Matthew Norman

An ancient Greek symposium was a wine-drinking banquet that took place after a meal, with one of many purposes being the introduction of young people into aristocracy through debating, plotting, and boasting.

The location of the entrance to Egypt's only ‘floating' pyramid, named after Egyptian Pharaoh Senusret II, stumped archaeologists for more than half a century, but what was found in the nearby workers' village is the real story.

It was once believed that Shakespeare was intimately familiar with ancient Greek tragedies and romances. However, that theory has long been discredited.

Belisarius is the much underrated military commander of the Byzantine Empire who led the armies of Justinian I in reclaiming enormous swathes of the former Western Roman Empire from northern Africa to the Italian peninsula.

What theories did the ancient Greeks have about dreams? Credit: ShanMcG213. CC BY-2.0/ flickr

Excavated building with semi-circular interior stone wall at the Sanctuary of Zeus, Mount Lykaion, (sound) speaker placed at focal point of curve credit: Pamela Jordan

Charon obol. Depictions of the bee appear very early in the development of coinage in ancient Greece, with Ephesus, an ancient city in Ionia (Aegean coast of Turkey) having a particular claim to the tradition after it adopted the insect as its civic emblem. Credit: CNG. CC BY-3.0/Wikimedia Commons/ CNG

Greek roasted potatoes. Credit: Thriving Vegetarian / Flickr CC BY 2.0.

Cerne Abbas Hercules giant. Credit: richie rocket. CC BY-2.0.

Statue of Alexander the Great at Thessaloniki. Credit Alexander Gale / Greek Reporter