Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500

Ancient World

The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.

Venus de Milo (c. 150 BC): The Hellenistic Aphrodite of Melos

The statue was bought by France, presented to Louis XVIII and placed in the Louvre in 1821, where it became one of the most famous ancient sculptures.

c. 150 BC · 6 min read

Ancient World

Antikythera Mechanism: The Ancient Greek Astronomical Computer

The oldest known geared device, it showed that Hellenistic Greeks could model the movements of the Sun, Moon and probably the planets mechanically.

c. 150-100 BC · 8 min read

Ancient World

Hathigumpha Inscription: King Kharavela of Kalinga

The seventeen-line Prakrit text preserved a year-by-year record of Kharavela's reign and remains the main source for Kalinga after the Mauryas.

c. 2nd–1st c. BC · 5 min read

Ancient World

Gundestrup Cauldron: The Silver Vessel of Celtic Gods

The cauldron became the largest known piece of European Iron Age silverwork and a key, though disputed, source for Celtic religious imagery.

c. 150 BC - AD 1 · 4 min read

Ancient World

Bharhut Stupa: Early Buddhist Reliefs of Ancient India

The carved railings and gateway became one of the earliest and most important bodies of Buddhist narrative sculpture, now mostly in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.

c. 150 BC · 4 min read

Ancient World

Third Punic War (149-146 BC): The Destruction of Carthage

Rome captured and destroyed Carthage, enslaved its survivors and turned its territory into the province of Africa.

149-146 BC · 8 min read

Ancient World

Sack of Corinth (146 BC): Rome Destroys the Achaean League

Corinth was sacked and largely destroyed, the Achaean League was dissolved and southern Greece came under Roman control.

146 BC · 6 min read

Ancient World

Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BC): Expansion of the Han Empire

Han China doubled in extent, defeated the Xiongnu, opened contacts with Central Asia and adopted Confucian learning as state orthodoxy, at heavy financial and human cost.

141-87 BC · 8 min read

Ancient World

Zhang Qian's Mission to the West and the Origins of the Silk Road

The mission failed to win an alliance with the Yuezhi, but Zhang Qian's reports led Han China to open regular diplomatic and trade contacts with Central Asia.

138-125 BC · 8 min read