Empress Theodora

Detail of the “Saffron Gatherers” 3,675-year-old fresco from Akrotiri, the Bronze Age city of Santorini entombed by volcanic ash.

Bust of Agrippina the Elder. First half of the 1st century CE.

... mosaic ...

A fourth-century homeowner commissioned this simple mosaic, listing inside a laurel wreath all that mattered to them:

‘Health, Life, Joy, Peace, Good Cheer, Hope!’

The delicate beauty of ancient Roman frescoes.

Alexander and Hephaestion in Film/TV throughout the years.

Alexander the Great (Robert Rossen, 1956)

Adventure Story (Rudolph Cartier, 1961)

Alexander (Oliver Stone, 2004)

Young Alexander the Great (Jalal Merhi, 2010)

Alexander, the Great (Terra X, 2014)

Ancient Empires (History Channel, 2023)

The Pantheon

This Istanbul house was built in four historical eras

First floor: columns from Eastern Roman (Byzantine) era.

Second floor: archs from "again" Eastern Roman era.

Third floor: stonewalls from Ottoman Empire era.

Here is something wild from the Old Kingdom:

Researchers just published a DNA study of a body buried in Nuwayrat (Egypt) around 2800 BCE. Turns out this man is 80 % genetically Egyptian, but the other 20 % traces back to the eastern Fertile Crescent, including Mesopotamia and nearby regions.

The reason this is so unexpected is that up until now, we thought Egypt and Mesopotamia were only linked through trading routes. But this result could actually point to human mobility, long-distance family ties, or migration patterns.

This is the first whole-genome analysis of someone from the Old Kingdom, and it’s essentially saying: 'Hey, your idea of how much people moved around 5,000 years ago?' Too small. Think bigger.