World History Encyclopedia

Although the history of ancient Macedonia is largely male-dominated, it is evident that the Macedonian royal women began to appear in remarkable public positions at least since the late 5th century BCE. Eurydice I, mother of Philip II of Macedon (383/382-336 BCE) and the grandmother of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) through her marriage to the Argead king, Amyntas III of Mace...

The colonial authorities responded to the news of the gold find at Witwatersrand by sending surveyors to choose a suitable nearby site where the inevitable influx of gold prospectors from all over the world could live. The site chosen would eventually become the great city of Johannesburg. Within a decade, the young town boasted 100,000 inhabitants, and by 1900, this figure had ...

Hammurabi's code was instituted throughout the land, unifying the people under law instead of only by conquest. Unlike the Akkadian Empire, which had found it necessary to position handpicked officials to administrate their conquered cities, Hammurabi controlled his empire through law. In the prologue to his code, he not only makes clear that these are divine laws but that he ha...

By 1890, South Africa was by far the world’s largest producer of diamonds, easily outstripping such traditional sources as Brazil. In fact, Rhodes and De Beers had gained control of around 90% of the world’s diamonds. The De Beers monopoly in Kimberley allowed the company to do two things: control the output of the diamonds to maintain prices and drive down the costs of labour. ...

Caesarea Maritima was a bustling trading hub of the Eastern Mediterranean. Built on earlier ruins, the new metropolis was commissioned by Herod the Great (reign 37-4 BCE), and it became one of the most important trade centers of the day due to its colossal harbor. Herod's harbor was a fortress at sea which both facilitated trade in the Roman Empire and served a military purpose....