The Classical World

The classical world, or classical antiquity, is a traditional definition describing the cultures of the Mediterranean area from the Ancient Greek civilisation to the end of the Roman Empire. It thus includes Classical Greece, Hellenism, and Rome. This chapter is devoted to this broad historical period, and presents the archaeoastronomy of the Greek temples (with focus on Sicily) and of important Roman imperial projects, such as the orientation of Augustan towns, that of the temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, and the hierophany occurring in the Pantheon on the day of the foundation of Rome.