Before I begin, I want to make three general points about the study of history and how civilizations develop. Three Lenses for Studying History The first point is this: every culture has a mythology. Mythology is the collective worldview of the people that lets them understand the reality around them.

The Great Pyramid was built around 2500 BC—that's 4,500 years ago—by a pharaoh named Khufu. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and is the only one that's still standing. From 2500 BC until 1400 CE, a period of

The Romans and the Greeks were very different civilizations. The Greeks were scattered across the Aegean and the Mediterranean, with colonies all over the place. They were primarily focused on maritime trade, especially with the great empires of the Near East: Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia. Because the Greeks had colonies

In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar has just been assassinated. There were 60 senators involved in the conspiracy, but the three main conspirators were Marcus Brutus, considered the leader; Cassius; and Decimus Brutus. After they assassinated Caesar, Rome was in turmoil. Mark Antony, who was currently the consul, or the head

Julius Caesar is considered the greatest historical figure of all time; he's also one of the most controversial. Today, we're going to look at three questions about his life and provide an argument about it. The first question we're going to look at is:

Rome was traditionally founded in the year 753 BC, but we don't know for sure; that's just what tradition and the Romans themselves believed. Around this time, Rome was a small, insignificant kingdom in the middle of Italy. It was started on the Tiber River in

Aristotle is a paradox. He is one of the most mysterious figures in world history. He's one of the most famous, but he's one of the most mysterious. He's a paradox for three reasons. * The First Paradox: He is considered to be one of

We can understand the dynamic between Philip II and his son Alexander through the lens of a father-son model. The father is the founder and the builder of a great organization. As such, he will have three particular characteristics unique to him: * First, he will exercise really good judgment

Greek culture spread around the world, came to dominate the Western World, and became the basis of Western Civilization. Normally, Westerners understood this process as one of diffusion, meaning that Greek civilization was the best, and so everyone wanted access to it. Historically, that's not true. What happened

The Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were prophets of democracy. They saw themselves as teachers who taught Athenians how to practice democracy. They argued for three major benefits of this system: 1. Kings are bad. Kings have hubris, and hubris creates all sorts of problems. In the play Antigone