Part of Society
History & Civilizations
Historical periods, ancient societies, their institutions, inventions and legacies.
Concepts
- PericlesPericles was an Athenian statesman and general of the 5th century BCE, who led Athens in the period often called its Golden Age. Issue.7 opens its trip to Ancient Athens…
- PharmakosA pharmakos was a human scapegoat in ancient Greek civic religion ritually expelled or sacrificed to cleanse a community of disaster or pestilence. The practice embodied…
- Posthumous RecognitionPosthumous recognition is the widespread social, academic, or commercial acclaim granted to an artist, writer, philosopher, or scientist only after their physical death…
- Quentin MatsysQuentin Matsys was a Flemish painter who worked in Antwerp in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Issue.26 names him once, in the credit of an image: the…
- RMS TitanicThe RMS Titanic is the ocean liner that was said to be unsinkable and sank after hitting an iceberg. In the Agency editorial it is the central allegory of the Titanic…
- Roman ConcreteRoman concrete, or opus caementicium, was an advanced hydraulic building material composed of slaked lime, volcanic pozzolana ash, and aggregate rubble. Its ability to…
- Roman EducationRoman education was a tiered pedagogical system that trained elite youth in literacy, classical literature, and persuasive rhetoric for public leadership. Structured…
- Ruy BarbosaRuy Barbosa was a Brazilian jurist, politician, diplomat and writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Issue.23 names him once, as Ruy Barbosa de…
- Shogun (TV Series)Shogun is an FX TV series set in feudal Japan, highly awarded and very well received by critics. In Archetype.1, the author recommends it in the Pandora's Box section and…
- SocratesSocrates was a philosopher of Athens in the fifth century BCE who left no writings and is known through his students, above all Plato. The Agency editorial names him in…
- Soranus of EphesusSoranus of Ephesus was a Greek physician who worked in Rome around the turn of the second century and wrote a treatise on gynaecology. Issue.27, the edition about the…
- Spice Trade DynamicsSpice trade dynamics refer to the historical economic and geopolitical forces that established globe-spanning mercantile networks, monopolies, and conflicts over scarce…
- Status-Based JusticeStatus-based justice is a legal paradigm where penalties, rights, and procedural protections are explicitly differentiated according to an individual's social rank. In…
- Streamline DesignStreamline design is an industrial styling movement characterized by aerodynamic contours, rounded edges, and horizontal speed lines inspired by nautical and aviation…
- The EnlightenmentThe Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that championed reason, individualism, and empirical science. It…
- Treadwheel CraneA treadwheel crane is a heavy-duty hoisting machine powered by human operators walking inside a large rotational wheel. In Roman construction engineering, this device…
- TristanTristan is the knight of the medieval romance of Tristan and Isolde. Issue.13 of the Agency editorial retells the legend: the son of Blancheflor, orphaned at birth and…
- Tupi LanguageThe Tupi language, specifically Old Tupi, is an indigenous South American tongue belonging to the Tupi-Guarani linguistic family that was widely spoken along the…
- Twelve TablesThe Twelve Tables was the foundational legislation that established written law in ancient Rome around 450 BC. Created to protect plebeians from arbitrary patrician…
- Typographic ImpressionTypographic impression is the physical mark and tactile indentation left on paper when ink-covered metal characters are subjected to mechanical pressure. In cultural…
- VirgilVirgil was a Roman poet of the age of Augustus, author of the Aeneid, the Eclogues and the Georgics. Issue.27, the edition about the Roman Empire, names him once, with…
- Water PowerWater power is the technological harnessing of flowing or falling water to drive mechanical systems such as grain mills and drainage pumps. In the Roman Empire, hydraulic…
- Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was a composer born in Salzburg, author of operas such as Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. Issue.10 names him once, in the author's…
- Yuval Noah HarariYuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian, known for the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Issue.27, the edition about the Roman Empire, names him once, in its…
