Zoroaster (c 660 BCE-c 600 BCE)

Suffer no anxiety, for he who is a sufferer of anxiety becomes regardless of enjoyment of the world and the spirit, and contraction happens to his body and soul.

Books from Alibris: Zoroaster

Zenobia Queen of Palmyra (c 231 CE-c 271 CE)

Queen of Palmyra, one of the heroines of Antiquity. Her native name was Septimia Bath-zabbai, a name also borne by one of her generals, Septimius Zabbai. This remarkable woman, famed for her beauty, her masculine energy and unusual powers of mind, was well fitted to be the consort of Odainatti in his proud position as Dux Orientis; during his lifetime she actively seconded his policy, and after his death in A.D. 266-7 she not only succeeded to his position but determined to surpass it and make Palmyra mistress of the Roman Empire in the East. Wahab-allath or Athenodorus (as the name was Graecized), her son by Odainath, being still a boy, she took the reins of government into her own hands. Under her general-in-chief Zabda, the Palmyrenes occupied Egypt in A.D. 270, not without a struggle, under the pretext of restoring it to Rome; and Wahab-allath governed Egypt in the reign of Claudius as joint ruler with the title of king, while Zenobia herself was styled queen. In Asia Minor Palmyrene garrisons were established as far west as Ancyra in Galatia and Chalcedon opposite Byzantium, and Zenobia still professed to be acting in the interests of the Roman rule. In his coins struck at Alexandria in A.D. 270 Wahab-allath is named along with Aurelian, but the title of Augustus is given only to the latter; a Greek inscription from Byblos, however, mentions Aurelian (or his predecessor Claudius) and Zenobia together as Augustus and Augusta. When Aurelian became emperor in 270 he quickly realized that the policy of the Palmyrene queen was endangering the unity of the empire. It was not long before all disguises were thrown off; in Egypt Wahab-allath began to issue coins without the head of Aurelian and bearing the imperial title, and Zenobia's coins bear the same. The assumption marked the rejection of all allegiance to Rome. Aurelian instantly took measures; Egypt was recovered for the Empire by Probus (close of 270), and the emperor himself prepared a great expedition into Asia Minor and Syria. Towards the end of 271 he marched through Asia Minor and, overthrowing the Palmyrene garrisons in Chalcedon, Ancyra and Tyana, he reached Antioch, where the main Palmyrene army under Zabda and Zabbai, with Zenobia herself, attempted to oppose his way. The attempt, however, proved unsuccessful, and after suffering considerable losses the Palmyrenes retired in the direction of Emesa (now Horns), whence the road lay open to their native city. The queen refused to yield to Aurelian's demand for surrender, and drew up her army at Emesa for the battle which was to decide her fate. In the end she was defeated, and there was nothing for it but to fall back upon Palmyra across the desert. Thither Aurelian followed her in spite of the difficulties of transport, and laid siege to the well-fortified and provisioned city. At the critical moment the queen's courage seems to have failed her; she and her son fled from the city to seek help from the Persian king; they were captured on the bank of the Euphrates.

Among the traditions relating to Zenobia may be mentioned that of her discussions with the Archbishop Paul of Samosata on matters of religion. It is probable that she treated the Jews in Palmyra with favour; she is referred to in the Talmud, as protecting Jewish rabbis. The well-known account of Zenobia by Gibbon (Decline and Fall, i. pp. 302-312 Bury's edition) is based upon the imperial biographers (Historia Augusta) and cannot be regarded as strictly historical in detail. An obscure and distorted tradition of Zenobia as an Arab queen survived in the Arabian story of Zabba, daughter of Amr b. Zarib, whose name is associated with Tadmor and with a town on the right bank of the Euphrates, which is no doubt the Zenobia of which Procopius speaks as founded by the famous queen. - Malaspina Biography

Books from Alibris: Zenobia

Thucydides (c 460 BCE-c 400 BCE)

Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger.

Books from Alibris: Thucydides

Pharoah Rameses II (1314 BCE-1224 BCE)

(Gen. xlvii. 11; Exod. xii. 37; Num. xxxiii. 3), or, with a slight change in the vowel points, RAAMSES (Exod. i. II), the name of a district and town in Lower Egypt, is notable as affording the mainstay of the current theory that King Rameses II. was the pharaoh of the oppression and his successor Minephthas the pharaoh of the exodus. The actual facts, however, hardly justify so large an inference. The first three passages cited above are all by the priestly (post-exile) author and go together. Jacob is settled by his son Joseph in the land of Rameses and from the same Rameses the exodus naturally takes place. The older narrative speaks not of the land of Rameses but of the land of Goshen; it seems probable, therefore, that the later author interprets an obsolete term by one current in his own day, just as the Septuagint in Gen.. xlvi. 28 names instead of Goshen Heroopolis and the land of Rameses. Heroopolis lay on the canal connecting the Nile and the Red Sea, and not far from the head of the latter, so that the land of Rameses must be sought in Wadi Tuthilat near the line of the modern fresh-water canal. In Exod. i. II, again, the store cities or arsenals which the Hebrews built for Pharaoh are specified as Pithom and Raamses, to which the Septuagint adds Heliopolis. Pithom also takes us to the Wadi Tumilat. But did the Israelites maintain a continuous recollection of the names of the cities on which they were forced to build, or were these names rather added by a writer who knew what fortified places were in his own time to be seen in Wadi TflmIlat? The latter is far the more likely case, when we consider that the old form of the story of the Hebrews in Egypt is throughout deficient in precise geographical data, as might be expected in a history not committed to writing till the Israelites had resided for centuries in another and distant land. The post-exile or priestly author indeed gives a detailed route for the exodus (which is lacking in the older story), but he, we know, was a student of geography and might supplement tradition by what he could gather from traders as to the caravan routes and at all events to argue that, because the Hebrews worked at a city named after Rameses, they did so in the reign of the founder, is false reasoning, for the Hebrew expression might equally be used of repairs or new works of any kind.

It appears, however, from remains and inscriptions that Rameses II did build in Wadi TumIlgt, especially at Tell Maskhuta, which Lepsius therefore identified with the Raamses of Exodus. This identification is commemorated in the name of the adjacent railway station. But Naville's excavations found that the ruins were those of Pithom and that Pithom was identical with the later Heroopolis. Petrie found sculptures of the age of Rameses II at Tel Rotab, in the Wgdi TfimIlgt west of Pithom, and concludes that this was Rameses. The Biblical city is probably one of those named Prameses, "House of Ramesses," in the Egyptian texts. - Malaspina Biography

Books from Alibris: Pharoah Rameses II

Plutarch (45-120 CE)

To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days.

Books from Alibris: Plutarch

Queen Olympias (c 376 BCE-316 BCE)

Daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, wife of Philip II. of Macedon, and mother of Alexander the Great. Her father claimed descent from Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. It is said that Philip fell in love with her in Samothrace, where they were both being initiated into the mysteries (Plutarch, Alexander, 2). The marriage took place in 359 B.C., shortly after Philip's accession, and Alexander was born in 356. The fickleness of Philip and the jealous temper of Olympias led to a growing estrangement, which became complete when Philip married a new wife, Cleopatra, in 337. Alexander, who sided with his mother, withdrew, along with her, into Epirus, whence they both returned in the following year, after the assassination of Philip, which Olympias is said to have countenanced. During the absence of Alexander, with whom she regularly corresponded on public as well as domestic affairs, she had great influence, and by her arrogance and ambition caused such trouble to the regent Antipater that on Alexander's death (323) she found it prudent to withdraw into Epirus. Here she remained until 317, when, allying herself with Polyperchon, by whom her old enemy had been succeeded in 319, she took the field with an Epirote army; the opposing troops at once declared in her favour, and for a short period Olympias was mistress of Macedonia. Cassander, Antipater's son, hastened from Peloponnesus, and, after an obstinate siege, compelled the surrender of Pydna, where she had taken refuge. One of the terms of the capitulation had been that her life should be spared; but in spite of this she was brought to trial for the numerous and cruel executions of which she had been guilty during her short lease of power. Condemned without a hearing, she was put to death (316) by the friends of those whom she had slain, and Cassander is said to have denied her remains the rites of burial.

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Nero (37 CE-68 CE)

What an artist the world is losing in me!

Books from Alibris: Nero

Flavius Josephus (c 37 CE-c101 CE)

“Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day” (Book IXVIII, Chap. iii, sec. 3). - Josephus Passage widely cited by Christians but now generally believed to be a forgery

Books from Alibris: Josephus

Hatshepsut (c 1502 BCE-1458 BCE)

Here is an instance from the book that shows great description of why this woman felt she was worthy of the throne of Egypt. "Hatshepsut's relationship with Amun was always extremely important to her and throughout her reign she took every available opportunity to give due acknowledgement to her heavenly father. By promoting the cult of Amun, she was effectively reinforcing her own position and promoting herself. - from Hatchepsut By Joyce Tydsley

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Enheduana (c 2285 BCE)

En-hedu-ana, will recite a prayer to you. To you, holy Inana, I shall give free vent to my tears like sweet beer! I shall say to her "Your decision!" Do not be anxious about Acimbabbar. In connection with the purification rites of holy An, Lugal-ane has altered everything of his, and has stripped An of the E-ana. He has not stood in awe of the greatest deity. He has turned that temple, whose attractions were inexhaustible, whose beauty was endless, into a destroyed temple. While he entered before me as if he was a partner, really he approached out of envy.
- Nin-me-sharra. The exaltation of Inanna. Oxford University's Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.

Books from Alibris: Enheduana

Diotima of Mantineia (c 470-410 BCE)

On the birthday of Aphrodite there was a feast of the gods, at which the god Poros or Plenty, who is the son of Metis or Discretion, was one of the guests. When the feast was over, Penia or Poverty, as the manner is on such occasions, came about the doors to beg. Now Plenty who was the worse for nectar (there was no wine in those days), went into the garden of Zeus and fell into a heavy sleep; and Poverty considering her own straitened circumstances, plotted to have a child by him, [203c] and accordingly she lay down at his side and conceived Love, who partly because he is naturally a lover of the beautiful, and because Aphrodite is herself beautiful, and also because he was born on her birthday, is her follower and attendant. And as his parentage is, so also are his fortunes. In the first place he is always poor, and anything but tender and fair, as the many imagine him; [203d] and he is rough and squalid, and has no shoes, nor a house to dwell in; on the bare earth exposed he lies under the open heaven, in the streets, or at the doors of houses, taking his rest; and like his mother he is always in distress. Like his father too, whom he also partly resembles, he is always plotting against the fair and good; he is bold, enterprising, strong, a mighty hunter, always weaving some intrigue or other, keen in the pursuit of wisdom, fertile in resources; a philosopher at all times, terrible as an enchanter, sorcerer, [203e] sophist. He is by nature neither mortal nor immortal, but alive and flourishing at one moment when he is in plenty, and dead at another moment, and again alive by reason of his father's nature. But that which is always flowing in is always flowing out, and so he is never in want and never in wealth; and, further, he is in a mean between ignorance and knowledge. The truth of the matter is this: No god is a philosopher or seeker after wisdom, [204a] for he is wise already; nor does any man who is wise seek after wisdom. Neither do the ignorant seek after wisdom. For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself: he has no desire for that of which he feels no want." "But who then, Diotima," I said, "are the lovers of wisdom, if they are neither the wise nor the foolish?" [204b] "A child may answer that question," she replied; "they are those who are in a mean between the two; Love is one of them. For wisdom is a most beautiful thing, and Love is of the beautiful; and therefore Love is also a philosopher or lover of wisdom, and being a lover of wisdom is in a mean between the wise and the ignorant. And of this too his birth is the cause; for his father is wealthy and wise, and his mother poor and foolish. Such, my dear Socrates, is the nature of the spirit Love. - Conversation between Socrates and Diotima in Plato's Symposium

Books from Alibris: Diotima

Constantine I and Roman Art

Constantine I the Great (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) (272-337), proclaimed Augustus by his troops in 306; ruled parts of the Roman Empire from 307. Constantine is commonly accepted as one of the greatest Roman Emperors who also helped to shape the course of Western civilization. He was born at Naissus in Upper Dacia to Constantius 1 Chlorus and an innkeeper's daughter, Helena. Constantine was well educated and served at the court of Diocletian after the appointment of his father as one of the two Caesari, at that time a junior emperor, in the Tetrarchy in 293.

Constantine I rebuilt the ancient Greek city of Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople making it the capital of the empire. He legalized and strongly supported Christianity beginning around the time he became emperor, but he neither made paganism illegal nor made Christianity the state religion. Though the church prospered under Constantine's patronage, it also fell into the first of many public schisms. He himself called the First Council of Nicaea to settle the problem of Arianism, a dispute about the personhood and godhood of Jesus. He himself was not baptized and chrismated until close to his death. Ironically, Constantine may have favored the losing side of the Arian controversy, as he was baptized by an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia. - [This extract is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Constantine.]

Books from Alibris: Constantine

Confucius (551-479 BCE)

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness.

Books from Alibris: Confucius

Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE)

Fool! Don't you see now that I could have poisoned you a hundred times had I been able to live without you.

Books from Alibris: Cleopatra

Jesus Christ (c 3 BCE c 30 CE)

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall he comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake - Matthew 5:3-11

Books from Alibris: Jesus Christ

Gaius Julius Caesar (c 100 BCE-44 BCE)

It is the right of war for conquerors to treat those whom they have conquered according to their pleasure.

Books from Alibris: Julius Caesar

Augustus Caesar (63 BCE-14 CE)

I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.

Books from Alibris: Augustus Caesar

Gautama Buddha (Sidhartha) (c 563-c 480 BCE)

To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

Books from Alibris: Buddha

Aspasia of Miletus (c 470-410 BCE)

So now: what if that woman had a better husband than you? Would you prefer hers or your own?

Books from Alibris: Aspasia

Ancient Egypt IV (The New Kingdom) (1570-1085 BCE)

Ahmosis founded the Eighteenth Dynasty (1567-1320BC). Imperial expansion continued under Amenophis II and Tuthmosis IV. The reign of Amenophis III (who built the temple of Luxor) was the pinnacle of Egyptian Pharaonic power. His son Amenophis IV changed his name to Akhenaten in honour of the sun god Aten. With his wife Nefertiti, Akhenaten established a new capital at Tel El-Amarna. The capital was later moved to Thebes.

Books from Alibris: The New Kingdom