Metaphysics is no longer a direct grappling with nature as it was in antiquity.

In Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the Arcipelago ( from medieval Greek * ἀρχιπέλαγος ) was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands ( since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands ).

Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglio engraved gems.

The practice of reading to oneself without vocalizing the text was less common in antiquity than it has since become.

However, there is also evidence that silent reading did occur in antiquity and that it was not generally regarded as unusual.

It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, or " Pelasgian ".

The constellation Pyxis ( the mariner's compass ) occupies an area which in antiquity was considered part of Argo's mast ( called Malus ).

He displayed great literary skill in his exposition of the laws, and was one of the first to interpret the civil law by the history, languages and literature of antiquity, and to substitute original research for the servile interpretations of the glossators.

It was here he was to perfect himself by a study of the most splendid relics of antiquity, and to put his talents to the severest test by a competition with the living masters of the art.

By a public decree, this fine work was placed in one of the stanze of the Vatican hitherto reserved for the most precious works of antiquity.

The possible existence of a genuine Atlantis was discussed throughout classical antiquity, but it was usually rejected and occasionally parodied by later authors.

It was famous in antiquity for its oracle of Apollo Abaeus, one of those consulted by Croesus, king of Lydia, and Mardonius, among others.

Caustic potash was traditionally used in conjunction with animal fats to produce soft soaps, one of the caustic processes that rendered soaps from fats in the process of saponification, known since antiquity.

In antiquity, Arcturus was closer to the centre of the constellation.

Strabo's Geography ( 1. 2. 10 ) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often just called " the Sea " ( ho pontos ).

As Slavic linguistic unity lasted into late antiquity, in the oldest manuscripts this language was initially referred to as языкъ словяньскъ, " the Slavic language ".

It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal.

The legend was a popular motif in art during Greek and Roman antiquity and served as an antithetical cautionary tale.

The 1549 book was, from the outset, intended only as a temporary expedient, as Bucer was assured having met Cranmer for the first time in April 1549: ' concessions ... made both as a respect for antiquity and to the infirmity of the present age ' as he wrote.

The ancient sources located their original home in Jutland, in present-day Denmark, which was referred to as the Cimbrian peninsula throughout antiquity ( / Kimbrikē Chersonēsos ).

Erasmus wrote a glowing encomium about the artist, likening him to famous Greek painter of antiquity Apelles.

Although The Histories were often criticized in antiquity for bias, inaccuracy and plagiarism — Lucian of Samosata attacked Herodotus as a liar in Verae Historiae and went as far as to deny him a place among the famous on the Island of the Blessed — modern historians and philosophers take a more positive view of Herodotus's methodology, especially those searching for a paradigm of objective historical writing.

Other noteworthy and famous Greek historians include Plutarch ( 2nd century AD ), who wrote several biographies, the Parallel Lives, in which he wanted to assess the morality of its characters by comparing them in pairs, and Polybius ( 3nd century BC ), who developed Thucydides's method further, becoming one of the most objective historians of classical antiquity.

Greek mathematician Archimedes, famous for his ideas regarding fluid mechanics and buoyancyIn the 3rd century BCE, the Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse ( ( 287 BCE-212 BCE )-generally considered to be the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time-laid the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and calculated the underlying mathematics of the lever.

The most famous citizen of Megara in antiquity was Byzas, the legendary founder of Byzantium in the 7th century BC.

The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were of considerable antiquity and predated the Greek Dark Ages.

They were also linked by a common focus on the advancement of scientific knowledge, de Camp's chosen protagonists being explorers, artisans, engineers, innovators and practical philosophers rather than famous names from antiquity, who are relegated to secondary roles.

One of the portraits was of Lais of Corinth, mistress of Apelles, the famous artist of Greek antiquity after whom Holbein was named in humanist circles.

The importance of Benevento in classical times is vouched for by the many remains of antiquity which it possesses, of which the most famous is the triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan by the senate and people of Rome in 114, with important reliefs relating to its history.

It is best known for having been the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the most famous religious events of the ancient Greek religion, and the birthplace of Aeschylus, one of the three great tragedians of antiquity.

Because of its antiquity and its large population, Memphis had several necropoleis spread along the valley, including the most famous, Saqqara.

This poem was as famous in the Roman world as Shakespeare's works are today, so any educated reader would certainly have realized what the initials stood for ( it was commonplace in antiquity to reduce slogans and phrases to abbreviations ).

Kimolos, or Argentiera, to the north-east, was famous in antiquity for its figs and fuller's earth, and contained a considerable city, the remains of which cover the cliff of St. Andrew's.

Noteworthy in the Roman period were Strabo, a writer on geography ; Plutarch, the father of biography, whose Parallel Lives of famous Greeks and Romans is a chief source of information about great figures of antiquity ; Pausanias, a travel writer ; and Lucian, a satirist.

They also appear in Pliny the Elder's Natural History, together with Moses, as famous magicians of antiquity ; Pliny's citation is also referred to in Apuleius.

Bucephalus or Bucephalas (; or Βουκεφάλας, from bous, " ox " and kephalē, " head " meaning " ox-head ") ( c. 355 BC – June 326 BC ) was Alexander the Great's horse and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity.

Laurium was famous in Classical antiquity for silver mining, which was one of the chief sources of revenue of the Athenian state.

The most famous stone " state cameos " from this period are the Gemma Augustea, the Gemma Claudia made for the Emperor Claudius, and the largest flat engraved gem known from antiquity, the Great Cameo of France.

Stonehenge, the most famous antiquity on Salisbury Plain

) Museo Nazionale del Bargello h. 158 cmDonatello's bronze statue of David ( circa 1440s ) is famous as the first unsupported standing work of bronze cast during the Renaissance, and the first freestanding nude male sculpture made since antiquity.

Parrying the eloquence of his opponents, Phocion resorted both to wise concepts and pithy sayings, which were famous in antiquity.