Best of
Ancient-History

2000

The Punic Wars


Adrian Goldsworthy - 2000
    It will grab the attention of military buffs and general readers alike. The struggle for supremacy between Rome and Carthage encompassed the First (264-241 B.C.) and Second (149-146 B.C.) Punic Wars; both sides suffered casualties exceeding that of any war fought before the modern era. Its outcome had far-reaching consequences for the Western world, too, as it led to the ascendancy of Rome. In grand narrative style, follow the fighting on land and sea; the terrible pitched battles; and such generals as Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, and Scipio Aemilianus, who finally drove Carthage into the ground. A Main Selection of the History Book Club.

Greek Tragedy


Elizabeth Vandiver - 2000
    These plays have attracted focus and reflection from Aristotle, Freud, Nietzsche, and others who Professor Vandiver observes early in the course: "It is a notable paradox that Greek tragedy, a dramatic form that flourished for less than a full century, a dramatic form that began in a particular religious festival of a particular god some 2,500 years ago, remains vibrant, alive, and productive today. "It seems that there is something about tragedy that lifts it out of its particular circumstances and beyond its particular gods, social issues, and political concerns to give a kind of universality that is, in the last analysis, very surprising." The great tragedies shed light on the extraordinary time, place, and people that produced them. And they may help us-as perhaps they helped their original audiences-to grasp a fuller sense of both the terror and wonder that life presents. A Rounded View of a Grand Art Form Professor Vandiver has designed these lectures to give you a full overview of Greek tragedy, both in its original setting and as a lasting contribution to the artistic exploration of the human condition. There are three main points to the course: First: The Plays in Their Context. You learn to see Greek tragedy as a genre in its cultural context. Why did this powerful art form flower in the Athens of Pericles and the Peloponnesian War? What is tragedy's deeper historical background? Did it grow out of rituals honoring the god Dionysus, as is so often said? What role did it play in Athenian civic and religious life? How was it related to earlier performance traditions such as bardic recitation? How did Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides each make unique contributions to tragedy's expressive power? Second: The Plays on the Stage. Too often, the surviving tragedies are seen purely as texts to be read, rather than as scripts to be played. Hence the second aim of Dr. Vandiver's course is to teach what scholarship can reveal about the performance of tragedy, including its physical and ritual settings, actors and acting methods, conventions of staging and stagecraft, and even how productions were financed. Third: The Plays in Rich Detail. Third, you explore with Professor Vandiver a broad group of tragedies in close detail. In particular, you will ask how individual tragedies use traditional myths (often tales from the Trojan War), and what Aeschylus, Sophocles, or Euripides intended to accomplish by changing or adding to the basic story. You examine what certain tragedies imply about the world of 5th-century Athens, and the importance, in turn, of the cultural background for explaining those tragedies. Surveying Key Scholars and Critics While Professor Vandiver frequently refers to modern critical approaches and theories to help illuminate the tragedies, she has chosen not to adopt any one theory as a framework for the lectures. Accordingly, you will find that she carefully and fairly discusses a number of views of tragedy, including those of Aristotle, Nietzsche, Freud, the Cambridge Ritualists, and even Aristophanes, who included the tragic stage in his wide-ranging satires of Athenian institutions, mores, and personalities. Three for the Ages Perhaps one of the most intriguing opportunities this course offers, even if you are a seasoned lover of literature and the classics, is the chance to compare and contrast the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Aeschylus (525-455 B.C.) Lectures 5 through 9 focus on Aeschylus, the eldest of the three. The plays and themes discussed include The Oresteia (a trilogy about the accursed House of Atreus in the aftermath of the Trojan War, it includes Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, and Eumenides), as well as the earlier plays Persians, Suppliant Maidens, and Seven Against Thebes. Sophocles (496-406 B.C.) Lectures 11 through 14 and 22 are devoted to Sophocles. He is well known for creating heroes such as Oedipus, Ajax, and Philoctetes, who are characterized by intense isolation. In his Poetics, Aristotle credits Sophocles with introducing the third actor (not counting the chorus) and the use of scenery. Euripides (484-406 B.C.) Lectures 15 through 21 concentrate on Euripides. The most overtly political and least traditional of the three, he wrote plays featuring an especially vivid array of strong, disturbing female characters, including Medea and Phaedra. Two other plays with female protagonists, Hecuba and Trojan Women, paint harrowing portraits of the horrors of war and were written while Athens was locked in a deadly struggle with Sparta and her allies. The course moves toward a finish by examining the revivals of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides put on in the Hellenistic theater, and then briefly discusses Roman adaptations and later "revivals" of Greek tragedy, from the Renaissance to modern times. It closes with Professor Vandiver's reflections on how the characteristic themes and tone of the Athenian tragic stage continue to inspire audiences and artists in a variety of media today.

The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt


Richard H. Wilkinson - 2000
    This book traces their development from earliest times through their period of glory and ultimate decline to their rediscovery and study in modern times. All of Egypt's surviving temples--from the gargantuan temple of Amun at Karnak to minuscule shrines such as the oasis Oracle of Siwa, where Alexander went to hear himself proclaimed god--are discussed and illustrated with factfiles, photographs, plans, and specially commissioned perspective views. * "Houses of Eternity" considers the historical origin and development of Egyptian temples, describing their role in ancient Egyptian society, their later Christian and Muslim use, and their modern rediscovery. * "Buildings Fit for Gods" looks at how the temples were built, decorated, expanded--and sometimes destroyed. * "Worlds Within Worlds" examines each part of the sacred structures in detail--from the massive pylon towers, colossal statues, and obelisks that fronted many temples to the darkened sanctuaries and mysterious crypts of their inner depths. * "Between Heaven and Earth" discusses the temple's relationship to the pantheon of Egypt's gods, along with the roles and rituals of pharaohs and priests, and the sacred rites and festivals enacted there. * "Temples of Gods and Kings" is the most extensive catalogue of Egyptian temples yet published in one volume and serves as a guide to the ancient sites. The book's format follows the highly successful, visual style of the other volumes in Thames Hudson's best-selling "Complete" series, creating both an authoritative reference book and an entertaining guide for everyone fascinated by the eternal mysteries of ancient Egypt.

Herodotus: The Father of History


Elizabeth Vandiver - 2000
    2353Taught by Elizabeth VandiverWhitman CollegePh.D., The University of Texas at Austin

Atlantis, Alien Visitation & Genetic Manipulation


Michael Tsarion - 2000
    Central to this is the question of evil. How did this phenomenon come into being? What do ancient legends have to tell us about the present state of decay?Born in Ireland Michael Tsarion has made the deepest researches into the comparative mythologies of the world and into his own countries ancient and mysterious Celtic Tradition. Michael's presentations on Atlantis, Lemuria and the prediluvian epoch have been acclaimed by veterans in the field of paranormal research. In the tradition of Comyns Beaumont, Immanuel Velikovsky, William Bramley, Barbara Marciniak, Laurence Gardener and Erich von Daniken, Michael considers the consequences to civilization of extra-terrestrial involvement and seeks to clarify many of the quandaries that other “visitation” experts have overlooked. His book seeks to clarify much of the disinformation about Atlantis and the lost continents of prehistory. He also concentrates on the orchestrated chaos of modern times and reveals how the political and military machinations of the present have their roots in the ancient past.

Roman Warfare


Adrian Goldsworthy - 2000
    Accompany these unparalleled troops from the conquest of Italy thru to world conquest. Watch as defeated armies became allies & future Roman soldiers. Consider the irony of extreme brutality & repression leading to peace & prosperity. All the techniques & the organization of this amazingly advanced fighting force come into focus, from the emphasis on drills to its superior technology & complex bureaucracy.

Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya


Simon Martin - 2000
    Written by two of the foremost experts on Mayan hieroglyphic decipherment, this book includes a concise text accompanied by a timeline, illustrations, maps, photographs, useful summaries and guides to decipherment and spellings. It outlines the major periods of history and aspects of Mayan culture before focusing on issues of divinity, power and authority, the royal court, war, death and burial and politics for each of the kingdoms studied: Tikal, Dos Pilas, Naranjo, Caracol, Calakmul, Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Palenque, Tonina, Copan and Quirigua.

Adventures in Ancient Egypt


Linda Bailey - 2000
    Kids will love the book's contemporary comic-book look with its zany illustrations, speech balloons and guidebook. Parents and teachers will love the well-researched story lines and solid factual information. In this book, the Binkerton twins, Josh and Emma, and their little sister, Libby, stumble into the Good Times Travel Agency and take a once-in-a-lifetime trip back to Ancient Egypt!

Famous Romans


J. Rufus Fears - 2000
    Publius Cornelius Scipio 2. Hannibal 3. Gaius Flaminius 4. Quintus Fabius Maximus 5. Scipio Africanus the Elder 6. Scipio the Younger 7. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus 8. Crassus 9. Gaius Julius Caesar 10. Caesar and Vercingetorix 11. Pompey the Great 12. Cato the Younger 13. Brutus and the Opposition to Caesar 14. Cicero 15. Augustus 16. Vergil 17. Claudius 18. Nero 19. Trajan 20. Hadrian 21. Epictetus 22. Apuleius 23. Plutarch, Suetonius, and Tacitus 24. Marcus Aurelius

The Africans Who Wrote the Bible


Nana Banchie Darkwah - 2000
    Did you know that Jews originated from black African tribes? Did you know that Jesus and the people of the Bible were black people? Did you know that the names of authors of the Old Testament are African tribal names? Did you know that modern Jews still carry tribal names. Did you know that the word Israel is an African word? These are some of the ancient secrets this book reveals to readers.

The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt


Ian Shaw - 2000
    Ranging from 700,000 BC to 311 AD, this volume portrays the emergence and development of Egypt from its prehistoric roots to its conquest by the Roman Empire. The contributors--all leading scholars working at the cutting edge of Egyptology--incorporate the latest findings in archaeological research as they chart the principal political events of Egyptian history, from the rise of the Pharaohs and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, to the ascension of the Ptolemies and the coming of Roman legions. The book also includes the first detailed examinations of three periods which were previously regarded as dark ages. Against the backdrop of the birth and death of ruling dynasties, the writers also examine cultural and social patterns, including stylistic developments in art and literature, monumental architecture, funerary beliefs, and much more. The contributors illuminate the underlying patterns of social and political change and describe the changing face of ancient Egypt, from the biographical details of individuals to the social and economic factors that shaped the lives of the people as a whole. The only up-to-date, single-volume history of ancient Egypt available in English, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt is a must read for everyone interested in one of the great civilizations of antiquity.

Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs


James Rumford - 2000
    For Jean-Francois Champollion, the dream was to sail up the Nile in Egypt and uncover the secrets of the past. In 1802, when Champollion was eleven years old, he vowed to be the first person to read Egypt's ancient hieroglyphs. He faced great challenges over the next twenty years as he searched for the elusive key to the mysterious writing—and the fulfillment of his dreams.

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World


Richard J.A. Talbert - 2000
    Book by

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy!: Disgusting Things You'd Rather Not Know


David Stewart - 2000
    You Wouldn't Want to... revels in the darker side of life in ancient times. The reader is on center stage as he or she gets a tour through life as a slave, warrior, explorer -- even a mummy! Hilarious illustrations, captions, and sidebars leave no doubt that you simply wouldn't want to be there.

Everything You Know is Wrong


Lloyd Pye - 2000
    Ironically, that debate has only two socially acceptable sides: Darwinism and Creationism. Darwinists support the detailed observations and speculations of a brilliant naturalist, while Creationists support the various interpreters of the Bible’s scriptural teachings. Despite the passion and intellect exhibited by both sides as they defend their positions, millions of people remain unconvinced by the arguments of either. For those individuals, it is time to present a viable, comprehensive, third option, Rationalism, which is the formation of ideas and opinions based on evidence and reasoning rather than on secular authority or divine revelation. Everything You Know Is Wrong stakes out a solid, defendable, entirely new position in the debate about life origins and human origins. That position is bolstered by an astonishing array of scientific facts either unmentioned or conspicuously ignored by the two currently entrenched camps. By utilizing such a fact-based format, this book’s presentation of Rationalism offers a far more convincing explanation for the origins of life, and particularly of human life, than Darwinism or Creationism ever have….or ever will.

Ancient Rome: Monuments Past and Present


Romolo Augusto Staccioli - 2000
    Important monuments and districts are presented with overlays that clearly depict how these notable ancient sites look today and how they may have appeared when first built. These titles are excellent resources for travelers, students, and anyone else interested in the fascinating histories of these ancient regions. Beginning with the Colosseum, the symbol of "The Eternal City," this volume explores twenty-four significant ancient landmarks such as the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, the Pantheon, and the Appain Way.

The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mysteries of the Earliest Peoples from the West


J.P. Mallory - 2000
    For thousands of years the occupants of the barren wastes and oases that would later become the Silk Road buried their dead in the desiccating sands of the Taklimakan, the second greatest desert on earth. This arid environment, preserving body and clothing, allows an unparalleled glimpse into the lives and appearance of a prehistoric people: these are the faces of ancient Indo-Europeans who settled in the Tarim Basin on the western rim of China some four millennia ago, 2000 years before West and East recognized each other's existence. The book examines the clues left by physical remains; economy, technology, and textiles; and traces of local languages. It is the definitive account of one of the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of recent times. 190 illustrations, 13 in color.

Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology


Paul T. Nicholson - 2000
    Drawing on archaeological, experimental, ethnographic and laboratory work, it is the first book since the 1920s to describe current research into the actual basics of life in Pharaonic Egypt. The twenty-five chapters, by well-regarded scholars, present up-to-date and accessible information on a wide array of techniques.

The First Fossil Hunters: Paleontology in Greek and Roman Times


Adrienne Mayor - 2000
    But what if these beings were more than merely fictions? What if monstrous creatures once roamed the earth in the very places where their legends first arose? This is the arresting and original thesis that Adrienne Mayor explores in The First Fossil Hunters. Through careful research and meticulous documentation, she convincingly shows that many of the giants and monsters of myth did have a basis in fact--in the enormous bones of long-extinct species that were once abundant in the lands of the Greeks and Romans.As Mayor shows, the Greeks and Romans were well aware that a different breed of creatures once inhabited their lands. They frequently encountered the fossilized bones of these primeval beings, and they developed sophisticated concepts to explain the fossil evidence, concepts that were expressed in mythological stories. The legend of the gold-guarding griffin, for example, sprang from tales first told by Scythian gold-miners, who, passing through the Gobi Desert at the foot of the Altai Mountains, encountered the skeletons of Protoceratops and other dinosaurs that littered the ground.Like their modern counterparts, the ancient fossil hunters collected and measured impressive petrified remains and displayed them in temples and museums; they attempted to reconstruct the appearance of these prehistoric creatures and to explain their extinction. Long thought to be fantasy, the remarkably detailed and perceptive Greek and Roman accounts of giant bone finds were actually based on solid paleontological facts. By reading these neglected narratives for the first time in the light of modern scientific discoveries, Adrienne Mayor illuminates a lost world of ancient paleontology. As Peter Dodson writes in his Foreword, "Paleontologists, classicists, and historians as well as natural history buffs will read this book with the greatest of delight--surprises abound."

The School of History: Athens in the Age of Socrates


Mark Munn - 2000
    This remarkable age produced such luminaries as Socrates, Herodotus, Thucydides, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and the sophists, and set the stage for the education and early careers of Plato and Xenophon, among others. The School of History provides the fullest and most detailed intellectual and political history available of Athens during the late fifth century b.c.e., as it examines the background, the context, and the decisive events shaping this society in the throes of war. This expansive, readable narrative ultimately leads to a new understanding of Athenian democratic culture, showing why and how it yielded such extraordinary intellectual productivity. As both a source and a subject, Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War is the central text around which the narrative and thematic issues of the book revolve. Munn re-evaluates the formation of the Greek historiographical tradition itself as he identifies the conditions that prompted Thucydides to write--specifically the historian's desire to guide the Athenian democracy as it struggled to comprehend its future. The School of History fully encompasses recent scholarship in history, literature, and archaeology. Munn's impressive mastery of the huge number of sources and publications informs his substantial contributions to our understanding of this democracy transformed by war. Immersing us fully in the intellectual foment of Athenian society, The School of History traces the history of Athens at the peak of its influence, both as a political and military power in its own time and as a source of intellectual inspiration for the centuries to come. A Main Selection of the History Book Club

Historical Atlas of the Ancient World 4.000.000 - 500 BC


John Haywood - 2000
    Combining superbly detailed maps with a wealth of supporting narrative and an invaluable A-Z historical encyclopedia, it provides not only unique perspectives on the broad sweep of world history but also detailed coverage of regional developments, presenting hard facts and expert interpretation in a form that is both readily accessible and visually exciting. Planned with both the expert and the amateur historian very much in mind, the Historial Atlas of the Ancient World forms a highly accessible, beautifully presented survey that will prove ideal for quick reference or more leisurely browsing.

The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy


Jonathan Barnes - 2000
    320 BC) until 100 B.C.--has over the last decade received a considerable amount of renewed scholarly attention. This history is organized by subject, rather than chronologically or by philosophical school, with sections on logic, epistemology, physics and metaphysics, ethics and politics. Written by specialists, it is intended to be a reference for any student of ancient philosophy. Greek and Latin are used sparingly and always translated in the main text.

Prehistoric World (World History)


Fiona Chandler - 2000
    It chronicles when life first appeared on Earth, why dinosaurs died out and how people survived the last Ice Age, covering a period up to 10,000BC. The book offers colourful maps showing the changing shapes of continents, the movement of people around the world and the development of life on Earth and presents detailed reconstructions and photographs of prehistoric artefacts.

A Concise Dictionary Of Akkadian


Tina Breckwoldt - 2000
    until the time of Christ. It was widely adopted in the ancient Near East as a written vehicle for scholarship, literature, legal and diplomatic affairs. It is the language of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurapi, the inscriptions of the kings of Assyria and Babylonia and countless legal and administrative documents.A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian has been prepared for the convenience of students and scholars on the basis of Wolfram von Sodens Akkadisches Handworterbuch updated with reference to the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and other sources. It aims to include all certainly attested words with variant forms, dialect and period distribution, logographic writings and English meanings (but not textual citations). A list of roots assists in tracking down the right entries.

The Crystal Sun: Rediscovering a Lost Technology of the Ancient World


Robert K.G. Temple - 2000
    Robert Temple’s real-life detective story proves them wrong. His research began with the discovery that an ancient artifact in the British Museum, believed to be a piece of rock crystal, had, in fact, been ground to form a lens.In this fascinating book, one of the most revolutionary studies in the history of science and civilization to be published for decades, Robert Temple reconstructs the story of light technology in ancient civilization. Dating back at least to 2600 BC to Old Kingdom Egypt, but unknown to modern archaeologists and historians, a science of optics and a sophisticated technology for the manufacture of lenses was widespread and fundamental in ancient times. It inspired awe in cultures who used it, so became encoded in their mythologies and religions.From the Paperback edition.

Daughter of the Shining Isles


Elizabeth Cunningham - 2000
    Her Celtic Magdalen invites us to wonder how a woman trained in the mysteries of Druidism and ancient Celtic spirituality might have fallen under the spell of the young Jesus of Nazareth and cast her own magic over him. The evolving tale of love, challenge, and triumph will captivate readers seeking fresh perspectives into the Celtic and Christian elements of our Western spiritual heritage.-Tom Cowan, author of "Fire in the Head, Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit""Cunningham wears her reverence at a such a rakish angle that it's easy to overlook the deeply religious sensibility that informs her work. In treating the pious and priggish denial of Christ's physicality as the set-up for her outlandish comic effects, she is fall-out-of-your-chair funny. She could crack up the Mater Dolorosa. But she is also mounting a serious challenge to that denial. Nor does she spare the more recent pieties of New Age spirituality, which tend to bury the personality of Magdalen under a mawkish heap of female archetypes. Her mouthy Magdalen won't sit still for being anyone's icon or emblem. She is here to tell you that Jesus, her friend, sweetheart and "cosmic sibling rival" was adorably, poignantly--and sometimes annoyingly--human. In less grace-full hands, this sassy treatment might amount to no more than a smart-aleck deconstruction of Christ's divinity. But Cunningham is up to no such thing. She insists on humanity as one who sees in its every awkward aspect the image and likeness of God. Beneath her sense of the ridiculous and the ribald, is a subtext thatsings "Alleluia!" -Catherine MacCoun, author of "The Age of Miracles""Cunningham has outdone herself. Always an imaginative writer, as such books as The Return of the Goddess and The Wild Mother show, Cunningham here mixes Celtic mythology with the emergent feminist tradition of the Magdalen to create a powerful and spiritually charged visionary novel. Red-haired Maeve was born on the legendary Isle of Women, where her weather-witching mothers (yes, the plural is intentional) raise her to be utterly self-assured as

Property and Wealth in Classical Sparta


Stephen Hodkinson - 2000
    Yet property and wealth played a critical role in her history. Classical Sparta's success rested upon a compromise between rich and poor citizens. Economic differences were masked by a uniform lifestyle and a communal sharing of resources. Over time, however, increasing inequalities led to a plutocratic society and to the decline of Spartan power. Using an innovative combination of historical, archaeological and sociological methods, Stephen Hodkinson challenges traditional views of Sparta's isolation from general Greek culture. This volume is the first major monograph-length discussion of a subject on which the author is recognised as the leading international authority.

Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh


Joyce A. Tyldesley - 2000
    Ramesses II was the archetypal Egyptian pharoah: a mighty warrior, an extravagant builder and the father of scores of children. His momuments and image were to be found in every corner of the Egyptian empire. This is his amazing story.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt


Donald B. Redford - 2000
    The Encyclopedia offers the most complete picture available of ancient Egyptian civilization, from the predynastic era to its eclipse in the seventh century CE. Here is the Egyptian world in illuminating, accessible detail: art, architecture, religion, language, literature, trade, politics, everyday social life and the culture of the court. Of special interest is the coverage of themes and issues that are particularly controversial--such as the new theories of the origins of complex society in the Nile Valley, new discoveries about Greco-Roman Egypt, and new developments in literature, religion, linguistics and other fields, including the debates about Egypt's African legacy. Extensively illustrated with photographs, line drawings, and maps, the Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt is designed for the widest possible access, serving students, teachers, and scholars in fields ranging from Near East archaeology and classics to ancient art, architecture, history, language and religion, as well as general readers fascinated by a world that remains--even today--incompletely mapped.

Etruscan Civilization: A Cultural History


Sybille Haynes - 2000
    to its absorption by Rome in the first century B.C., combines well-known aspects of the Etruscan world with new discoveries and fresh insights into the role of women in Etruscan society. In addition, the Etruscans are contrasted to the Greeks, whom they often emulated, and to the Romans, who at once admired and disdained them. The result is a compelling and complete picture of a people and a culture.This in-depth examination of Etruria examines how differing access to mineral wealth, trade routes, and agricultural land led to distinct regional variations. Heavily illustrated with ancient Etruscan art and cultural objects, the text is organized both chronologically and thematically, interweaving archaeological evidence, analysis of social structure, descriptions of trade and burial customs, and an examination of pottery and works of art.

Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power, and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature


Kim Haines-Eitzen - 2000
    Who were the scribes that copied early Christian literature during the second and third centuries? What roles did they play in the reproduction and dissemination of these writings? To answer these questions, this study utilizes evidence from early Christian literature and the earliest Christian papyri--including their form, physical features, and textual characteristics.

Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge


Jacques Brunschwig - 2000
    In more than sixty essays by an international team of scholars, this volume explores the full breadth and reach of Greek thought--investigating what the Greeks knew as well as what they thought about what they knew, and what they believed, invented, and understood about the conditions and possibilities of knowing. Calling attention to the characteristic reflexivity of Greek thought, the analysis in this book reminds us of what our own reflections owe to theirs.In sections devoted to philosophy, politics, the pursuit of knowledge, major thinkers, and schools of thought, this work shows us the Greeks looking at themselves, establishing the terms for understanding life, language, production, and action. The authors evoke not history, but the stories the Greeks told themselves about history; not their poetry, but their poetics; not their speeches, but their rhetoric. Essays that survey political, scientific, and philosophical ideas, such as those on Utopia and the Critique of Politics, Observation and Research, and Ethics; others on specific fields from Astronomy and History to Mathematics and Medicine; new perspectives on major figures, from Anaxagoras to Zeno of Elea; studies of core traditions from the Milesians to the various versions of Platonism: together these offer a sense of the unquenchable thirst for knowledge that marked Greek civilization--and that Aristotle considered a natural and universal trait of humankind. With thirty-two pages of color illustrations, this work conveys the splendor and vitality of the Greek intellectual adventure.

Roman Clothing and Fashion


Alexandra Croom - 2000
    In this richly illustrated survey Alexandra Croom describes the range and style of clothing worn throughout the Western Empire and shows how fashions changed between the first and the sixth centuries. After a short introduction to the evidence (from archaeology, art and literature), and to the manufacture of clothing and its use in status display, she systematically treats male and female dress, looking at the tunic, toga (for men), mantle (for women) and cloaks; underwear, footwear and specialist wear; hats, hairstyles and jewellery. The book concentrates on the clothing work in the Mediterranean region, but includes a section on provincial fashions. A fine and varied corpus of illustrations (including colour plates) helps to bring the everyday world of the Roman Empire to life.

The Dark Age Of Greece: An Archaeological Survey Of The Eleventh To The Eighth Centuries Bc


A.M. Snodgrass - 2000
    The author argues that this era was in truth a dark age, from the perspective both of scholarship and the people who lived through it conscious of lost skills and departed glories. The recession was caused, he demonstrates, not by external factors but by aprocess of internal collapse.

Schottenstein Daf Yomi Edition of the Talmud : English Berachos Volume 1 (folios 2a-30b)


Mesorah - 2000
    

Asclepius: The God Of Medicine


Gerald D. Hart - 2000
    It offers a wide-ranging survey and discussion of the god Asclepius in the ancient world of Greece and Rome based upon first-hand evidence.

The End of Kings: A History of Republics and Republicans


William R. Everdell - 2000
    Breathtaking in its scope, Everdell's book moves from the Hebrew Bible, Solon's Athens and Brutus's Rome to the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson and the Watergate proceedings during which Nixon resigned. Along the way, he carefully builds a definition of "republic" which distinguishes democratic republics from aristocratic ones for both history and political science. In a new foreword, Everdell addresses the impeachment trial of President Clinton and argues that impeachment was never meant to punish private crimes. Ultimately, Everdell's brilliant analysis helps us understand how examining the past can shed light on the present."[An] energetic, aphoristic, wide-ranging book."—Marcus Cunliffe, Washington Post Book World"Ambitious in conception and presented in a clear and sprightly prose. . . . [This] excellent study . . . is the best statement of the republican faith since Alphonse Aulard's essays almost a century ago." —Choice"A book which ought to be in the hand of every American who agrees with Benjamin Franklin that the Founding Fathers gave us a Republic and hoped that we would be able to keep it."-Sam J. Ervin, Jr.

Edge of Empire: Rome's Frontier on the Lower Rhine


Jona Lendering - 2000
    The reality was different. The presence of the Roman army along the River Rhine radically changed the way of life in the small Roman province of Germania Inferior, and the need to maintain and feed this large army became a significant incentive for economic change. The tribes living along the lower reaches of The Rhine and close to the North Sea gradually began to resemble their occupiers.

Pompeii: Life in a Roman Town


Annamaria Ciarallo - 2000
    The volume includes objects, paintings and diagrams depicting every aspect of existence.

Early Irish Kingship and Succession


Bart Jaski - 2000
    Among them are sacral kingship, seniority, qualification for succession, and the heir appa

A History of Israel


John Bright - 2000
    Brown, John Bright's A History of Israel will continue to be a standard for a new generation of students of the Old Testament. This book remains a classic in the literature of theological education.

An Egyptian Tomb


Brian Moses - 2000
    Each title focuses on a unique facet of ancient Rome, Elizabethan England, ancient Egypt, and ancient Greece. The short, to-the-point text is accompanied by quotes from historical sources. This series offers an insider's view of these sites that typify four rich cultures.

The Jewish Political Tradition: Volume I: Authority


Michael Walzer - 2000
    Each volume includes a selection of texts from the Bible and Talmud, midrashic literature, legal responsa, treatises, and pamphlets annotated for modern readers and accompanied by new commentaries written by eminent philosophers, lawyers, political theorists, and other scholars working in different fields of Jewish studies. These contributors join the arguments of the texts, agreeing or disagreeing, elaborating, refining, qualifying, and sometimes repudiating the political views of the original authors. The series brings the little-known and unexplored Jewish tradition of political thinking and writing into the light, showing where and how it resonates in the state of Israel, the chief diaspora settlements, and, more broadly, modern political experience. The first volume, Authority, addresses the basic question of who ought to rule the community: what claims to rule have been put forward from the time of the exodus from Egypt to the establishment of the state of Israel? How are such claims disputed and defended? What constitutes legit

The Age Of Charles Martel


Paul Fouracre - 2000
    Describes Charles Martel's rise to power in medieval France and his involvement in the development of the feudal system.

Prehistory Egypt


Beatrix Midant-Reynes - 2000
    This books covers the history of the Nile Valley from Nubia to the Mediterranean, during the period from the earliest hominid settlement, around 700,000 BC to the beginnings of dynastic Egypt at the end of the fourth millennium BC.

Ancient Greece: Using Evidence


Pamela Bradley - 2000
    A prologue introduces the reader to the various types of source material used by historians, and wherever possible the most relevant examples of this - both written and archaeological - have been provided or referred to, giving the benefit of firsthand contact with the sources. The text would be used most effectively in conjunction with the most recent publication of the written sources. The book contains many photographs, maps and diagrams, and includes time lines, summaries, mapping exercises and study questions through which the reader comes to grip with the major issues. This is not only an excellent preparation for examinations in Ancient History, but also a very readable and entertaining account of the main periods in the history of ancient Greece.

The Piri Reis Map of 1513


Gregory C. McIntosh - 2000
    Gregory McIntosh has uncovered new evidence in the map that shows it to be among the most important ever made.This detailed study offers new commentary and explication of a major milestone in cartography. Correcting earlier work of Paul Kahle and pointing out the traps that have caught subsequent scholars, McIntosh disproves the dubious conclusion that the Reis map embodied Columbus's Third Voyage map of 1498, showing that it draws instead on the Second Voyage of 1493-1496. He also refutes the popular misinterpretation that Reis's depictions of Antarctica are evidence of either ancient civilizations or extraterrestrial visitation. McIntosh brings together all that has been previously known about the map and also assembles for the first time the translations of all inscriptions on the map and analyzes all place-names given for New World and Atlantic islands. His work clarifies long-standing mysteries and opens up new ways of looking at the history of exploration.

Democracy in Classical Athens


Christopher Carey - 2000
    This was not a parliamentary democracy of the modern sort but a direct democracy in which all citizens were free to participate in the business of government. Throughout this period Athens was a cultural centre of Greece and one of the major Greek powers. This book traces the development and operation of the political systems and explores its underlying principles. Christopher Carey assesses the ancient sources of the history of Athenian democracy an evaluates criticisms of the system, ancient and modern. He also provides a virtual tour of the political cityscape of ancient Athens, describing the main political sites and structures, including the theatre.Aimed at the general reader, as well as students at school and undergraduate level, this second edition is a generously illustrated and concise guide to a political system that continues to capture the modern imagination.

Great Captains of Antiquity


Richard A. Gabriel - 2000
    H. Lidell-Hart's Great Captains by offering detailed portraits of six great captains of the ancient world who met the challenges of their age and shaped the future of their societies, and civilization itself, through their actions. He analyzes the lives of Thutmose III of Egypt, Sargon II of Assyria, Philip II of Macedon, Hannibal of Carthage, Scipio Africanus of Republican Rome, and Caesar Augustus of Imperial Rome for the lessons contemporary leaders, particularly military leaders, can learn.While all were great military men, with the exception of Caesar Augustus, they were also great political leaders who, in this capacity more often than through their feats of arms, shaped their societies. All were educated men, and all possessed the quality of imaginative reasoning. A provocative analysis for scholars, students, and general readers of military history and the ancient world. Military personnel will find the parallels to current military organization and thinking particularly valuable.

Egypt and the Ancient Near East


Peter F. Dorman - 2000
    From Neo-Assyrian winged lions of the 9th century BC to the stunning silver head of a 4th-century AD Sasanian king, this beautifully photographed book from the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the art of Egypt and the Near East through close examinations of 118 outstanding pieces, illustrated with large color plates.

The Forgotten Man of Christmas: Joseph's Story


Howard Edington - 2000
    Warm and inspiring, readers are given insight into the strength demonstrated by this carpenter who took on the role of Mary's husband and the stepfather of the Son of God. The secondary story told by the author (one of the great living Biblical story tellers) is of the important role adoptive fathers in general (the author and his wife raised three adopted children). Has the potential to become a Christmas classic -- a book for which copyright means very little and which the powerful story will span generations.

Secrets Of The Stone Age: A Prehistoric Journey With Richard Rudgley


Richard Rudgley - 2000
    Illustrated with 150 color photos.