Middle East

The Trojan Horse – seen in the 2004 film Troy

How much of the legend of Troy is real?

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1754: Bayeux Tapestry 1667: William the Conqueror's Norman cavalry setting out to meet Harold II's English forces, Battle of Hastings, 14 October 1066. Textile Linen (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

From the British Isles to Italy and Spain: how the Normans reshaped Europe

Cleopatra's face on a coin

The face of Cleopatra: was she really so beautiful?

Sculpture dedicated to king Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece.

Sparta

Limestone relief depicting a a procession of courtiers paying homage to the Ahiram, king of the Phoenician city of Byblos

General ancient history

Your guide to... the Phoenicians

Michael Wood reveals how Hadrian, a little-known “man of Africa”, helped lay the foundations of English culture

The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England

Illustration by Joey Guidone

The big question: has terrorism ever achieved its aims?

Illustration for BBC History Magazine.

How potatoes conquered the world

Dan Jones. (Photograph by Steve Sayers)

Exclusive podcast Dan Jones on the human stories of the crusades

Selim I

The extraordinary life of Sultan Selim I

The tomb of Pharaoh Djoser, built at Saqqara

General ancient history

Timeline: the evolution of ancient empires

Colourised print of the Lighthouse of Alexandria as imagined in the 18th century

General ancient history

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: what were they, and what happened to them?

A 16th-century painting of the Tower of Babel

General ancient history

Your guide to... the ancient city of Babylon

A replica of Jesus' tomb. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

History’s greatest mysteries The fate of Jesus's body

Alexander the Great

Where is Alexander the Great buried? And other questions about his death…