Rhodes island, Dodecanese, Greece.

Herodes Atticus.
Date: A.D. Mid-2nd century
Provenance: Athens, National Archaeological Museum

Herodes Atticus was a Greco-Roman politician and sophist who served as a Roman senator. Appointed consul at Rome in 143, he was the first Greek to hold the rank of consul ordinarius, as opposed to consul suffectus, (A consul elected to start the year—called a consul ordinarius —held more prestige than a suffect consul).

Philip was the first Greek ruler to issue gold coins uninterruptedly. The coins issued by Philip highlighted the Hellenic origin of the Macedonian royal family while they also aimed at propagating his pro-Hellenic attitude and his Pan-Hellenic policy within the Greek world.

The Macedonian coinage resulted in rapid development of Macedonian commerce and trade which improved the economic position of the kingdom. It helped Macedonia’s economy to spread far beyond the frontiers of its commercial connections, making the monarchy become more self-reliant and able to liberate itself from the economic preponderance of Athens on the Macedonian coast.

One could argue that Macedonia rose due to the genius of Philip which enabled the kingdom to abandon its almost non-existent presence in the Greek affairs, and become the major power in Greece which eventually transformed into one of the most glorious empires in history.

Greek woman wearing traditional costume from Epirus.

Following the conquests of Alexander in the east, examples of the Ionic order can be found as far as Pakistan. The resemblance of this temple to classical Greek temples is striking. The Ionic columns in the Pronaos of the Greek temple-like Jandial Temple and the stairs leading to Jandial temple showcase a pure Greek style of architecture and reveal the extent Alexander the Great spread Hellenism outside Greece. Built in the Scythio-Parthian period, the Jandial Temple is believed to be the temple described by Philostratus in his Life of Apollonius of Tyana. According to A G Lone, Philostratus may have spoken of this temple when he says “They saw, a temple in front of the wall, about 100 feet in length and built of shell like stone. There were brazen tablets on which were portrayed the deeds of Porus and Alexander. The Jandial temple was found at the same place where Alexander the Great erected his tent.” He said that the Greek rulers of Taxila performed religious ceremonies of their own faith at this temple.

The Sirens were hybrid creatures with the body of a bird and the head of a woman, sometimes also with human arms. Ovid wrote that the Sirens were human companions of Persephone and, failing to prevent her rape, they were transformed into Sirens as punishment. The Sirens had beautiful singing voices and they played lyres. Their cult was especially prevalent at southern Italy. They became a staple part of pottery scenes depicting Odysseus' voyage home (like the one in the picture). In Homer's Odyssey, they attempted to lure Odysseus and his crew as they passed on their home voyage to lthaca following the Trojan War. To escape from their singing voices, as advised by Circe, the hero had himself tied to his ship's mast while the rest of his crew were made immune by blocking their ears with wax and so they all safely sailed on out of harms way. According to Homer the Sirens awaited passing ships and with their music enticed sailors to their doom

Picture: Red-figured stamnos Attributed to The Siren Painter, 480BC

John William Waterhouse - Ulysses and the Sirens (1891)