The surviving fragments of the Coligny Calendar were discovered in 1897, at a vineyard in the vicinity of Lyons, in the territory of the ancient Ambarri tribe. The fragments apparently formed part of a metal hoard, and were discovered alongside a bronze statue of Mars which has been dated to between 50 and 150 CE. The calendar fragments are bronze plate, inscribed with a Gaulish language text written in Latin characters. The...

Aristophanes of Kydathenaion

Rescued from the imminent obscurity of the sadly terminal Ancient Biography Thread!

(All dates BCE)

Aristophanes, son of Philippus, of Kydathenaion is remembered today as the “Father of Comedy”, since his satirical plays are the earliest surviving works of comic drama in history. Eleven of his acerbic, obscene, politically outspoken plays survive, covering some of the most turbulent and fascinating years in Athenian history,...

A while ago, I blogged on the importance of recognising the political aspects of Greek tragedy, of not just viewing the plays as family melodramas but understanding the specific political circumstances each play addresses. I gave a few examples of how our understanding of individual Greek plays can be enriched by making connections between the text and contemporary political events. Well, I've just stumbled across another excellent example of this, an example I particularly like (not least because...

From the very first time that I picked up my first history book I found a story that from almost the first sentence intrigued me. That was the story of the Sea peoples. I have to say that this subject in ancient history excites me the same way today. It is pathetic really, where most kids where dreaming of being astronauts or deep sea divers or doctors, I was dreaming of solving the mystery of the sea peoples. That is just it though, they are one of the few real historical mysteries left. No one...

The Hindu Warriors..