ancient world
Egypt, Greece, Rome
The ancient world refers to human civilizations from the earliest historical records through roughly the fall of Rome in the 5th century CE.
The term typically centers on Mediterranean cultures—Egypt, Greece, Rome—though it extends to Mesopotamia, Persia, China, and India.
Scholars of the ancient world study everything from philosophy to plumbing.
The phrase implies a contrast with medieval and modern periods.
- Ganges RiverMajor South Asian waterway
- bronze ageNotable but subprime period
- lost civilizationsDefunct ancient cultures
- PyramidsAncient Egyptian royal tombs
- MesopotamiaTigris-Euphrates river region
Nile River · golden age · Socrates · historically · Plato · Zeus · marble statues · Indus Valley · Aristotle · Euphrates River · Colosseum · parchment scrolls · Great Wall of China · Babylon · Stonehenge · Tigris River · Confucius · conquest
- ancient historyMesopotamia, Babylon, Assyria, Sumer, Egyptian
- primeval settingsold growth, prehistoric era, dawn of time, early earth, origin point
- History Essaysthesis, analysis, argument, sources, citations
- epicIliad, Odyssey, Beowulf, Aeneid, Gilgamesh
- Epic mythologyhero's journey, epic quest, legendary voyage, divine intervention, mythical creatures
- historical fictionhistorical fiction, historical novel, period drama, Victorian novel, historical mystery
ancient worldmodern times
The contemporary era
modern era · contemporary era · modern age · the present · twenty-first century
ancient worldspace age
Sleekly modern, satellite-era
nuclear age · computer age · futuristic society · first world