Glossary
Welcome to the site glossary. Here we establish definitions for every site expression we use (e.g. saltiness) as well as state clearly what we mean when we use certain historical terms. While we generally try to stick to historical conventions, occasionally, for the purpose of meeting site needs, we may need to strip terms of the nuance they nominally deserve. We set time periods with fixed dates, divide the timeline into linear eras of human history, group several entities under a single location banner, etc. Since these reflect important curatorial decisions that affect how you should interpret site content, we include our reasoning for our definitions here.
164 terms · 13 concepts · 8 eras · 55 periods · 88 locations
A
- Age of EnlightenmentPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1685 to 1815.
- Algerian WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1954 to 1962.
- AlpsLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- American Civil Rights MovementPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1954 to 1968.
- American Civil WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1861 to 1865.
- American FrontierPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1783 to 1890.
- American FrontierLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United States in the statistics.
- American RevolutionPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1775 to 1783.
- Ancient GreeceLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Greece in the statistics.
- Ancient WorldEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 6,000–500 BCE.
- Anglo-Saxon EnglandLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United Kingdom in the statistics.
- Arab RevoltPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1916 to 1918.
- AustraliaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- AustriaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
B
- BastogneLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- BelgiumLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- BerkeleyLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Bonapartist SpainLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Spain in the statistics.
- British EmpirePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1500 to 1997.
- British RajLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under India in the statistics.
C
- CambodiaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Canadian ArcticLocation
The area making up the modern Canadian province of Nunavut.
- CaribbeanLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- ChalcolithicPeriod
A transitionary period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, the Chalcolithic or Copper Age, represents the time when human societies began to develop early metallurgy, but prior to their full adoption of alloy smelting as in the Bronze Age. Do note that the year boundaries of this period are highly variable depending on location and these specific boundaries are most accurate for Europe and the Near East. Runs from 3500 BCE to 2300 BCE.
- ChinaLocation
A modern heading gathering Han Dynasty China, Yuan Dynasty China, Zhou Dynasty China. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Classical WorldEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 500 BCE–400 CE.
- Cliff's deltaConcept
A non-parametric effect size: pick one title at random from each group, and delta is how much more often one beats the other. It runs from −1 to +1, with 0 meaning no difference.
- Cold WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1947 to 1991.
- ColombiaLocation
A modern heading gathering Viceroyalty of New Granada, Republic of Colombia. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Colombian Drug WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1970 to 1993.
- Colonial AmericaPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1607 to 1776.
- Contemporary EraEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 1946 – present.
- Counter-ReformationPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1545 to 1648.
D
- Dominion of IndiaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under India in the statistics.
E
- Early Dynastic Period EgyptLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Egypt in the statistics.
- Early Modern EraEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 1500–1750.
- Edwardian EraPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1901 to 1914.
- EgyptLocation
A modern heading gathering Roman Egypt, Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom Egypt, Ptolemaic Egypt, Early Dynastic Period Egypt. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Egyptian Early Dynastic PeriodPeriod
The period defined by the early unification of the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt under one crown and the establishment of the Egyptian dynastic state that would eventually become the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The first two Egyptian dynasties (of the traditional Egyptian dynastic record) are included within this period. Runs from 3150 BCE to 2686 BCE.
- Egyptian New KingdomPeriod
The reign of the Egyptian New Kingdom dynasties that emerged out of the disunity of the previous Second Intermediate Period. The New Kingdom period is often considered a high water mark of the ancient Egyptian civilization and includes many of its most famous rulers, such as Ramesses II, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Akhenaten, and Ramesses III. This period is also marked by immense civil construction projects and military expansion efforts from the Egyptian state. Runs from 1570 BCE to 1069 BCE.
- EraConcept
One of eight fixed spans covering the whole timeline, from Pre-History to the Contemporary Era. Every year on our timeline belongs to exactly one, and an era's color is used consistently wherever the archive is charted. These eras exist primarily as categorization tools for site content and do not necessarily represent boundaries recognized by historical scholarship.
F
- Fall of the Roman RepublicPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 49 BCE to 27 BCE.
- Filibuster WarsPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1803 to 1860.
- FilmographyConcept
On Period Piece, we create filmographies for historical persons. By this, we mean pages where readers can see every title directly or indirectly featuring a portrayal of a historical individual, how many years on the timeline they are represented in, what other figures they often appear with, and other related statistics.
- First French EmpireLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under France in the statistics.
- FranceLocation
A modern heading gathering French Third Republic, Kingdom of France, Occupied France / Free France, First French Empire, Revolutionary France, French Fifth Republic. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- French AlgeriaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- French RevolutionPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1789 to 1799.
- French Third RepublicLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under France in the statistics.
- French Wars of ReligionPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1562 to 1598.
G
- Greco-Persian WarsPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 499 BCE to 449 BCE.
- GreeceLocation
A modern heading gathering Kingdom of Macedonia, Ancient Greece. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
H
- Habsburg AustriaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Han Dynasty ChinaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under China in the statistics.
- HawaiiLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Human EvolutionPeriod
A time period spanning the development of near-human ancestors such as Homo Heidelbergensis up to the emergence of modern Homo Sapiens, roughly 125,000 years ago. Runs from 3,000,000 BCE to 125,000 BCE.
- Hundred Years’ WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1337 to 1453.
I
- Imperial RussiaPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1721 to 1917.
- IndiaLocation
A modern heading gathering British Raj, Dominion of India. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Indian IndependencePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1885 to 1948.
- Information AgePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1947 to 2026.
- Interwar YearsPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1918 to 1939.
- IranLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- IraqLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Iraq WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 2003 to 2011.
- Iwo JimaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
K
- Kievan Rus'Period
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 880 to 1240.
- Kievan Rus'Location
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Russia in the statistics.
- Kingdom of EgyptLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Egypt in the statistics.
- Kingdom of EnglandLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United Kingdom in the statistics.
- Kingdom of FranceLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under France in the statistics.
- Kingdom of Great BritainLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United Kingdom in the statistics.
- Kingdom of JerusalemLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Kingdom of MacedoniaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Greece in the statistics.
- Kingdom of ScotlandLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United Kingdom in the statistics.
L
- Late AntiquityPeriod
A period marked by the decline of the Roman Empire and constituting the Mediterranean world's transition toward the Medieval period. Generally starting with the Crisis of the Third Century, Late Antiquity would see a number of political and social evolutions crop up around the Roman world, from the construction of walls around cities that could no longer trust a centralized army to reliably protect them to changes in the concentration of political power. Runs from 284 to 476.
- Life of ChristPeriod
The approximate life of the historical figure of Jesus Christ, from his birth to his ministry as a preacher in the Roman province of Judaea to his crucifixion on the orders of Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Runs from 4 BCE to 33.
- Location groupConcept
Location groups are our term for modern overarching terms to collect many different locations from history under one easily searchable banner. They are not mutually exclusive, but are designed to group related entities based on their geographic locations, e.g. the location group "France" containing everything from Roman Gaul to the modern 5th Republic. Location groups are mostly intended to serve as search terms, not fixed geographic categories.
- Los AngelesLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
M
- MantuaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- MarginaliaConcept
Marginalia on Period Piece represent our added editorial commentary on site content. Longer form posts are kept in a dedicated Marginalia section where we may discuss our methods, respond to reader feedback, give updates on site development, or highlight interesting site content. Smaller updates or clarifications we may write as small glosses that will appear on relevant years on the timeline.
- Medieval EraEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 400–1500.
- Mongol EmpirePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1206 to 1368.
N
- Napoleonic WarsPeriod
The period of time encompassing the fight between the Great Powers of Europe in the wake of the French Revolution. Do note that we've marked this period to include the Wars of the First and Second Coalitions (1792-1802) which are not always grouped together under the Napoleonic Wars generally. Runs from 1792 to 1815.
- Nazi GermanyLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- NetherlandsLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- New EnglandLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- New Kingdom EgyptLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Egypt in the statistics.
- New MexicoLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- New OrleansLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- NormandyLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- North AtlanticLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
O
- Occupied France / Free FranceLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under France in the statistics.
- Occupied PolandLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Ottoman EmpireLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
P
- PaleolithicPeriod
The Paleolithic or Old Stone Age marks the longest span of human history, stretching from the first known use of stone tools by human ancestors until some 12,000 years ago and the dawn of the Neolithic. The emergence of sedentary, agriculturally-based societies is the traditional terminus of the period. Runs from 3,000,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE.
- Paleolithic AfricaLocation
An area covering the African continent until the dawn of the Neolithic period around roughly 10,000 BCE.
- Paleolithic EarthLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Paleolithic EuropeLocation
An area covering the European continent until the dawn of the Neolithic period around roughly 10,000 BCE.
- ParisLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- PeriodConcept
A period or time period is a sub-division of the full timeline that captures a particular span of years. Periods can intersect across era boundaries and, for the purposes of being attached to reviews, are often regionally relevant (i.e. It is likely that only titles set in England will be directly tagged with the period "Stuart England"). It is important to note that, while we often align our periods with historical conventions so as to avoid confusion, the chief purpose of periods on the site is to facilitate the grouping of related content (e.g. "World War II" content) and provide interesting comparisons such as through the Compare Time Periods tool. We cannot and do not claim that our definitions of what constitute historical time periods, either in description or span are academically rigorous representations of what is accepted by wider scholarship.
- Portrayed Figure / Inspired FigureConcept
On this site, a portrayed figure constitutes a historical figure that was directly featured in a title by historical name and appearance. For example, Napoleon in the film Waterloo (1970) is a direct portrayal of the historical figure, Napoleon Bonaparte. By contrast, an inspired figure is one whose actions, characteristics, or influence are used significantly within a story without being named or given to another character. An example of the latter form would be Tokugawa Ieyasu who is not directly featured in Shōgun (2024), however, his actions and role in historical events are effectively given to the fictional character Yoshii Toranaga instead.
- Post-Cold War EraPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1991 to 2026.
- Pre-HistoryEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering before 6,000 BCE.
- Province of South CarolinaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Ptolemaic EgyptLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Egypt in the statistics.
R
- Republic of ColombiaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Colombia in the statistics.
- Revolutionary EraEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 1750 – 1914.
- Revolutionary FranceLocation
A descriptor for France as it existed over the course of the French Revolution, including under the control of the National Assembly, the establishment of the French First Republic (1792), through the Directory (1795), and ultimately up to Napoleon's reformation of France into the First French Empire in 1804. Gathered under France in the statistics.
- Roman BritainLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under United Kingdom in the statistics.
- Roman EgyptLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Egypt in the statistics.
- Roman EmpirePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 27 BCE to 476.
- Roman EmpireLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Roman JudeaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Roman RepublicLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- RomeLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- RussiaLocation
A modern heading gathering Russian Empire, Soviet Union, Kievan Rus'. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Russian EmpireLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Russia in the statistics.
- RwandaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
S
- SaltinessConcept
Saltiness is our own metric for determining the historical accuracy of a title. Since we encourage all of our readers to take whatever they watch with at least a grain of salt, our minimum saltiness score, and accordingly, our highest accolade for historical accuracy is 1. On the opposite spectrum are titles that take so many liberties with the historical narrative that they can hardly be relied upon to convey an accurate feeling of the past at all. For these, we award a saltiness ranking of 5.
- Sengoku JapanPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1467 to 1615.
- Sengoku JapanLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- SomaliaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Soviet UnionLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Russia in the statistics.
- Space RacePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1955 to 1975.
- SpainLocation
A modern heading gathering Bonapartist Spain, Kingdom of Navarre. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- Spanish-American Wars of IndependencePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1808 to 1830.
- SpartaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Spring and Autumn PeriodPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 770 BCE to 481 BCE.
- Stuart EnglandPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1603 to 1714.
T
- The BreakdownConcept
The Breakdown represents four sub-categories we use to help determine our ultimate saltiness score for a title:
The first two categories, materials and setting, are visual criticisms. By these, we look to see whether a title is historically faithful by what it chooses to show onscreen. Are the costumes right for the time period? Is the environment accurate to how people of the time might have experienced it? Are props made of anachronistic materials? Through these questions, we seek to answer whether what appears onscreen is visually faithful to what a real person might have experienced.
By faithfulness to events, we evaluate how the plot of a title and the events therein line up against what the historical community has written for an event. Were important actions condensed or ignored? Do fictional events supersede real ones? However, historical ambiguity is also a very real concern for any potential story. A title solving this ambiguity by choosing from one of several proposed historical narratives is not inherently inaccurate. A title that instead chooses a plot direction that is not backed up by any historical writing whatsoever would be.
Finally, we assess a title on its historical authenticity. Does the sum of the film's parts accurately capture an impression of a historical moment in time? Even if it uses fictional characters in a historical setting, do they act in line with historians' understanding of that time? Do audiences come away with an accurate feeling of what it might have been like to experience such a time?
- The CrusadesPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1095 to 1291.
- ThreadConcept
A thread is a specific data type on the site that is intended to document very specific events or historical concepts. Every thread is given a detailed explanation of its significance and is attached to at least one review. "Pulling a Thread" narrows the timeline view to just those titles that have been tagged with that specific thread. These threads may transcend eras and or time periods.
- Three KingdomsPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 184 to 280.
- TitleConcept
A title for our purposes is a complete media entity: either an entire film or an entire TV series. For our statistical counting purposes, TV series' attributes are averaged or summed as needed to constitute a singular title. On the timeline, however, we do record individual episodes of a series separately so as to document their potential historical nuance with increased granularity and more usefully capture a series as it has a greater opportunity to evolve from episode to episode and season to season.
- Trojan WarPeriod
The semi-mythical conflict of Greek mythology waged between the Achaean Greek states and the city-state of Troy, now thought to be located at Hisarlık in Turkey. The historicity of the Trojan War is highly questionable, and while archaeological excavations at Hisarlık have produced evidence that the city may have been sacked or heavily damaged during the Bronze Age, the involvement or even existence of all the same players or turn of events as described in the Iliad and Odyssey are highly doubtful. This period span is set to represent a time in the 13th to 12th centuries BCE that a Trojan War that could have provided the basis for the stories of Greek mythology might have taken place. Runs from 1250 BCE to 1180 BCE.
- Tudor EnglandPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1485 to 1603.
U
- United KingdomLocation
A modern heading gathering United Kingdom, Roman Britain, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain, Anglo-Saxon England. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- United StatesLocation
A modern heading gathering United States, American Frontier. The entries themselves are never rewritten.
- UnsaltedConcept
Unsalted refers to the classification we give a title we have not yet assessed for historical accuracy. For our recording purposes, this renders as a 0 on saltiness, however, any and all unsalted titles are removed from statistical displays so as not to skew the data. A title being unsalted has no bearing on its actual accuracy. The minimum saltiness score / our demarcation for the most historically faithful possible title is always a 1.
V
- VerdictConcept
A verdict is a brief summary explanation of our reasoning for assigning a certain saltiness score to a title. For a full explanation along with citations, we implore readers to always consult the full review of an entry.
- Viceroyalty of New GranadaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under Colombia in the statistics.
- VictoriaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Victorian EraPeriod
The period denoting the rule of Queen Victoria of England, from her accession to the throne to her death. This period is generally marked by the ascendancy of the British Empire and as a time of great technological and social reform. Runs from 1837 to 1901.
- VietnamLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Vietnam WarPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1955 to 1975.
- Viking AgePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 793 to 1066.
- Virginia ColonyLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
W
- War of the League of CognacPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1526 to 1530.
- Wars of AlexanderPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 336 BCE to 323 BCE.
- Wars of Scottish IndependencePeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1296 to 1357.
- Washington D.C.Location
A place named by titles in the archive.
- WaterlooLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- Western FrontLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
- World War IPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1914 to 1918.
- World War IIPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1937 to 1945.
- World Wars EraEra
One of the eight eras the timeline is divided into, covering 1914 – 1945.
Y
- Yuan Dynasty ChinaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under China in the statistics.
Z
- Zhou ChinaPeriod
The reign of the longest-ruling dynasty in Chinese history, the Zhou. The Zhou ruled over an expansive territory in what is now modern China and are famous as the cultural progenitors of some of China's most enduring philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. Runs from 1046 BCE to 256 BCE.
- Zhou Dynasty ChinaLocation
A place named by titles in the archive, gathered under China in the statistics.
- Zulu KingdomLocation
A place named by titles in the archive.
#
- 1905 RevolutionPeriod
A named period on the timeline. Runs from 1905 to 1907.
Nothing under that heading.
The Book of Citations
Every claim the archive has answered for, and the source that answers it. A citation is attached to a specific assertion inside a review rather than to the review around it, so each row links straight to the claim it came from.
1 claim answered for, across 1 title.
Homo Erectus first emerged around 2 million years ago and is known for being the first hominin to migrate out of Africa, with some populations surviving to potentially as recently as 120,000 years ago
Peter Bellwood, The Five Million Year Odyssey: The Human Journey from Ape to Agriculture (Princeton University Press, 2022).
One Million Years B.C.Film · 1966