PDF Button Introduction Paul of Tarsus was one of the most influential figures in the development of early Christianity. He was not one of the twelve disciples who followed Jesus during his public ministry, but his letters are among the earliest surviving Christian writings and became part of the New Testament. Paul helped establish communities across the eastern Roman Mediterranean, argued that Gentiles could join the people of God without

PDF Button Introduction The Parthenon in Athens and the Pantheon in Rome are two of the most influential surviving monuments of the ancient Mediterranean world. They are often compared because both have religious origins, monumental scale, classical orders, and long histories of reuse. Yet they were built for different communities and create very different spatial experiences. The Parthenon, completed in the fifth century BCE, was a temple on the Athenian

PDF Button Introduction Gaius Octavius, later known as Octavian and finally Augustus, became Rome’s first emperor through a combination of inheritance, political calculation, military force, propaganda, and institutional reform. Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE created a dangerous power vacuum. Octavian was only eighteen years old and had no major military command, yet Caesar’s will adopted him posthumously and named him as principal heir. Within little more than a decade,