the ancients

:  having had an existence of many years

:  of or relating to a remote period, to a time early in history, or to those living in such a period or time

:  of or relating to the historical period beginning with the earliest known civilizations and extending to the fall of the western Roman Empire in a.d. 476

:  an aged living being

:  a person who lived in ancient times:

:  the civilized people of antiquity

:  ensign, standard, flag

:  the bearer of an ensign