Europe’s Classical Age

Europe’s Classical Age was a long period of history, from 500 BCE – 500 CE, in which culture was centered around the Mediterranean, and the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.

• Meet the Gladiators

  Some regarded gladiators as the Roman equivalent of rock stars. But they were also reviled, tainted by the blood they spilled. Escape was typically not an option: the only way out was death, in the ring or outside it.

• Art as Collateral: Detroit Institute of Arts Follows Plundering Past

  Creditors are circling in Detroit – will the city consider selling the DIA collection as collateral, following in the worldwide history of plundered art?

• Spartacus: Proto-Communist and Hollywood Hero?

  Portrayals of Spartacus in Howard Fast’s book and Stanley Kubrick’s movie as a people’s hero differ from historical accounts of the Roman slave revolt.