The Aeneid, written by Virgil, it considered one of the most important works in Roman literature. Telling the story of Aeneas, who traveled from the ruins of Troy to the Italian peninsula, the Aeneid stands as the Roman response to Homer. This seminal work is still read in Classical Literature and History classes today. 

The Oresteia, Aeschylus' trilogy of plays detailing the fall of the House of Atreus, is one of the finest examples of Greek tragedy. Starting with Agamemnon's murder at the hands of his wife and finishing with Orestes, Agamemnon's son, being tried for the murder of the aforementioned wife (and Orestes mother), the plays explore the themes of justice, revenge and family like few other works. Extremely popular from the time of their first performance, the cultural impact of the Oresteia can still be felt today. 

Written as a conversation between Socrates and Glaucon, the Allegory of the Cave is one of the more famous ideas presented in his Republic. Positing that man sees reality like a man trapped in a cave sees a shadow, the Allegory of the Cave invites us to admit that not only do we not see the whole of reality, it would be nigh impossible to see the whole. The allegory continues to find new life today as it lives on in Western thought and culture. 

Oedipus Rex is one of the most popular of the ancient Greek tragedies. Chronicling the rise and fall of Oedipus, king of Thebes, as he goes from popular king to blind beggar. Sophocles regarded it as the great Greek tragedy, and his masterwork; history tends to agree with him.  

The Hagia Sophia was built in Constantinople in 537 CE, during the reign of Justinian I. For several hundred years it served as a church of Eastern Orthodoxy, and was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople (sort of like the Pope of Eastern Orthodoxy), until it was converted into an Islamic mosque, following the Ottoman conquest of the city in 1453.

Qin Shi Huangdi, who ruled as the only emperor during the short-lived but immensely important Qin Dynasty, ordered the construction of the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army. The Great Wall of China was built to prevent barbarian invasions into Chinese territory. The Terracotta Army was built for the slightly less practical purpose of furnishing the emperor with an army for the afterlife. The Grand Canal was built during the rule of the Sui Dynasty to connect northern and southern China. The Forbidden City was built during the rule of the Ming Dynasty and served as the seat of the imperial government until the Chinese revolution in the early twentieth century.

Aristophanes' 11 surviving comedies are the only example of Old Comedy style of Ancient Athenian theatre that we have. Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles were playwrights who wrote during the same era, but only their tragic dramas survive. This period of 5th century BC Greek life is known as the Golden Era of Athens. Seneca was a Stoic statements and writer in 1st century AD Rome.

The Athenian historian Thucydides and his History of the Peloponnesian War tells the bitter civil war and decline of the Golden Age of Athens. Thucydides starts chronologically where Herodotus's Histories leaves off. Xenophon's Hellenica in turn picks up the historical narrative where Thucydides ends. The Athenian Aristophanes wrote comedy plays around the same era. Cicero was a Roman philosopher and statesmen who lived in the 1st century BC.

The Chinese city of Chang’an was the capital of Qin and Han China. It notably featured urban planning and had an efficient grid system.

The ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus is most famous for his works of drama. Most notable he wrote the Oresteia trilogy.