Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC.
The term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the beginning of recorded Greek history in 776 BC (First Olympiad). This roughly coincides with the traditional date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome, and the beginning of the Archaic period in Ancient Greece. Although the ending date of ancient history is disputed, some Western scholars use the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD (the most used), the closure of the Platonic Academy in 529 AD, the death of the emperor Justinian I in 565 AD, the coming of Islam or the rise of Charlemagne as the end of ancient and Classical European history.
Although each installment of the Final Fantasy series is generally set in a different fictional world with separate storylines, there are several commonalities when it comes to character design, as certain design themes repeat themselves, as well as specific character names and classes. Within the main series, Yoshitaka Amano was the character designer for Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIII, Yoshitaka Amano created and did the concept art for the characters while Toshiyuki Itahana was the final character designer for Final Fantasy IX, and Akihiko Yoshida was the character designer for Final Fantasy XII.
The series has often featured male characters with slightly effeminate characteristics, as well as female characters with slightly tomboyish, but still feminine, characteristics. This trend has generally increased as the series evolved. These characters are usually teenagers, which some critics have interpreted as an effort on the part of the designers to ensure the players identify with them. At the same time, some female characters have been increasingly designed to wear very revealing outfits. Square Enix has stated that a more rugged looking hero had been considered for Final Fantasy XII but had ultimately been scrapped in favor of Vaan, another effeminate protagonist. The developers cited scenaristic reasons and target demographic considerations to explain their choice. For Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix settled on a female main character, described as a "female version of Cloud from FFVII." This aspect of Final Fantasy can also be seen in Sora, the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts, a crossover series featuring Final Fantasy and Disney characters.
Ancient or ancients may refer to:
The Thrones (Ancient Greek: θρόνος, pl. θρόνοι; Latin: thronus, pl. throni) are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul the Apostle in Colossians 1:16. According to the New Testament, these high celestial beings are among those Orders at the Christ's service. They are the carriers of the Throne of God, hence the name.
According to Matthew Bunson, the corresponding order of angels in Judaism is called the abalim or "arelim/erelim, but this opinion is far from unrivaled. The Hebrew word erelim is usually not translated "Thrones", but rather "valiant ones", "heroes", "warriors". The function ascribed to erelim in Isaiah 33:7 and in Jewish folklore is not consonant with the lore surrounding the Thrones.
The Ophanim (Wheels or Galgallin) is a class of celestial beings, from Daniel 7:9, that are also equated with the "Thrones" occasionally. They are said to be great wheels covered in eyes.
Dionysius the Areopagite includes the Thrones as the third highest of 9 levels of angels.
Thrones is the solo project of bassist Joe Preston.
Thrones began in 1994 with an untitled cassette on the Punk in My Vitamins? label. He soon released the "Reddleman" single. In 1996, Thrones signed to Communion Records to issue the full-length album Alraune. Thrones then signed to Kill Rock Stars and released the single "The Suckling." In late 1997, Preston began a recording project under the working title "White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit". The project was eventually released as two 12 inch EPs; White Rabbit in 1999, followed by Sperm Whale in 2000. Both EPs were compiled in the Sperm Whale CD. In 2005, a compilation of various Thrones material spanning from 1994 to 2001 was released by Southern Lord Records under the title Day Late, Dollar Short.
After an extended hiatus beginning in 2001, Thrones began regularly performing live again in May 2006, although there were sporadic live appearances during this period supporting bands such as Sunn O))). Preston has also performed as part of Sunn O))) using Moog synthesizers and has previously been a member of Earth, The Melvins and High on Fire.
Sol Invictus is an English neofolk and neoclassical group fronted by Tony Wakeford. Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception, although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with Wakeford under the Sol Invictus moniker over the years.
After disbanding his controversial project Above the Ruins, Wakeford returned to the music scene with Sol Invictus in 1987. Since then Sol Invictus has had many musician contributions, including Sarah Bradshaw, Nick Hall, Céline Marleix-Bardeau , Nathalie Van Keymeulen, Ian Read and Karl Blake.
Wakeford repeatedly referred to his work as folk noir. Beginning with a mixture of a rough, bleak, primitive post punk sound and acoustic/folk elements, the band's music gradually evolved toward a lush, refined style, picking up classically trained players such as Eric Roger, Matt Howden, and Sally Doherty. In the mid-1990s, Sol Invictus spun off a side project called L'Orchestre Noir (later changed to Orchestra Noir) to explore an even more classically influenced direction. 2005 saw the departure of longtime contributors Roger and Blake, leading to a new line-up including Caroline Jago, Lesley Malone and Andrew King.