tiberius's retirement to Capri, and the historiographical assessment of Tiberius

The political and military situation in Rome from the Ides of March (44 BC) to the formation of the Second Triumvirate (43 BC), including Octavian's claim as Caesar's heir, his manoeuvres against Antony, and the Battle of Mutina

Religion, propaganda, and the Pax Romana, including the Ara Pacis, the Res Gestae, the imperial cult, the religious revival, the Augustan poets, and the visual program of the new Rome

The Second Triumvirate (43 to 33 BC), the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), Antony's Eastern policy and his alliance with Cleopatra, the propaganda war, and the Battle of Actium (31 BC)

Augustus's social and moral legislation, including the Leges Juliae of 18 BC, the Lex Papia Poppaea of AD 9, the marriage and adultery laws, the slavery laws, and the question of their effectiveness

The succession problem under Augustus, including the candidates (Marcellus, Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius, Agrippa Postumus), the role of Livia, and the death of Augustus in AD 14

Agrippina the Younger's death in AD 59, including the role of Poppaea Sabina, the collapsing boat at Baiae, the murder at the Lucrine villa, Nero's justification to the Senate, and the consequences for Nero's reign

The historical, geographical, social, and political context of Agrippina the Younger, including the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the status of imperial women, and her family background as the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder

Ancient and modern interpretations of Agrippina the Younger, including Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Pliny the Elder, the senatorial tradition, and modern reassessments by Barrett, Ginsburg, Wood, and others

Agrippina the Younger's marriage to Claudius and her role as Augusta, including her political influence, public honours, adoption of Nero, and elimination of rivals

Agrippina the Younger's background and rise to prominence, including her marriages to Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, her exile under Caligula, and her return under Claudius

Agrippina the Younger's role and influence as the mother of Nero, including the accession of AD 54, her early dominance in his reign, the rivalry with Burrus and Seneca, and the loss of influence by AD 55

Agrippina the Younger's political influence and her use of officials, including the imperial freedmen (Pallas, Narcissus), the Praetorian Prefect Burrus, the tutor Seneca, and provincial appointments

Agrippina the Younger's public image and propaganda, including her coinage, statuary, public titles, religious offices, and ideological representation as wife of Claudius and mother of Nero

Agrippina the Younger's role in religion and foreign policy, including the deification of Claudius, the priesthood of the Divine Claudius, the founding of Colonia Agrippinensis, the British and Parthian-Armenian dimensions, and the Bosporan and client kingdom appointments

Hatshepsut's building program, including the mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri, the obelisks at Karnak, the Speos Artemidos, and the political and religious purposes of the construction projects

The death of Hatshepsut, the identification of her mummy (KV 60), and the proscription (damnatio memoriae) by Thutmose III, including the timing, scope, and proposed motivations

Hatshepsut's foreign policy and trade, including the expedition to Punt, the campaigns in Nubia, the management of Sinai mining, and the wider question of whether her reign was militarily peaceful

The historical context and family background of Hatshepsut, including the early 18th Dynasty, the reigns of Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, and Thutmose II, and the political and religious landscape of New Kingdom Egypt

The historiography and modern interpretations of Hatshepsut, including the ancient sources, the early Egyptologists (Naville, Maspero), the 'usurper queen' view, and the modern revisions of Tyldesley, Dorman, and Roehrig

The officials of Hatshepsut's court, including Senenmut, Hapuseneb, Nehesi, Ineni, Useramen, and Senimen, their roles and influence, and their relationship to Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut's religious policy and propaganda, including the cult of Amun-Re, the divine birth narrative, the office of God's Wife of Amun, the Opet and Valley festivals, and the role of religious legitimation

Hatshepsut's rise from Great Royal Wife to regent to pharaoh, including the political and religious basis of her authority, the chronology of her coronation, and the iconographic shift to male royal regalia