View source for Classical antiquity

{{Short description|Age of the ancient Greeks and Romans}}
{{For|the journal|Classical Antiquity (journal){{!}}''Classical Antiquity'' (journal)}}
{{Redirect|Classical world|the journal|Classical World (journal){{!}}''Classical World'' (journal)|other uses|Classical period (disambiguation)}}
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{{Classicism}}
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'''Classical antiquity''', also known as the '''classical era''', '''classical period''', '''classical age''', or simply '''antiquity''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Gruen |first=E. |date=2010 |title=Rethinking the Other in Antiquity |publisher=Princeton University Press |doi=10.1515/9781400836550 |isbn=9781400836550 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400836550}}</ref> is the period of cultural [[History of Europe|European history]] between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD{{Explanatory footnote|The precise end date of this period is disputed, with estimates ranging from the 3rd–8th centuries AD. Traditionally, it is given as the late 5th century AD.|name=Note 1|group=note}} comprising the interwoven civilizations of [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Rome|Rome]] known together as the [[Greco-Roman world]], centered on the [[Mediterranean Basin]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Costa |first=Daniel |title=Classical antiquity {{!}} Dates, Art, Literature, & Map {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Classical-antiquity |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> It is the period during which ancient Greece and Rome flourished and had major influence throughout much of [[Europe]], [[North Africa]], and [[West Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=McLaughlin |first=Raoul |title=The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India |publisher=[[Pen & Sword]] |date=11 September 2014 |isbn=9781473840959}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McLaughlin |first=Raoul |title=The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy & the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia & Han China |publisher=[[Pen & Sword]] |date=11 November 2016|isbn=9781473889811}}</ref> Classical antiquity was succeeded by the period now known as [[late antiquity]].

Conventionally, it is often considered to begin with the earliest recorded [[Homeric Greek|Epic Greek]] poetry of [[Homer]] (8th–7th centuries BC) and end with the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] in 476 AD. Such a wide span of history and territory covers many disparate cultures and periods. ''Classical antiquity'' may also refer to an idealized vision among later people of what was, in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s words, "the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome".<ref>Poe EA (1845). "[[To Helen#Revised 1845 version]]".</ref>

The [[culture]] of the [[Ancient history|ancient]] [[Greeks]], together with some influences from the [[ancient Near East]], was the basis of art,<ref>{{Interlanguage link multi|Helga von Heintze|de|vertical-align=sup}}: Römische Kunst (''Roman art''). In: [[Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt]] (1960): Bildende Kunst I (Archäologie) (''Visual arts&nbsp;I – archaeology''). {{Interlanguage link multi|Das Fischer Lexikon|de|vertical-align=sup}}. [[S. Fischer Verlag]]. p.&nbsp;192. "Bestimmend blieb (...) der italisch-römische Geist, der sich der entlehnten Formen nur bediente. (...) Ohne [die] Begegnung [mit der griechischen Formenwelt, author's note] hätte der italisch-römische Geist sich wohl kaum in künstlerischen Schöpfungen ausdrücken können und wäre nicht über die Ansätze, die wir in den ''Kanopen von Chiusi'' (...), der ''kapitolinischen Wölfin'' (...), dem ''Krieger von Capestrano'' (...) erhalten haben, hinausgekommen. Auch die gleichermaßen realistische wie unkünstlerische Auffassung der ''Porträts'' im 2. und 1. J[ahr]h[undert] v[or] Chr[istus] konnte sich nur unter dem Einfluß griechischer Formen ändern." (''"Determinant remained the Italic-Roman spirit, that just availed itself of the borrowed forms. (...) Without having come across [the world of the Greek forms], the Italic–Roman spirit would hardly have been able to express itself in works of art and would not have got beyond the starts that are preserved in the canopic jars of Chiusi, the Capitoline Wolf, the Warrior of Capestrano. Also the likewise realistic and inartistic conception and production of the portraits in the second and the first centuries&nbsp;BC could only change under the influence of Greek forms."'')</ref> philosophy, society, and education in the Mediterranean and Near East until the [[Roman Empire|Roman imperial period]]. The Romans preserved, imitated, and [[Campaign history of the Roman military|spread]] this culture throughout Europe, until they were able to compete with it.<ref>[[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie|Der Große Brockhaus]]. 1. vol.: A-Beo. Eberhard Brockhaus, Wiesbaden 1953, p.&nbsp;315. "Ihre dankbarsten und verständnisvollsten Schüler aber fand die hellenistische Kultur in den Römern; sie wurden Mäzene, Nachahmer und schließlich Konkurrenten, indem sie die eigene Sprache wetteifernd neben die griechische setzten: so wurde die antike Kultur zweisprachig, griechisch und lateinisch. Das System dieser griechisch-hellenistisch-römischen Kultur, das sich in der römischen Kaiserzeit abschließend gestaltete, enthielt, neben Elementen des Orients, die griechische Wissenschaft und Philosophie, Dichtung, Geschichtsschreibung, Rhetorik und bildende Kunst." (''"The Hellenistic culture but found its most thankful and its most understanding disciples in the Romans; they became patrons, imitators, and finally rivals, when they competitively set the own language beside the Greek: thus, the antique culture became bilingual, Greek and Latin. The system of this Greco-Latin culture, that assumed its definitive shape in the Roman imperial period, contained, amongst elements of the Orient, the Greek science and philosophy, poetry, historiography, rhetoric and visual arts."'')</ref><ref>[[Veit Valentin]]: Weltgeschichte – Völker, Männer, Ideen (''History of the world – peoples, men, ideas''). {{Interlanguage link multi|Allert de Lange|de|3=Allert de Lange Verlag|vertical-align=sup}}, Amsterdam 1939, p.&nbsp;113. "Es ist ein merkwürdiges Schauspiel&nbsp;– dieser Kampf eines bewussten Römertums gegen die geriebene Gewandtheit des Hellenismus: der römische Geschmack wehrt sich und verbohrt sich trotzig in sich selbst, aber es fällt ihm nicht genug ein, er kann nicht über seine Grenzen weg; was die Griechen bieten, hat soviel Reiz und Bequemlichkeit. In der bildenden Kunst und in der Philosophie gab das Römertum zuerst den Kampf um seine Selbständigkeit auf&nbsp;– Bilden um des Bildes willen, Forschen und Grübeln, theoretische Wahrheitssuche und Spekulation lagen ihm durchaus nicht." (''"It is a strange spectacle: this fight of a conscious Roman striving against the wily ingenuity of Hellenism. The Roman taste offers resistance, defiantly goes mad about itself, but there does not come enough into its mind, it is not able to overcome its limits; there is so much charm and so much comfort in what the Greeks afford. In visual arts and philosophy, Romanism first abandoned the struggle for its independence&nbsp;– forming for the sake of the form, poring and investigation, theoretical speculation and hunt for truth were by no means in its line."'')</ref> This Greco-Roman cultural foundation has been immensely influential on the language, politics, law, educational systems, [[philosophy]], science, warfare, literature, historiography, ethics, rhetoric, art and architecture of both the [[Western world|Western]], and through it, the modern world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Traces of Ancient Rome in the Modern World |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/traces-ancient-rome-modern-world |access-date=30 July 2023 |website=education.nationalgeographic.org |language=en}}</ref>

Surviving fragments of classical culture helped produce a revival beginning during the 14th century which later came to be known as the [[Renaissance]], and various [[Neoclassicism|neo-classical]] revivals occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |date=1 June 2023 |title=Neoclassical architecture {{!}} Definition, Characteristics, Examples, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Neoclassical-architecture |access-date=30 July 2023 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Classical / Classical Revival / Neo-Classical: an architectural style guide |url=https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/classical-classical-revival-neo-classical |access-date=30 July 2023 |website=architecture.com}}</ref>

==History==
{{Image frame|content={{Further|Timeline of classical antiquity|l1=Timeline of classical antiquity}}{{Compact timeline of classical antiquity}}|caption=Compact timeline of classical antiquity.|align=right}}

===Archaic period (c. 8th to c. 6th centuries BC)===
{{Further|Iron Age Europe}}

The earliest period of classical antiquity occurs during a time of gradual resurgence of [[historical]] sources after the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]]. The 8th and 7th centuries&nbsp;BC are still largely [[protohistorical]], with the earliest [[history of the Greek alphabet|Greek alphabetic]] inscriptions appearing during the first half of the 8th century. The legendary poet [[Homer]] is usually assumed to have lived during the 8th or 7th century BC, and his lifetime is often considered as the beginning of classical antiquity. During the same period is the [[traditional]] date for the establishment of the [[Ancient Olympic Games]], in 776&nbsp;BC.

====Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Assyrians====
{{Main|Phoenicia|Ancient Carthage|Ancient history of Cyprus}}
[[File:Griechischen und phönizischen Kolonien.jpg|thumb|265px|Map of [[Phoenicia]]n (in yellow) and [[Second Greek colonisation|Greek colonies]] (in red) about 8th to 6th century BC.]]

The Phoenicians originally expanded from [[port]]s in [[Canaan]], by the 8th century dominating trade in the [[Mediterranean]]. [[Carthage]] was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had established strongholds in [[Sicily]], Italy and [[Sardinia]], which created conflicts of interest with [[Etruria]]. A [[stele]] found in [[Kition]], [[Cyprus]],  commemorates the victory of King [[Sargon II]] in 709 BC over the seven kings of the island, marking an important part of the transfer of Cyprus from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyrian]] rule to the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=291290&partId=1 |title=The Esarhaddon Prism / Library of Ashurbanipal |website=British Museum }}</ref><ref>Yon, M., Malbran-Labat, F. 1995: "La stèle de Sargon II à Chypre", in A. Caubet (ed.), Khorsabad, le Palais de Sargon II, Roi d'Assyrie, Paris, 159–179.</ref><ref>Radner, K. 2010: "The Stele of Sargon II of Assyria at Kition: A focus for an emerging Cypriot identity?", in R. Rollinger, B. Gufler, M. Lang, I. Madreiter (eds), Interkulturalität in der Alten Welt: Vorderasien, Hellas, Ägypten und die vielfältigen Ebenen des Kontakts, Wiesbaden, 429–449.</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/countries/cyprus/
|title=The Cypriot rulers as client kings of the Assyrian empire
|date=5 November 2012
|work=The many kingdoms of Cyprus
|access-date=21 January 2016
}}</ref>

====Greece====
{{Main|Archaic Greece}}

The Archaic period followed the [[Greek Dark Ages]], and saw significant advancements in [[political theory]], and the beginnings of [[democracy]], [[philosophy]], [[theatre]], [[poetry]], as well as the revitalization of the written language (which had been lost during the Dark Ages).

In pottery, the Archaic period sees the development of the [[Orientalizing Period|Orientalizing style]], which signals a shift from the [[geometric style]] of the later Dark Ages and the accumulation of influences derived from Egypt, [[Phoenicia]] and [[Syria]].

Pottery styles associated with the later part of the Archaic age are the [[black-figure pottery]], which originated in [[Corinth]] during the 7th-century BC and its successor, the [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure style]], developed by the [[Andokides Painter]] in about 530&nbsp;BC.

====Greek colonies====
{{Excerpt|Greek colonisation}}

====Iron Age Italy====
[[File:Etruscan civilization map.png|thumb|300px|[[Etruscan civilization]] in north of Italy, 800 BC.]]

The [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] had established political control in the region by the late 7th-century BC, forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late 6th-century BC, and at this time, the [[Italic peoples|Italic]] tribes reinvented their government by creating [[republic]]s, with greater restraints on the ability of individual rulers to exercise power.<ref>''Ancient Rome and the Roman Empire'' by Michael Kerrigan. Dorling Kindersley, London: 2001. {{ISBN|0-7894-8153-7}}. p. 12.</ref>

====Roman kingdom====
{{Main|Roman Kingdom}}

According to legend, [[Founding of Rome|Rome was founded]] on 21 April 753 BC by twin descendants of the [[Troy|Trojan]] prince [[Aeneas]], [[Romulus and Remus]].<ref>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9JJdqJ8YGH8C&pg=PA5|last1=Adkins|first1= Lesley |last2= Adkins|first2 = Roy|date = 1998| page= 3|title = Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome|publisher = Oxford University Press|location = New York|isbn = 978-0195123326}}</ref> As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the [[Sabines]] to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, resulting in the integration of Latins and Sabines.<ref>[http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_3.htm Myths and Legends – Rome, the Wolf, and Mars] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529053414/http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/mythslegends_3.htm |date=29 May 2007 }}. Accessed 8 March 2007.</ref>

Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the [[Roman Forum]] in the mid-8th century BC, though settlements on the [[Palatine Hill]] may date back to the 10th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|last = Matyszak|first = Philip|date = 2003| page= 19|title = Chronicle of the Roman Republic: The Rulers of Ancient Rome from Romulus to Augustus|publisher = Thames & Hudson|isbn = 978-0500051214}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Duiker|first1=William|last2=Spielvogel|first2=Jackson|title=World History|date=2001|publisher=Wadsworth|isbn=978-0-534-57168-9|url=https://archive.org/details/worldhistoryto1500duik/page/129 |url-access=registration |page=129|edition=Third}}</ref>

According to legend, the seventh and final king of Rome was [[Tarquinius Superbus]]. As the son of [[Tarquinius Priscus]] and the son-in-law of [[Servius Tullius]], Superbus was of Etruscan birth. It was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the [[Tarpeian Rock]], enraging the people of Rome. The people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of [[Lucretia]], a patrician Roman, by his own son. Lucretia's kinsman, [[Lucius Junius Brutus]] (ancestor to [[Marcus Brutus]]), summoned the Senate and had Superbus and the monarchy expelled from Rome in 510 BC. After Superbus' expulsion, the Senate in 509 BC voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a [[Roman Republic|republican government]].

===Classical Greece (5th to 4th centuries&nbsp;BC)===
{{Main|Classical Greece}}
[[File:Map athenian empire 431 BC-en.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Delian League ("Athenian Empire"), just before the [[Peloponnesian War]] in 431&nbsp;BC.]]

The classical period of ancient Greece corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries&nbsp;BC, in particular, from the end of the [[tyrant#Athens|Athenian tyranny]] in 510&nbsp;BC to the [[death of Alexander the Great]] in 323&nbsp;BC. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant [[Hippias (son of Pisistratus)|Hippias]], son of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Peisistratos]]. [[Cleomenes&nbsp;I]], king of Sparta, established a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by [[Isagoras]].

The [[Greco-Persian Wars]] (499–449&nbsp;BC), concluded by the [[Peace of Callias]] ended with not only the liberation of Greece, [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]], [[Thrace]], and [[Ionia]] from [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian rule]], but also with the dominance of [[Athens]] in the [[Delian League]], which resulted in conflict with [[Sparta]] and the [[Peloponnesian League]], resulting in the [[Peloponnesian War]] (431–404&nbsp;BC), ending with a Spartan victory.

Greece began the 4th century with [[Spartan hegemony]], but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers dismissed [[Lysander]] from office, and Sparta lost its naval supremacy. [[Athens]], [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] and [[Corinth]], the latter two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the [[Corinthian War]], which ended inconclusively in 387&nbsp;BC. Later, in 371&nbsp;BC, the Theban generals [[Epaminondas]] and [[Pelopidas]] won a victory at the [[Battle of Leuctra]]. The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of [[Theban hegemony]]. Thebes sought to maintain its dominance until it was finally ended by the increasing power of [[Macedon]] in 346 BC.

During the reign of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip&nbsp;II]], (359–336&nbsp;BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the [[Paeonians]], the [[Thracians]] and the [[Illyrians]]. Philip's son, [[Alexander the Great]], (356–323&nbsp;BC) managed to briefly extend [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]n power not only over the central Greek city-states but also to the [[Persian Empire]], including [[Egypt]] and lands as far east as the fringes of [[India]]. The classical Greek period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander in 323&nbsp;BC and the fragmentation of his empire, which was at this time divided among the [[Diadochi]].

===Hellenistic period (323–146&nbsp;BC)===
{{Main|Hellenistic period}}

Greece began the Hellenistic period with the increasing power of [[Macedon]] and the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]]. [[Koine Greek|Greek]] became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' far beyond Greece itself, and Hellenistic culture interacted with the cultures of [[Seleucid Empire|Persia]], the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah]], [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Central Asia]] and [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Egypt]]. Significant advances were made in the sciences ([[Ancient Greek geography|geography]], [[Greek astronomy|astronomy]], [[Greek mathematics|mathematics]], etc.), notably with the [[Peripatetic school|followers]] of [[Aristotle]] ([[Aristotelianism]]).

The Hellenistic period ended with the increase of the [[Roman Republic]] to a super-regional power during the 2nd century&nbsp;BC and the Roman conquest of Greece in 146&nbsp;BC.

===Roman Republic (5th to 1st centuries&nbsp;BC)===
{{Main|Roman Republic}}
[[File:Extent of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between 218 BC and 117 AD.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The extent of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in 218 BC (dark red), 133&nbsp;BC (light red), 44&nbsp;BC (orange), 14&nbsp;AD (yellow), after 14&nbsp;AD (green), and maximum extension under Trajan 117 (light green).]]

The [[Roman Republic|Republican period]] of Ancient Rome began with the overthrow of the [[Roman Kingdom|Monarchy]] c.&nbsp;509&nbsp;BC and lasted more than 450 years until its [[subversion (politics)|subversion]] through a series of [[Roman Republican civil wars|civil wars]], into the [[Principate]] form of government and the Imperial period. During the half millennium of the Republic, Rome increased from a regional power of the [[Latium]] to the dominant force in Italy and beyond. The unification of Italy by the Romans was a gradual process, brought about by a series of conflicts of the 4th and 3rd centuries, the [[Samnite Wars]], [[Latin War]], and [[Pyrrhic War]]. Roman victory in the [[Punic Wars]] and [[Macedonian Wars]] established Rome as a super-regional power by the 2nd century&nbsp;BC, followed by the acquisition of [[Roman Greece|Greece]] and [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia Minor]]. This tremendous increase of power was accompanied by economic instability and social unrest, resulting in the [[Second Catilinarian conspiracy|Catiline conspiracy]], the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]] and the [[First Triumvirate]], and finally the transformation to the Roman Empire during the latter half of the 1st century&nbsp;BC.

=== Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th century&nbsp;AD) ===
{{Main|Roman Empire}}
[[File:RomanEmpire 117.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|left|The extent of the Roman Empire under Trajan, AD&nbsp;117.]]

The precise end of the Republic is disputed by modern historians;{{NoteTag|The precise event which signaled the transition of the Roman Republic into the [[Roman Empire]] is a matter of interpretation. Historians have proposed the appointment of [[Julius Caesar]] as [[perpetual dictator]] (February 44&nbsp;BC), the [[Battle of Actium]] (2&nbsp;September 31&nbsp;BC), and the [[Roman Senate]]'s grant of [[Augustus|Octavian]]'s extraordinary powers by the [[Augustus#First settlement|first settlement]] (16&nbsp;January&nbsp; 27&nbsp;BC), as candidates for the defining [[Epoch|event]].}} Roman citizens of the time did not recognize that the Republic had ceased to exist. The early [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian]] [[Roman Emperor|Emperors]] maintained that the ''[[res publica]]'' still existed, albeit protected by their extraordinary powers, and would eventually return to its earlier Republican form. The Roman state continued to term itself a ''res publica'' as long as it continued to use Latin as its official language.

Rome acquired [[Imperialism|imperial]] character ''de facto'' from the 130s&nbsp;BC with the acquisition of [[Cisalpine Gaul]], [[Illyria]], [[Roman Greece|Greece]] and [[Hispania]], and definitely with the addition of [[Iudaea Province|Iudaea]], [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia Minor]] and [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]] during the 1st century&nbsp;BC. At the time of the empire's maximal extension during the reign of [[Trajan]] (AD&nbsp;117), Rome controlled the entire [[Mediterranean]] as well as Gaul, parts of [[Germania]] and [[Roman Britain|Britannia]], the [[Balkans]], [[Dacia]], Asia Minor, the [[Caucasus]], and [[Mesopotamia]].

Culturally, the Roman Empire was significantly [[Hellenization|Hellenized]], but also incorporated syncretic "eastern" traditions, such as [[Mithraism]], [[Gnosticism]], and most notably [[Origins of Christianity|Christianity]].

Classical Rome had vast differences within their family life compared to the Greeks. Fathers had great power over their children, and husbands over their wives. In fact, the word family, ''familia'' in Latin, actually referred to those who were subject to the authority of a male head of household. This included non-related members such as slaves and servants. By marriage, both men and women shared property. Divorce was allowed first during the first century BC and could be done by either man or woman.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wiesner-Hanks|first1=Merry E.|title=Gender in History Global Perspectives|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-8995-8|edition=2nd|date=6 July 2010}}</ref>

===Late antiquity (4th to 6th centuries&nbsp;AD)===
{{Main|Late antiquity|Migration period|Fall of the Western Roman Empire}}
[[File:Roman Empires 476AD.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Western Roman Empire|Western]] and [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern]] [[Roman Empire]]s by 476.]]

The Roman Empire began to weaken as a result of the [[crisis of the third century]]. During [[Late antiquity]] [[Early Christianity|Christianity]] became increasingly popular, finally ousting the [[Roman imperial cult]] with the [[Theodosian decrees]] of&nbsp;393. Successive invasions of [[Germanic tribes]] finalized the
[[Decline of the Roman Empire|weakening of the Western Roman Empire]] during the 5th century, while the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] persisted throughout the [[Middle Ages]], in a state called Romania by its citizens, and designated the [[Byzantine Empire]] by later historians. Hellenistic philosophy was succeeded by continued development of [[Platonism]] and [[Epicureanism]], with Neoplatonism in due course influencing the [[Christian theology|theology]] of the Christian [[Church Fathers]].

Many writers have attempted to name a specific date for the symbolic "end" of antiquity, with the most prominent dates being the deposing of the last [[Western Roman Emperor]] in 476,<ref>Clare, I. S. (1906). Library of universal history: containing a record of the human race from the earliest historical period to the present time; embracing a general survey of the progress of mankind in national and social life, civil government, religion, literature, science and art. New York: Union Book. p. 1519 (cf., Ancient history, as we have already seen, ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire; [...])</ref><ref>United Center for Research and Training in History. (1973). Bulgarian historical review. Sofia: Pub. House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]. p. 43. (cf. ... in the history of Europe, which marks both the end of ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages, is the fall of the Western Roman Empire.)</ref> the closing of the last [[Platonic Academy]] in Athens by the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman emperor]] [[Justinian&nbsp;I]] in&nbsp;529,<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Greek Literature |last=Hadas |first=Moses |year=1950 |publisher= Columbia University Press |isbn= 0-231-01767-7 |page= 273 of 331 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dOht3609JOMC&q=%22end+of+antiquity%22&pg=PA273}}</ref> and the [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|conquest of much of the Mediterranean]] by the new [[Muslim]] faith from 634 to 718.<ref name=Pirenne>[[Henri Pirenne]] (1937). [https://archive.org/details/MohammedAndChalemagne ''Mohammed and Charlemagne''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408092705/https://archive.org/details/MohammedAndChalemagne |date=8 April 2015 }} English translation by [[Bernard Miall]], 1939. From [[Internet Archive]]. The thesis was originally discussed in an article published in ''[[Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire]]'' 1 (1922), pp. 77–86.</ref> These Muslim conquests, of Syria (637), Egypt (639), Cyprus (654), North Africa (665), Hispania (718), Southern Gaul (720), Crete (820), Sicily (827), Malta (870), as well as the sieges of the Eastern Roman capital ([[Siege of Constantinople (674–78)|first in 674–78]] and then in [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|717–18]]) severed the economic, cultural, and political links that had traditionally united the classical cultures around the Mediterranean, ending antiquity (see [[Pirenne Thesis]]).<ref name=Pirenne/>

[[File:Byzantiumby650AD.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|The Byzantine Empire in 650 after the [[Early Muslim conquests|Arabs conquered]] the provinces of Syria and Egypt. At the same time [[early Slavs]] settled in the Balkans.]]

The original Roman Senate continued to express decrees into the late 6th century, and the last Eastern Roman emperor to use [[Latin]] as the language of his court in Constantinople was emperor [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]], who reigned until 602. The overthrow of Maurice by his mutinying Danube army commanded by [[Phocas]] resulted in the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and the weakening of Balkan and Greek urban culture (resulting in the flight of Balkan Latin speakers to the mountains, see [[Origin of the Romanians]]), and also provoked the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]] in which all the great eastern cities except Constantinople were lost. The resulting turmoil did not end until the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] of the 7th century finalized the irreversible loss of all the largest Eastern Roman imperial cities besides the capital itself. The emperor [[Heraclius]] in [[Constantinople]], who reigned during this period, conducted his court in Greek, not Latin, though Greek had always been an administrative language of the eastern Roman regions. Eastern-Western associations weakened with the ending of the [[Byzantine Papacy]].

The Eastern Roman empire's capital city [[Constantinople]] remained the only unconquered large urban site of the original Roman empire, as well as being the largest city in Europe. Yet many classical books, sculptures, and technologies survived there along with classical Roman cuisine and scholarly traditions, well into the Middle Ages, when much of it was "rediscovered" by visiting Western crusaders. Indeed, the inhabitants of Constantinople continued to refer to themselves as Romans, as did their eventual conquerors in 1453, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] (see [[Romaioi]] and [[Rûm]].) The classical scholarship and culture that was still preserved in Constantinople were brought by refugees fleeing its conquest in 1453 and helped to begin the [[Renaissance]] (see [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance]]).

Ultimately, it was a slow, complex, and graduated change of the socio-economic structure in [[European history]] that resulted in the changeover between classical antiquity and medieval society and no specific date can truly exemplify that.

== Political revivalism ==
{{Further|Carolingian Renaissance|Ottonian Renaissance|Renaissance|Classicism|Legacy of the Roman Empire}}

In politics, the late Roman conception of the Empire as a universal state, commanded by one supreme divinely appointed ruler, united with Christianity as a universal religion likewise headed by a supreme [[patriarch]], proved very influential, even after the disappearance of imperial authority in the west. This tendency reached its maximum when [[Charlemagne]] was [[Coronation|crowned]] "Roman Emperor" in the year 800, an act which resulted in the formation of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The notion that an [[emperor]] is a [[monarch]] who outranks a king dates from this period. In this political ideal, there would always be a Roman Empire, a state the jurisdiction of which extended through the entire civilized western world.

That model continued to exist in Constantinople for the entirety of the Middle Ages, where the [[Byzantine Emperor]] was considered the sovereign of the entire Christian world. The [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]] was the Empire's highest-ranked cleric, but even he was subordinate to the emperor, who was "God's Vicegerent on Earth". The Greek-speaking Byzantines and their descendants continued to call themselves "[[Romioi]]" until the creation of a new Greek state in 1832.

After the [[fall of Constantinople|capture of Constantinople]] in 1453, the Russian [[Czar of Russia|Czar]]s (a title derived from ''Caesar)'' claimed the Byzantine legacy as the champion of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]]; [[Moscow]] was described as the "[[Third Rome]]", and the Czars ruled as divinely appointed Emperors into the 20th century.

Despite the fact that the Western Roman secular authority disappeared entirely in Europe, it still left traces. The [[Papacy]] and the [[Catholic Church]] in particular maintained Latin language, culture, and literacy for centuries; to this day the popes are termed ''[[Pontifex Maximus]]'' which during the classical period was a title belonging to the emperor, and the ideal of [[Christendom]] continued the legacy of a united European civilization even after its political unity had ended.

The political idea of an Emperor in the West to match the Emperor in the East continued after the Western Roman Empire's collapse; it was revived by the coronation of [[Charlemagne]] in&nbsp;800; the self-described [[Holy Roman Empire]] ruled central Europe until 1806.

The [[Renaissance]] idea that the classical Roman virtues had been lost as a result of medievalism was especially powerful in European politics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Reverence for Roman republicanism was strong among the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] and the Latin American revolutionaries; the Americans described their new government as a ''republic'' (from ''[[res publica]]'') and gave it a ''Senate'' and a ''President'' (another Latin term), rather than use available English terms like ''commonwealth'' or ''parliament''.

Similarly in [[French Revolution|Revolutionary]] and [[First French Empire|Napoleonic]] France, republicanism and Roman martial virtues were promoted by the state, as can be seen in the architecture of the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]], the [[Arc de Triomphe]], and the paintings of [[Jacques-Louis David]]. During the revolution, France transitioned from kingdom to republic to dictatorship to Empire (complete with Imperial Eagles) that the Romans had experienced centuries earlier.

== Cultural legacy ==
{{Main|Classicism|Classical studies}}
[[File:Sanzio 01 cropped.png|thumb|250px|[[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] walking and disputing. Detail from [[Raphael]]'s ''[[The School of Athens]]'' (1509–1511).]]

''Classical antiquity'' is a general term for a long period of cultural [[history]]. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many rather disparate cultures and periods. "Classical antiquity" often refers to an idealized vision of later people, of what was, in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s words, "the glory that was [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], the grandeur that was [[Ancient Rome|Rome]]!" During the 18th and 19th centuries AD, reverence for classical antiquity was much greater in [[Europe]] and the [[United States]] than it is now. Respect for the ancient people of Greece and Rome affected [[politics]], [[philosophy]], [[sculpture]], [[literature]], [[theatre]], [[education]], [[architecture]], and [[History of sex|sexuality]].

[[Epic poetry]] in [[Latin]] continued to be written and circulated well into the 19th century. [[John Milton]] and even [[Arthur Rimbaud]] received their first poetic educations in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, [[pastoral]] verse, and the frequent use of characters and themes from [[Greek mythology]] affected Western literature greatly. In architecture, there have been several [[Greek Revival]]s, which seem more inspired in retrospect by Roman architecture than Greek. [[Washington, DC]] has many large [[marble]] buildings with façades made to look like [[Greek temple]]s, with columns constructed in the [[classical orders]] of architecture.

The philosophy of St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] was derived largely from that of [[Aristotle]], despite the intervening change in [[religion]] from [[Hellenistic religion|Hellenic Polytheism]] to [[Christianity]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dartmouthapologia.org/articles/show/125 |title=Reason and Faith: The Thought of Thomas AquinasOxford |last=Blair |first= Peter |website=The Dartmouth Apologia |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130913011656/http://www.dartmouthapologia.org/articles/show/125 |archive-date=13 September 2013 |access-date=18 December 2013}}</ref> Greek and Roman authorities such as [[Hippocrates]] and [[Galen]] formed the basis of the practice of [[medicine]] even longer than Greek thought prevailed in philosophy. In the [[France|French]] [[theater]], playwrights such as [[Molière]] and [[Jean Racine|Racine]] wrote plays on mythological or classical historical subjects and subjected them to the strict rules of the [[classical unities]] derived from Aristotle's ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]''. The desire to [[dance]] in a manner allegedly similar to the manner of the ancient Greeks caused [[Isadora Duncan]] to create her brand of [[ballet]].

==Timeline==
{{Further|Timeline of classical antiquity}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|History|Ancient Greece|Ancient Rome}}
* [[Classical architecture]]
* [[Classical tradition]]
* [[Classics]] (Classical education)
* [[Outline of classical studies]]
** [[Outline of ancient Egypt]]
** [[Outline of ancient Greece]]
** [[Outline of ancient Rome]]
* [[Post-classical history]] (the next period)

; Regions during classical antiquity
* [[Hellenistic Greece]]
* [[History of the Balkans]]
* [[Roman Dacia]]
* [[Troy]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|35em}}

=== General and cited references ===
{{refbegin}}
* Grinin L. E. Early State in the Classical World: Statehood and Ancient [[Democracy]]. In Grinin L. E. et al. (eds.) Hierarchy and Power in the [[History]] of civilizations: Ancient and Medieval Cultures (pp. 31–84). Moscow: URSS, 2008.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110823155144/http://old.uchitel-izd.ru/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=183&Itemid=58 Early State in the Classical World]
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Classical antiquity |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. 2004. ''The Romans: From village to empire''. New York and Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press
* Bugh, Glenn. R., ed. 2006. ''The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic world''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Burkert, Walter. 1992. ''The Orientalizing revolution: The Near Eastern influence on Greek culture in the early Archaic age''. Translated by Margaret E. Pinder and Walter Burkert. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
* Costa, Daniel, ''Classical Antiquity''. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Classical-antiquity
* Erskine, Andrew, ed. 2003. ''A companion to the Hellenistic world''. Malden, MA, and Oxford: Blackwell.
* Flower, Harriet I. 2004. ''The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Green, Peter. 1990. ''Alexander to Actium: The historical evolution of the Hellenistic age''. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
* Hornblower, Simon. 1983. ''The Greek world 479–323 BC''. London and New York: Methuen.
* Kallendorf, Craig W., ed. 2007. ''A Companion to the Classical Tradition''. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
* Kinzl, Konrad, ed. 2006. ''A Companion to the Classical Greek world''. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell.
* Murray, Oswyn. 1993. ''Early Greece''. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
* Potter, David S. 2006. ''A companion to the Roman Empire''. Malden, MA: Blackwell
* Rhodes, Peter J. 2006. ''A history of the Classical Greek world: 478–323 BC''. Blackwell History of the Ancient World. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
* Rosenstein, Nathan S., and Robert Morstein-Marx, eds. 2006. ''A companion to the Roman Republic''. Oxford: Blackwell.
* Shapiro, H. Alan, ed. 2007. ''The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece''. Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* Shipley, Graham. 2000. ''The Greek world after Alexander 323–30 BC''. London: Routledge.
* Walbank, Frank W. 1993. ''The Hellenistic World''. Revised ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
{{Refend}}

==External links==


{{Classical antiquity}}
{{Timeline of classical antiquity}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Ancient Rome topics}}
{{Ancient Greek Wars}}
{{Ancient Roman Wars}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{Western culture}}
{{Authority control}}

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