The Classical antiquity reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Classical antiquity

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Classical antiquity is a broad and perhaps misleading term for a long period of European history, that begins roughly with the earliest recorded Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire.


the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome!

In the 18th and 19th centuries everence for classical antiquity was much greater in Western Europe and the United States than it is today. Respect for the "ancients" of Greece and Rome affected politics, philosophy, sculpture, literature, theatre, education, and even architecture.


Epic poetry in Latin continued to be written and circulated well into the nineteenth century. John Milton and even Arthur Rimbaud got their first poetic educations in Latin. Genres like epic poetry, pastoral verse, and the endless use of characters and themes from Greek mythology left a deep mark on Western literature.



"Classical antiquity," then, is the contemporary vision of Greek and Roman culture by their admirers from the more recent past. It remains a vision that many people in the twenty-first century continue to find compelling.

Articles that discuss various aspects of classical antiquity include: