The first Olympic torch relay was in 1936, for the Games in Berlin. But did the Nazis invent the Olympic flame to make their Games more authentic?

It is often assumed that the Greeks invented mathematics in the 5th century BCE, and that they had a set definition of what it entailed. But this is an over-simplification of the history of mathematics.

The Spartans did use music in military contexts. Various sources attest to the practice of campaign war-songs and marching music. However, the claim that the Spartans focused only on military music – at the expense of any interest in non-military music – is simply incorrect.

Modern depictions of satyrs portray a creature that is half-man half-goat, but has that always been the case?

Writers have often associated Sparta with a communist or proto-communist ideology, based in no small part on the writings of Plutarch. But is there any truth to this claim?

The Athenian philosopher Plato (428/7 to 348/7 BC) created the island of Atlantis as a fiction. Sadly, this has not stopped people from trying to find it.

Did the ancient Greeks believe that the Titans were gigantic? Originally not, but things become complicated when we look at the Hellenistic era and beyond.

After Alexander the Great died, what happened to his body? Ancient sources make clear that Ptolemy I stole Alexander’s corpse while in transit to its burial place.

According to the ancient Greek writer Herodotus, the ancient Phoenicians were the first to circumnavigate Africa. But did it actually happen?

Because the ancient Greeks and Romans mixed their water with wine, it is often assumed that their wines were considerably more alcoholic than modern ones. Is this notion correct?