Best of
Ancient-History

2014

Augustus: First Emperor of Rome


Adrian Goldsworthy - 2014
    Thrusting himself into Rome’s extremely violent politics while yet a very young man, Augustus skillfully maneuvered his way through twisting alliances during years of civil war. Named heir to the murdered Julius Caesar, he outwitted and outlasted far more experienced rivals like Antony and Brutus. Ruling supreme, he reinvented himself as a benevolent man of peace and created a new system of government.   In this highly anticipated biography Goldsworthy puts his deep knowledge of ancient sources to full use, recounting the events of Augustus’ long life in greater detail than ever before. Goldsworthy pins down the man behind the myths: a consummate manipulator, propagandist, and showman, both generous and ruthless. Under Augustus’ rule the empire prospered, yet his success was never assured and the events of his life unfolded with exciting unpredictability. Goldsworthy captures the passion and savagery, the public image and private struggles of the real man whose epic life continues to influence Western history.

Masters of Rome Collection Books I - V: First Man in Rome, The Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites, Caesar's Women, Caesar


Colleen McCullough - 2014
    From the marbled columns of the Senate to the squalid slums of the Subura, the city is about to be plunged into a conflict that will set rich against poor, Roman against Italian, father against son, a conflict destined to destroy the Republic but leave, in its stead, an Empire. From the seven hills of Rome to the Sahara desert, from Britannia to Bithynia, here is the stuff of legend: unbearable cruelty, martial brilliance, murderous ambition and heroic destiny. Colleen McCullough's epic MASTERS OF ROME captures the soul of Rome in a way no other writer has ever managed. Included in this box set are the novels: THE FIRST MAN IN ROME. THE GRASS CROWN. FORTUNE'S FAVOURITES. CAESAR'S WOMEN. CAESAR. Please note: This ebook contains all the original maps and illustration.

The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World


Adrienne Mayor - 2014
    Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons.But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China.Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons—Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China.Driven by a detective's curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero


James Romm - 2014
    . . the narrative verve of a born writer and the erudition of a scholar” —Daniel  Mendelsohn) and editor of The Landmark Arrian:The Campaign of Alexander (“Thrilling” —The New York Times Book Review), a  high-stakes drama full of murder, madness, tyranny, perversion, with the sweep of history on the grand scale. At the center, the tumultuous life of Seneca, ancient Rome’s preeminent writer and philosopher, beginning with banishment in his fifties and subsequent appointment as tutor to twelve-year-old Nero, future emperor of Rome. Controlling them both, Nero’s mother, Julia Agrippina the Younger, Roman empress, great-granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece and fourth wife of Emperor Claudius.             James Romm seamlessly weaves together the life and written words, the moral struggles, political intrigue, and bloody vengeance that enmeshed Seneca the Younger in the twisted imperial family and the perverse, paranoid regime of Emperor Nero, despot and madman. Romm writes that Seneca watched over Nero as teacher, moral guide, and surrogate father, and, at seventeen, when Nero abruptly ascended to become emperor of Rome, Seneca, a man never avid for political power became, with Nero, the ruler of the Roman Empire. We see how Seneca was able to control his young student, how, under Seneca’s influence, Nero ruled with intelligence and moderation, banned capital punishment, reduced taxes, gave slaves the right to file complaints against their owners, pardoned prisoners arrested for sedition. But with time, as Nero grew vain and disillusioned, Seneca was unable to hold sway over the emperor, and between Nero’s mother, Agrippina—thought to have poisoned her second husband, and her third, who was her uncle (Claudius), and rumored to have entered into an incestuous relationship with her son—and Nero’s father, described by Suetonius as a murderer and cheat charged with treason, adultery, and incest, how long could the young Nero have been contained?             Dying Every Day is a portrait of Seneca’s moral struggle in the midst of madness and excess. In his treatises, Seneca preached a rigorous ethical creed, exalting heroes who defied danger to do what was right or embrace a noble death. As Nero’s adviser, Seneca was presented with a more complex set of choices, as the only man capable of summoning the better aspect of Nero’s nature, yet, remaining at Nero’s side and colluding in the evil regime he created.Dying Every Day is the first book to tell the compelling and nightmarish story of the philosopher-poet who was almost a king, tied to a tyrant—as Seneca, the paragon of reason, watched his student spiral into madness and whose descent saw five family murders, the Fire of Rome, and a savage purge that destroyed the supreme minds of the Senate’s golden age.

The She-King: The Complete Saga


Libbie Hawker - 2014
    M. Ironside's saga of the Thutmosides of ancient Egypt. This set contains: The Sekhmet Bed: Book 1 Thirteen-year-old Ahmose is given as Great Royal Wife to the new king, to legitimize his rule. But her elder sister Mutnofret has been raised to expect the privileged station. As Ahmose fights the currents of Egypt's politics and Mutnofret's vengeful anger, her youth and inexperience carry her beyond her depth and into the realm of sacrilege. To right her wrongs and save Egypt from the gods' wrath, Ahmose must face her most visceral fear: bearing an heir. But the gods of Egypt are exacting, and even her sacrifice may not be enough to restore the Two Lands to safety. The Crook and Flail: Book 2 Hatshepsut longs for power, but a woman on the throne defies the sacred order. As God's Wife of Amun, she believes she has found the perfect balance of peace and order. But when the powerful men of Egypt plot to replace her, she must decide whether to surrender her birthright to a man, or take for herself the throne of the Pharaoh. Sovereign of Stars: Book 3 Never in Egypt's long history has a woman reigned as king. As Hatshepsut wrestles with foreign enemies and domestic politics, her heart grows ever more troubled, for her daughter Neferure is haunted by a brutal and demanding god. Hatshepsut's fight to retain her hold on power, peace, and Neferure will carry her on an incomparable journey to the legendary kingdom of Punt. There, in the god's own valley, she must confront the bleakness of fate and the terrible frailty of eternity. The Bull of Min: Book 4 Conspiracy and treason simmer in the Two Lands. When an unexpected challenger to the succession arises, the royal family must face impossible choices. To protect what she most loves, the young queen Meryet will match wits against a demon from the past. Hatshepsut stands on the brink of the ultimate sacrifice. And Thutmose, torn between throne and family, must commit an unthinkable act against Hatshepsut...or allow Egypt to fall into the hands of an unpredictable killer.

The Byzantine Republic: People and Power in New Rome


Anthony Kaldellis - 2014
    Here, in a revolutionary model of Byzantine politics and society, Anthony Kaldellis reconnects Byzantium to its Roman roots, arguing that from the fifth to the twelfth centuries CE the Eastern Roman Empire was essentially a republic, with power exercised on behalf of the people and sometimes by them too. The Byzantine Republic recovers for the historical record a less autocratic, more populist Byzantium whose Greek-speaking citizens considered themselves as fully Roman as their Latin-speaking ancestors. Kaldellis shows that the idea of Byzantium as a rigid imperial theocracy is a misleading construct of Western historians since the Enlightenment. With court proclamations often draped in Christian rhetoric, the notion of divine kingship emerged as a way to disguise the inherent vulnerability of each regime. The legitimacy of the emperors was not predicated on an absolute right to the throne but on the popularity of individual emperors, whose grip on power was tenuous despite the stability of the imperial institution itself. Kaldellis examines the overlooked Byzantine concept of the polity, along with the complex relationship of emperors to the law and the ways they bolstered their popular acceptance and avoided challenges. The rebellions that periodically rocked the empire were not aberrations, he shows, but an essential part of the functioning of the republican monarchy.

The Lost Art of Resurrection


Freddy Silva - 2014
    For centuries, every esoteric and Gnostic sect was aware that the literal interpretation of the resurrection of Christ promoted by the Church was a fraud. And with good reason: thousands of years before Jesus, initiates from Egypt and China to Celtic Britain and North America practiced a mystical ritual, and its adepts - from Zoroaster to Plato -regarded the experience as the pinnacle of spiritual development: a life-altering awakening that disclosed insights into the nature of reality and the self. But more importantly, as outlined on the walls of a secret chamber beneath one Egyptian pyramid, the experience of resurrection was not meant for the dead, but for the living. Its initiates were referred to as' risen from the dead'. Blending ancient traditions, science and first-hand accounts, this book offers a unique insight into living resurrection; the purpose of initiation; the cultures and societies who practiced it; the revelation of Jesus as a reenactment of the resurrection of Osiris; why initiates protected its secrets with their lives; and why the Church preferred you didn't know about this.

The Chickamauga Campaign—Glory or the Grave: The Breakthrough, the Union Collapse, and the Defense of Horseshoe Ridge, September 20, 1863


David A. Powell - 2014
    The name lived up to that grim sobriquet in September 1863 when the Union Army of the Cumberland and Confederate Army of Tennessee waged a sprawling bloody combat along the banks of West Chickamauga Creek. This installment of Powell s tour-de-force depicts the final day of battle, when the Confederate army attacked and broke through the Union lines, triggering a massive rout, an incredible defensive stand atop Snodgrass Hill, and a confused retreat and pursuit into Chattanooga. Powell presents all of this with clarity and precision by weaving nearly 2,000 primary accounts with his own cogent analysis. The result is a rich and deep portrait of the fighting and command relationships on a scale never before attempted or accomplished.His upcoming third volume, Analysis of a Barren Victory, will conclude the set with careful insight into the fighting and its impact on the war, Powell s detailed research into the strengths and losses of the two armies, and an exhaustive bibliography.Powell's magnum opus, complete with original maps, photos, and illustrations, is the culmination of many years of research and study, coupled with a complete understanding of the battlefield s complex terrain system. For any student of the Civil War in general, or the Western Theater in particular, Powell s trilogy is a must-read.

Who Was Julius Caesar?


Nico Medina - 2014
    He saw. He conquered. Julius Caesar was a force to be reckoned with as a savvy politician, an impressive orator, and a brave soldier. Born in Rome in 100 BC, he quickly climbed the ladder of Roman politics, making allies--and enemies--along the way. His victories in battle awarded him the support of the people, but flush from power, he named himself dictator for life. The good times, however, would not last much longer. On the Ides of March, Caesar was brutally assassinated by a group of senators determined to end his tyranny, bringing his reign to an end.

The Parthenon Enigma


Joan Breton Connelly - 2014
    Since the Enlightenment, it has also come to represent our political ideals, the lavish temple to the goddess Athena serving as the model for our most hallowed civic architecture. But how much do the values of those who built the Parthenon truly correspond with our own? And apart from the significance with which we have invested it, what exactly did this marvel of human hands mean to those who made it?In this revolutionary book, Joan Breton Connelly challenges our most basic assumptions about the Parthenon and the ancient Athenians. Beginning with the natural environment and its rich mythic associations, she re-creates the development of the Acropolis—the Sacred Rock at the heart of the city-state—from its prehistoric origins to its Periklean glory days as a constellation of temples among which the Parthenon stood supreme. In particular, she probes the Parthenon’s legendary frieze: the 525-foot-long relief sculpture that originally encircled the upper reaches before it was partially destroyed by Venetian cannon fire (in the seventeenth century) and most of what remained was shipped off to Britain (in the nineteenth century) among the Elgin marbles. The frieze’s vast enigmatic procession—a dazzling pageant of cavalrymen and elders, musicians and maidens—has for more than two hundred years been thought to represent a scene of annual civic celebration in the birthplace of democracy. But thanks to a once-lost play by Euripides (the discovery of which, in the wrappings of a Hellenistic Egyptian mummy, is only one of this book’s intriguing adventures), Connelly has uncovered a long-buried meaning, a story of human sacrifice set during the city’s mythic founding. In a society startlingly preoccupied with cult ritual, this story was at the core of what it meant to be Athenian. Connelly reveals a world that beggars our popular notions of Athens as a city of staid philosophers, rationalists, and rhetoricians, a world in which our modern secular conception of democracy would have been simply incomprehensible.The Parthenon’s full significance has been obscured until now owing in no small part, Connelly argues, to the frieze’s dismemberment. And so her investigation concludes with a call to reunite the pieces, in order that what is perhaps the greatest single work of art surviving from antiquity may be viewed more nearly as its makers intended. Marshalling a breathtaking range of textual and visual evidence, full of fresh insights woven into a thrilling narrative that brings the distant past to life, The Parthenon Enigma is sure to become a landmark in our understanding of the civilization from which we claim cultural descent.

Cataclysm 90 BC: The Forgotten War That Almost Destroyed Rome


Philip Matyszak - 2014
    Yet at the start of the first century BC, Rome, outnumbered and out-generaled, faced a hostile army less than a week's march from the Capitol. It is probable that only a swift surrender prevented the city from being attacked and sacked. Before that point, three Roman consuls had died in battle, and two Roman armies had been soundly defeated - not in some foreign field, but in the heartland of Italy.So who were this enemy who so comprehensively knocked Rome to its knees? What army could successfully challenge the legions which had been undefeated from Spain to the Euphrates? And why is that success almost unknown today?These questions are answered in this book, a military and political history of the Social War of 90-88BC. This tells the story of the revolt of Rome's Italian allies (socii in Latin - hence the name of the war). Because these Italian allies had the arms, training and military systems of the Roman army which they usually fought alongside, all Rome's usual military advantages were nullified. This brought the war down to a clash of generals, with the Roman rivals Gaius Marius and Cornelius Sulla spending almost as much time in political intrigue as combat with the enemy. The Italian leaders had to manage an equally fractious coalition of peoples. Some tribes sought negotiation with Rome, and others would settle for nothing less than the total extermination of the city and its people.The interplay of personalities (the young Cicero, Cato, and Pompey were also protagonists); high-stakes politics and full-scale warfare combine with assassination; personal sacrifice and desperate measures (such as raising an army of freed slaves) to make for a taut, fast-paced tale.

Revolution and Counter Revolution in Ancient India


B.R. Ambedkar - 2014
    Ambedkar's volume of unpublished writings...

Understanding Greek and Roman Technology: From Catapult to the Pantheon


NOT A BOOK - 2014
    24 Lectures1 Technology in the Classical World2 The Substance of Technology—Materials3 From Quarry to Temple—Building in Stone4 Stone Masonry Perfected—The Greek Temple5 From Temple to Basilica—Timber Roof Systems6 Construction Revolution—Arches and Concrete7 Construction in Transition—The Colosseum8 The Genesis of a New Imperial Architecture9 The Most Celebrated Edifice—The Pantheon10 Cities by Design—The Rise of Urban Planning11 Connecting the Empire—Roads and Bridges12 From Source to City—Water Supply Systems13 Engineering a Roman Aqueduct14 Go with the Flow—Urban Water Distribution15 Paradigm and Paragon—Imperial Roman Baths16 Harnessing Animal Power—Land Transportation17 Leveraging Human Power—Construction Cranes18 Lifting Water with Human Power19 Milling Grain with Water Power20 Machines at War—Siege Towers and Rams21 Machines at War—Evolution of the Catapult22 Machines at Sea—Ancient Ships23 Reconstructing the Greek Trireme24 The Modern Legacy of Ancient Technology

Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide


Diana E. E. Kleiner - 2014
    E. Kleiner has shared her deep knowledge and passion for the history and architecture of ancient Rome with thousands of students, travelers, and enthusiasts through her lectures. She is indeed “the traveler’s best friend”—and now she has created an enhanced eBook that richly deserves that encomium as well. Professor Kleiner personally guides you through the great ruins of Rome and the Roman Empire, highlighting their most fascinating and important features with an extraordinary wealth of knowledge, insights and anecdotes. Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide offers readers over 250 appealing and enlightening visual images alongside accessible, concise descriptions that focus on precisely the most pertinent and meaningful information.. Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide is an indispensable—and enchanting—resource for travelers, architecture enthusiasts, historians, and all those with an interest in any aspect of the richly multi-faceted subject that is Roman architecture. At its most expansive, the Roman Empire stretched from the British Isles to Egypt; Rome was the ancient world’s greatest superpower. Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide takes us to the great buildings and engineering marvels of Rome and its empire, exploring not only Rome but also buildings preserved at Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ostia, Tivoli, North Italy, Sicily, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Jordan, Lebanon, and North Africa—allowing readers to trace the growth and expansion of the Roman Empire chronologically through its cities. Roman Architecture’s wealth of photographs and site plans of these intriguing structures are presented from the fresh perspective of an author who has journeyed to nearly all of the sites, revealing most of them through her own digital images. In addition, this interactive e-book makes learning about these monuments easier than ever, with handy maps and geolocation links that show you just where the monuments are and, if you’re traveling, how to get there. A fascinating introduction to some of history’s most compelling and influential architecture, Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide is an enthralling resource, whether one wishes to visit Rome in person or from afar.About the Author DIANA E. E. KLEINER is the Dunham Professor of History of Art and Classics at Yale University. A pioneer in online education, she is the Founding Director of Open Yale Courses, where she offers Roman Architecture as a free self-directed course. Kleiner has resided in Rome and Athens and has traveled extensively throughout what was once the Roman Empire, experiencing firsthand nearly every site and building featured in Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide.

The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India


Raoul McLaughlin - 2014
    In ancient times large fleets of Roman merchant ships set sail from Egypt on voyages across the Indian Ocean. They sailed from Roman ports on the Red Sea to distant kingdoms on the east coast of Africa and the seaboard off southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Freighters from the Roman Empire left with bullion and returned with cargo holds filled with valuable trade goods, including exotic African products, Arabian incense and eastern spices. This book examines Roman commerce with Indian kingdoms from the Indus region to the Tamil lands. It investigates contacts between the Roman Empire and powerful African kingdoms, including the Nilotic regime that ruled Meroe and the rising Axumite Realm. Further chapters explore Roman dealings with the Arab kingdoms of south Arabia, including the Saba-Himyarites and the Hadramaut Regime, which sent caravans along the incense trail to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra.The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean is the first book to bring these subjects together in a single comprehensive study that reveals Rome s impact on the ancient world and explains how international trade funded the Legions that maintained imperial rule. It offers a new international perspective on the Roman Empire and its legacy for modern society.REVIEWS Investigating how the Roman Empire functioned, and particularly how it paid its enormous military costs, McLaughlin argues that the answer lies outside the Mediterranean and western part of Europe to which most classical historians limit their view. He contends that the Roman Empire belonged to an ancient world economy that stretched thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean and that significant commercial contacts linked Roman subjects with their distant counterparts in east Africa, southern Arabia, and the kingdoms of ancient India. He confirms these trade exchanges by source testimony from many different cultures and numerous archaeological finds. Protoview"

Understanding Greek and Roman Technology: from catapult to the pantheon (the great courses #1132)


Stephen J. Ressler - 2014
    Water systems, roads, pumps, and many other developments grew out of the same conditions that produced new political institutions, stunning sculptures, outstanding literary works, and empires that constituted much of the known world. Yet the engineering exploits of the Greeks and Romans are not as celebrated as they deserve to be, and they have been long discounted by some historians. New discoveries combined with a reevaluation of evidence show just how clever our ancient ancestors were. In 24 lavishly illustrated lectures, Understanding Greek and Roman Technology: From Catapult to the Pantheon gives you an in-depth appreciation for what the Greeks and Romans achieved and how they did it. Your guide is Dr. Stephen Ressler, a former professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, a civil engineer, and a nationally honored leader in engineering education. This a fascinating introduction to basic engineering principles and the science behind them. The course also gives a new perspective on one of the most productive periods in the history of civilization: classical antiquity. In case after case, you will find that engineering solutions reached during this era would not be surpassed for another thousand years or more.

Delphi Complete Works of Marcus Aurelius (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 37)


Marcus Aurelius - 2014
    The Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin and Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Marcus Aurelius, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Marcus’ life and works* Features the complete extant works of Marcus, in both English translation and the original Greek* Includes section numbers – ideal for classical students* Concise introduction to the ‘Meditations’* Features Haines’ seminal translation from the Loeb Classical Library edition* Excellent formatting of the texts* Easily locate the sections or works you want to read with individual contents tables* Includes Marcus’ rare speeches and sayings, first time in digital print* Provides a special dual English and Greek text, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students* Features two bonus biographies – discover Marcus’ ancient world* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genresPlease note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices.Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titlesCONTENTS:The TranslationsMEDITATIONSTHE SPEECHES OF MARCUSTHE SAYINGS OF MARCUSThe Greek TextCONTENTS OF THE GREEK TEXTThe Dual TextsDUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXTThe BiographiesINTRODUCTION TO MARCUS AURELIUS by W. H. D. RouseBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS by George LongPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

The Complete Works of Polybius


Polybius - 2014
    The great theme to his ‘Histories’ was a study of ‘what made Rome great’, exploring the rise of the Republic, the destruction of Carthage and the eventual Roman domination of the Greek world. The Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Polybius, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Polybius's life and works * Features the complete extant works of Polybius, in both English translation and the original Greek * Includes Evelyn S. Shuckburgh’s celebrated translation * Excellent formatting of the texts * Provides a special dual English and Greek text of the five complete books of ‘The Histories’, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students * Features a bonus biography – discover Polybius's ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices. CONTENTS: The Translations THE HISTORIES The Greek Text CONTENTS OF THE GREEK TEXT The Dual Texts DUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXT The Biography INTRODUCTION TO POLYBIUS by H. J. Edwards

Amarna Sunrise: Egypt from Golden Age to Age of Heresy


Aidan Dodson - 2014
    The wealth that flowed into Egypt allowed its kings to commission some of the most stupendous temples of all time, some of the greatest dedicated to Amun-Re, King of the Gods. Yet a century later these temples lay derelict, the god's images, names, and titles all erased in an orgy of iconoclasm by Akhenaten, the devotee of a single sun-god. This book traces the history of Egypt from the death of the great warrior-king Thutmose III to the high point of Akhenaten's reign, when the known world brought gifts to his newly-built capital city of Amarna, in particular looking at the way in which the cult of the sun became increasingly important to even 'orthodox' kings, culminating in the transformation of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, into a solar deity in his own right.

DK Eyewitness Books: Wonders of the World


D.K. Publishing - 2014
    From man-made landscapes like the Statue of Liberty to record-breaking natural marvels like the Nile River, this book takes kids on an incredible journey around the world's most awesome sights.Each revised Eyewitness book retains the stunning artwork and photography from the groundbreaking original series, but the text has been reduced and reworked to speak more clearly to younger readers. Still on every colorful page: Vibrant annotated photographs and the integrated text-and-pictures approach that makes Eyewitness a perennial favorite of parents, teachers, and school-age kids.

Delphi Complete Works of Arrian (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 34)


Arrian - 2014
    For the first time in publishing history, Arrian’s complete works are available for readers in a single collection. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin and Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Arrian, with rare texts, beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Arrian's life and works * Features the complete works of Arrian, in both English translation and the original Greek * Concise introductions to the histories and other works * Includes Robson’s translation of the ANABASIS OF ALEXANDER, previously appearing in the Loeb Classical Library edition – first time in digital publishing * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the works you want to read with individual contents tables * Includes Arrian's rare work CYNEGETICUS and a fragment of the lost PERIPLUS, first time in digital print * Provides a special dual English and Greek text of the ANABASIS OF ALEXANDER, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students * Features two bonus biographies – discover Arrian's ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices. Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Translations ANABASIS OF ALEXANDER INDICA DIATRIBES ENCHEIRIDION THE PERIPLUS CYNEGETICUS The Greek Texts LIST OF GREEK TEXTS The Dual Text DUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXT The Biographies THE LIFE OF ARRIAN by E. Iliff Robson LIFE AND WRITINGS OF ARRIAN by E. J. Chinnock Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

Darkness over Cannae


J.N. Dolfen - 2014
    Aemilius Paullus and Terentius Varro, the Roman consuls, have led eight legions and their Italian allies onto the field of Cannae, fully intending to defeat Hannibal and end the Second Punic War. By nightfall, over fifty thousand Roman soldiers will litter the field, and the second of August will be remembered as one of the blackest days in Roman history."Darkness over Cannae" depicts this one day in southern Italy, through the eyes of seven men fighting in the battle, on different portions of the field, and on both sides of the war.77 illustrations by the author bring to life Rome's most traumatic defeat, and Hannibal's greatest triumph.The authorJ. N. Dolfen studied Classical Philology and English literature and linguistics in Cologne, works as a teacher for English and Latin in Germany, and has been a freelance illustrator for more than ten years.

World War I Heroes


Allan Zullo - 2014
    Can he save his unit from a deadly attack by German machine-gun nests?Plucked off his sinking ship by a U-boat, Navy lieutenant Edouard Izak is sent to a POW camp deep in German territory. Can he engineer a daring escape? The soldiers of the all-African American Eighth Illinois face bitter racism and segregation. Can they overcome bigotry to fight with valor and distinction?These and other brave heroes risked their lives serving their country in World War I. You will never forget their courageous true stories.The Great War --The Tennessee crack shot: Army Corporal Alvin York --The flying fox: Royal Flying Corps Major William " Billy" Bishop --The "suicide club" hero: Army Private John "Jack" Barkley --The POW escapee: Navy Lieutenant Edouard Izac --The battlefield savior: Ambulance driver James "Jim" McConnell --The killer marksman: Army Lieutenant Samuel Woodfill --The ace of aces: United States Air Service Captain Eddie Rickenbacker --The immigrant doughboy: Army Private Abraham Krotoshinsky --The Fighting Eighth: The 8th Illinois National Guard/370th U.S. Army Infantry --The devil dog: Marine Gunner William Nice --WWW I glossary.

The Roman Army: A History 753BC-AD476


Patricia Southern - 2014
    From Britain to Syria, and from the Rhine and Danube to North Africa, there is abundant evidence of the activities of its legionaries and auxiliary soldiers. After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC, Augustus turned the troops of the Republic into the world's first major standing army, recruiting soldiers from all over the Roman world. Around a third of a million men policed and protected the Empire, eventually guarding frontiers like Hadrian s Wall. This book covers the complete history of the Roman Army from 753 BC to AD 476, including its successes and failures against Rome's enemies such as Gauls, Carthaginians, Goths and Persians. Life in the Roman Army was not all about fighting battles. Soldiers, centurions and commanding officers left behind a variety of documents, many of which are used in this book to reconstruct their daily lives and their combat experience."

The Archaeology of Early China: From Prehistory to the Han Dynasty


Gideon Shelach-Lavi - 2014
    It covers an extended time period from the earliest peopling of China to the unification of the Chinese Empire some two thousand years ago. The geographical coverage includes the traditional focus on the Yellow River basin but also covers China's many other regions. Among the topics covered are the emergence of agricultural communities; the establishment of a sedentary way of life; the development of sociopolitical complexity; advances in lithic technology, ceramics, and metallurgy; and the appearance of writing, large-scale public works, cities, and states. Particular emphasis is placed on the great cultural variations that existed among the different regions and the development of interregional contacts among those societies.

Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew


Reuven Chaim Klein - 2014
    Its history, origins, decline, and rebirth are simply fascinating. Furthermore, at its deepest level, Lashon HaKodesh is called such ( the Holy Language ) because it is intrinsically sacred and is thus unlike any other language known to Man. Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew seeks to understand the holiness of Lashon HaKodesh, follows its history, and focuses on the significance of Aramaic and other Jewish languages such as Yiddish and Ladino. An extended section is devoted to Modern Hebrew, its controversies, and its implications from a religious perspective. This unique work delves into the linguistic history of each Jewish language , as well as the philological, Kabbalistic, and Halachic approaches to this topic taken by various Rabbinic figures through the ages. The author also compares and contrasts traditional Jewish views to those of modern-day academia, offering proofs and difficulties to both approaches. As the old saying goes, Two Jews, three opinions. In almost every chapter, more than one way of looking at the matter at hand is presented. In some cases, the differing opinions can be harmonized, but ultimately many matters remain subject to dispute. Hopefully, the mere knowledge of these sources will whet the reader s intellectual curiosity to learn more. Written by a brilliant young scholar, Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew is ground-breaking, intriguing, and remarkable.

Ancient Egypt: All That Matters


Barry J. Kemp - 2014
    All That Matters books are a fast way to get right to the heart of key issues.

Complete Works


Pausanias - 2014
    Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Pausanias, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Pausanias’ life and works* Features the complete extant works of Pausanias, in both English translation and the original Greek* Concise introduction to the ‘Description of Greece’* Excellent formatting of the texts* Easily locate the books you want to read with individual contents tables* Provides a special dual English and Greek text, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students* Features a bonus biography – discover Pausanias’ ancient world* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genresPlease note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices.

The Undying Stars


David Warner Mathisen - 2014
    In The Undying Stars, you will see how that system works, and why the ancients thought it was so important. You will find evidence that the message that these esoteric myths were intended to convey includes a shamanic-holographic worldview of tremendous sophistication . . . and profound significance. A worldview which anticipated quantum physics by many thousands of years. And you will encounter evidence that this ancient wisdom was deliberately suppressed by forces who took over the Roman Empire and then launched a violent campaign to eradicate the ancient esoteric system, first in Europe and then in the rest of the world . . .

Ötzi the Iceman


Amanda Lanser - 2014
    This title examines the study of Ötzi the iceman. The book explores what scientists know about Ötzis life, traces his discovery and the subsequent scientific investigation, and discusses future study and conservation efforts. Well-placed sidebars, vivid photos, helpful maps, and a glossary enhance readers understanding of the topic. Additional features include a table of contents, a selected bibliography, source notes, and an index, plus a timeline and essential facts. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Hittites - An Anatolian Empire / Hititler - Bir Anadolu Imparatorlugu


Meltem Doğan Alparslan - 2014
    In total, there are 35 articles by worldwide-known experts in the field.

Eden in Sumer on the Niger: Archaeological, Linguistic, and Genetic Evidence of 450,000 Years of Atlantis, Eden, and Sumer in West Africa (African Digital Education Series Book 2) [Kindle Edition]


Catherine Obianuju Acholonu - 2014
    It provides multidisciplinary evidence of the actual geographical location in West Africa of the Garden of Eden, Atlantis and the original homeland of the Sumerian people before their migration to the "Middle East". By translating hitherto unknown pre-cuneiform inscriptions of the Sumerians, Catherine Acholonu and Sidney Davis have uncovered thousands of years of Africa's lost pre-history and evidences of the West African origins of the earliest Pharaohs and Kings of Egypt and Sumer such as Menes and Sargon the Great. This book provides answers to all lingering questions about the African Cavemen (Igbos/Esh/Adamas/Adites) original guardians of the human races, Who gave their genes for the creation of Homo Sapiens (Adam) and were the teachers in the First Age of the world.

Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature


Joshua Kulp - 2014
    Each of these voices was originally issued in a distinct generation but was only captured and frozen in time by the Talmud s editors, who lived during the fifth through seventh centuries C.E. Reconstructing the Talmud introduces the modern Talmud student to the techniques developed over the last century for uncovering how this literature developed. Opening with an extended introduction outlining the methods employed by scholars to engage in such analysis, Reconstructing the Talmud proceeds with nine examples concretely demonstrating how such methods are applied to actual passages from the Bavli. Sorting out the layers of the Bavli, understanding each layer within its cultural and historical context, and comparing it with earlier sources, reveals a dynamic world of change, debate, halakhic diversity and development far richer and more nuanced than that which is evident in the static and fixed text of the printed edition. Reconstructing the Talmud introduces the reader to the world of academic Talmudic research and opens new venues of exploration and understanding of one of the world's great literary treasures.

The Day Commodus Killed a Rhino: Understanding the Roman Games


Jerry Toner - 2014
    Commodus's passion for hunting animals was so fervent that he dreamt of shooting a tiger, an elephant, and a hippopotamus; his prowess was such that people claimed he never missed when hurling his javelin or firing arrows from his bow. For fourteen days near the end of AD 192, the emperor mounted one of the most lavish and spectacular gladiatorial games Rome had ever seen. Commodus himself was the star attraction, and people rushed from all over Italy to witness the spectacle. But this slaughter was simply the warm-up act to the main event: the emperor was also planning to fight as a gladiator.Why did Roman rulers spend vast resources on such over-the-top displays--and why did some emperors appear in them as combatants? Why did the Roman rabble enjoy watching the slaughter of animals and the sight of men fighting to the death? And how best can we in the modern world understand what was truly at stake in the circus and the arena? In The Day Commodus Killed a Rhino, Jerry Toner set out to answer these questions by vividly describing what it would have been like to attend Commodus' fantastic shows and watch one of his many appearances as both hunter and fighter.Highlighting the massive logistical effort needed to supply the games with animals, performers, and criminals for execution, the book reveals how blood and gore were actually incidental to what really mattered. Gladiatorial games played a key role in establishing a forum for political debate between the rulers and the ruled. Roman crowds were not passive: they were made up of sophisticated consumers with their own political aims, which they used the games to secure. In addition, the games also served as a pure expression of what it meant to be a true Roman. Drawing on notions of personal honor, manly vigor, and sophisticated craftsmanship, the games were a story that the Romans loved to tell themselves about themselves.

Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory


Francis Pryor - 2014
    In Home, the Time Team expert explores the first nine thousand years of life in Britain, from the retreat of the glaciers to the Romans' departure. Tracing the settlement of domestic communities, he shows how archaeology enables us to reconstruct the evolution of habits, traditions and customs. But this, too, is Francis Pryor's own story: of his passion for unearthing our past, from Yorkshire to the west country, Lincolnshire to Wales, digging in freezing winters, arid summers, mud and hurricanes, through frustrated journeys and euphoric discoveries. Evocative and intimate, Home shows how, in going about their daily existence, our prehistoric ancestors created the institution that remains at the heart of the way we live now: the family.'Under his gaze, the land starts to fill with tribes and clans wandering this way and that, leaving traces that can still be seen today . . . Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' - Guardian Former president of the Council for British Archaeology, Dr Francis Pryor has spent over thirty years studying our prehistory. He has excavated sites as diverse as Bronze Age farms, field systems and entire Iron Age villages. He appears frequently on TV's Time Team and is the author of The Making of the British Landscape, Seahenge, as well as Britain BC and Britain AD, both of which he adapted and presented as Channel 4 series.Show More Show Less

Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity


Angelo Di Berardino - 2014
    It draws upon such fields as archaeology, art and architecture, biography, cultural studies, ecclesiology, geography, history, philosophy, and theology. This three-volume encyclopedia offers unparalleled, comprehensive coverage of the people, places and ideas of ancient Christianity, including:cultural currentsevents and movementsphilosophyiconography and architecturearchaeologytexts and translationstheological termsdoctrinesliturgyspiritualitymonasticismChristian sectsheresiescontroversiescouncilsThe encyclopedia's A-to-Z coverage extends from "Aaron (iconography)" to "Zosimus, pope" and chronologically from Christianity's origins to Bede (d. 735) in the West and John of Damascus (d. ca. 749) in the Greek East, with detailed emphasis on the first four centuries of Christian history. Its geographical range reaches across:North AfricaMauretaniaNumidiaAfrica Proconsularis ByzacenaLibyaEgyptNubiaEthiopiaAsiaAdiabeneArmeniaBithynia & PontusGeorgiaCappadociaLycia and PamphyliaPhrygiaSyriaMesopotamiaArabiaPalestinePersiaChinaEuropeGaulSpain & PortugalItalyGermanyBritain and IrelandScotlandPannoniaDalmatiaMacedoniaMoesiaThraceCyprusCreteThis edition updates and expands on previous Italian and English-language editions with the addition of more than 500 new articles (added to the current Italian or English edition), including the following 30 articles exclusive to IVP's edition:apostolic seeCapuaCarmen de synodo TicinensiChinacosmopolitanismdeathdiakonia/diaconateDialogi de sancta Trinitate IV-Vdoorkeeper (porter)dynamis/energeiaeternityforgivenessfreedom/free willgoodHierotheusincubatioinfinity/infinitudelibelli miraculorumloveMara bar Serapion (letter of)oikeiosisold agepresanctifiedSerapeion (Serapeum)subdeaconTheosebiaTriumphus Christi heroicusTychonunityVirgo ParensExtensive cross-referencing provides ease in exploring related articles, and helpful bibliographies, including primary sources (texts, critical editions, translations) and key secondary sources (books and journal articles), give access to the very latest in-depth scholarship in countless disciplines of study. IVP's new Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity (2014) is translated from Nuovo dizionario patristico e di antichita cristiane (2006-2008), produced by the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, the world's foremost center for partristic studies, under the direction of Professor Angelo Di Berardino, and it greatly updates and expands the 1992 Encyclopedia of the Early Church (Oxford University Press/James Clarke).

Sparta: Unfit for Empire


Godfrey Hutchinson - 2014
    Had she used this position wisely her hegemony might have been secure. As it was, she embarked on actions that her former allies, Thebes and Corinth, refused to support. The rise of Thebes as a threatening power to Sparta’s control of Greece was largely the result of the brilliant exploits of Epaminondas and Pelopidas whose obvious examination of Spartan tactics allowed them to provide counters to them. While noting the political issues, Godfrey Hutchinson’s focus is upon the strategic and tactical elements of warfare in a period almost wholly coinciding with the reign of the brilliant commander, Agesilaos, one of the joint kings of Sparta, who, astonishingly, campaigned successfully into his eighties.

Delphi Complete Works of Diodorus Siculus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 32)


Diodorus Siculus - 2014
    Diodorus’ great work spans the destruction of Troy, the glories of Alexander the Great, the history and culture of Ancient Egypt and the near East and the triumphs of the Roman Republic. The Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Greek texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Diodorus Siculus, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Diodorus' life and works * Features the complete extant works of Diodorus, in both English translation and the original Latin * Includes translations previously appearing in Loeb Classical Library editions of Diodorus’ works * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the books or works you want to read with individual contents tables * Includes Diodorus' rare fragments, first time in digital print * Provides a special dual English and Greek text of the first five complete books, allowing readers to compare the sections paragraph by paragraph – ideal for students * Features a bonus biography – discover Diodorus' ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices. Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Translations THE LIBRARY OF HISTORY The Greek Text CONTENTS OF THE GREEK TEXT The Dual Text DUAL GREEK AND ENGLISH TEXT The Biography INTRODUCTION TO DIODORUS SICULUS by C. H. Oldfather Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

The Fragmentary History of Priscus: Attila, the Huns and the Roman Empire, AD 430-476


Priscus - 2014
    His meteoric rise and legendary career of conquest left a charred trail of destroyed cities across the Roman Empire. At its height, his vast domain commanded more territory than the Romans themselves, and those he threatened with attack sent desperate embassies loaded with rich tributes to purchase an always tenuous peace. Yet as quickly he appeared, Attila and his empire vanished with startling rapidity. His two decades of terror, however, had destabilized the Roman world and left an indelible mark upon the pages of European history. Priscus was a late Roman historian who had the ill luck to be born during a time when Roman political and military fortunes had reached a nadir. An eye-witness to many of the events he records, Priscus's history is a sequence of intrigues, assassinations, betrayals, military disasters, barbarian incursions, enslaved Romans and burning cities. Perhaps because of its gloomy subject matter, the History of Priscus was not preserved in its entirety. What remains of the work consists of scattered fragments culled from a variety of later sources. Yet, from these fragments emerge the most detailed and insightful first-hand account of the decline of the Roman Empire, and nearly all of the information about Attila's life and exploits that has come down to us from antiquity. Translated by classics scholar Professor John Given of East Carolina University, this new translation of the Fragmentary History of Priscus arranges the fragments in chronological order, complete with intervening historical commentary to preserve the narrative flow. It represents the first translation of this important historical source that is easily approachable for both students and general readers.

Darius, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus in the Bible


James B. Jordan - 2014
    This is not a new understanding, but an examination of recent commentaries on these books shows that this possibility is not even entertained, so certain are these expositors that Ahasuerus is the king the Greeks called Xerxes and that Artaxerxes is Artaxerxes Longimanus. James Jordan demonstrates, however, that the common identifications of these kings is problematic and that understanding their common identity sheds considerable light on the nature of the texts under consideration.

Secrets of the Ancients


Bruce Etter - 2014
    What James and Lance thought would be a boring school project is astonishingly transformed into an adventure that will forever change their lives.In this exciting first volume, Secrets of the Ancients, James and Lance travel from Creation through the Reformation. Their adventures in history will captivate readers young and old. Unapologetic Christian worldviewEngaging approach to classical teachingCovers 96 major events-all of the first three series in the Veritas Press History-and thousands of years of history in the format of a compelling story. Hard cover, 448 pages

Ancient Kemite Islam and the Preservation of Ma'at: The missing link between Kemetic and Moorish Civilization


Cozmo El - 2014
    This book explores the evidence of the abovementioned premise and reveals the light of Kemet (Egypt) given to the world again by way of the Moabite language of Arabic and Islamic Ritual. The author provides a comparative study of Islamic- Moorish and Kemetic thought. That there be no more talk about some Arab-Zionist religion called Islam. It is hoped that Instead, one may recognize a preserved and updated way of life as the current code of standards given to the world by Allah, Ua Ntr or any of the divine attributes, through our ancient and modern forefathers who follow the succession of Prophets.

Assyria to Iberia: At the Dawn of the Classical Age


Joan Aruz - 2014
    from the Near East to Western Europe. This was the world of Odysseus, in which trade proliferated with Phoenician merchants; of King Midas, whose tomb was adorned with treasures; and of the Bible, whose stories are illuminated by recent artistic and archeological discoveries. It was also a time of rich cultural exchange across the Mediterranean and Near East as diverse populations interacted through trade, travel, and migration. Assyria to Iberia showcases masterpieces that reflect the cultural encounters of this era. Stunning details convey the beauty and significance of more than 300 objects drawn from collections around the globe. These objects include carved reliefs from the majestic palaces of ancient Assyria, Phoenician fine bronze metalwork and carved ivories, and luxurious jewelry. Texts by over 80 international scholars provide a compelling picture of this fascinating period, one that is essential to understanding the origins of Western culture and art.

Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical & Post-Biblical Antiquity, Volume I: A-Da


Edwin M. Yamauchi - 2014
    

Army and Society in Ptolemaic Egypt


Christelle Fischer-Bovet - 2014
    Employing Greek and Egyptian papyri and inscriptions, and building on approaches developed in state-formation theory, it offers a coherent account of how the changing structures of the army in Egypt after Alexander's conquest led to the development of an ethnically more integrated society. A new tripartite division of Ptolemaic history challenges the idea of gradual decline, and emphasizes the reshaping of military structures that took place between c.220 and c.160 BC in response to changes in the nature of warfare, mobilization and demobilization, and financial constraints. An investigation of the socio-economic role played by soldiers permits a reassessment of the cleruchic system and shows how soldiers' associations generated interethnic group solidarity. By integrating Egyptian evidence, Christelle Fischer-Bovet also demonstrates that the connection between the army and local temples offered new ways for Greeks and Egyptians to interact.

Roman Shields


Hilary Travis - 2014
    In this book, Roman military experts John and Hilary Travis turn their attention to the shields used by the historic Roman stalwarts, drawing on their expertise, their wealth of illustrated material and the world of re-enactments.In its study of the panoply of shields used by the Romans, Roman Shields differs from those preceding in that it has drawn together the streams of published information of sculptural imagery and archaeological ‘hard’ evidence, while also looking at the component parts, how they are physically put together, and attempting to reproduce the aspects of the artefacts observed through reconstructing them and subjecting them to regular use and combat conditions.

The authoratative guide to Persepolis


A. Shapur Shahbazi - 2014
    The present volume fulfils the need for an authorative and well-illustrated description of the monuments by one who served as their custodian for many years and who is universally acknowledged as an archaeologist and art historian of the first rank. Professor Shahbazi takes the reader through Persepolis, step by step, and describes the remains with accuracy and clarity, leaving no detail unexplained. The lavish illustrations chosen carefully and learnedly follow the description without overburdening the text with a series of unrelated pictures. The bibliography is designed to enhance the reader's appreciation of Persepolis and the art of the ancient Near East.

The Jesus Movement and Its Expansion: Meaning and Mission


Seán Freyne - 2014
    In addition to offering fresh insights into Jesus' Jewish upbringing and the possible impact of Greco-Roman lifestyles on him and his followers, Freyne delves into the mission and expansion of the Jesus movement in Palestine and beyond during the first hundred years of its development.To give readers a full picture of the context in which the Jesus movement developed, Freyne includes pictures, maps, and timelines throughout the book. Freyne's interdisciplinary approach, combining historical, archaeological, and literary methods, makes The Jesus Movement and Its Expansion both comprehensive and accessible."

Války bez konce


Jiří Kovařík - 2014
    

Constantine Tischendorf: The Life and Work of a 19th Century Bible Hunter


Stanley E. Porter - 2014
    He existed in an age when biblical studies as we know it was being formed, when the quest for forgotten manuscripts and lost treasures was being undertaken with no less zeal and intrigue than it is today. It was Tischendorf who found, and preserved, the oldest extant version of the complete bible that we know of, the so-called Codex Sinaiticus, which he discovered in poor condition at St Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, in 1846. With the discovery of the Codex Tischendorf, and others, was to take the study of biblical texts further than ever before, through linguistic methods, and attention to the most ancient sources available. In many ways Tischendorf was a father figure of the modern Historical Critical Method. In this short biography, Stanley E. Porter, himself one of the most respected scholars of the New Testament and Koine Greek currently writing, gives a portrait of Tischendorf's life and work, together with an annotated republication of Tischendorf's influential work on the Gospels. Published to celebrate Tischendorf's bicentenary, in 2015, this volume will be a must for those seeking to understand how the study of biblical manuscripts began, and to understand the man who discovered the oldest version of the bible as we know it.

Stoicism and Epicureanism: Sources and Interpretation


EpictetusDiogenes Laërtius - 2014
    Contains the Discourses and Enchiridion (handbook, manual) of Epictetus; Seneca's On Providence, On the Shortness of Life, On the Tranquility of Mind, and on Anger, as well as his letter on The Happy Life,; the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius; the complete extant writings of Epicurus; Lucretius' epic poem On the Nature of Things; and Horace's Epicurean odes alongside selections from The Lives of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius and two highly divergent interpretive essays that examine the precedents of these two main Hellenistic philosophies.

Purity, Body, and Self in Early Rabbinic Literature


Mira Balberg - 2014
    Focusing on the Mishnah, a Palestinian legal codex compiled around the turn of the third century CE, Mira Balberg shows how the rabbis constructed the processes of contracting, conveying, and managing ritual impurity as ways of negotiating the relations between one’s self and one’s body and, more broadly, the relations between one’s self and one’s human and nonhuman environments. With their heightened emphasis on subjectivity, consciousness, and self-reflection, the rabbis reinvented biblically inherited language and practices in a way that resonated with central cultural concerns and intellectual commitments of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean world. Purity, Body, and Self in Early Rabbinic Literature adds a new dimension to the study of practices of self-making in antiquity by suggesting that not only philosophical exercises but also legal paradigms functioned as sites through which the self was shaped and improved.

Roman Helmets


Hilary Travis - 2014
    In this book, Roman military experts Hilary and John Travis turn their attention to the helmets used by the historic Roman stalwarts, drawing on their expertise, their wealth of illustrated material and the world of re-enactments.There are currently two different methods in use in the identification of Roman helmet types: the British system, based on developmental progression and features indicating the geographical area of manufacture; and the much simplified Continental system, based on named find locations. In this study of helmets used by the Romans, Roman Helmets draws together the streams of published information of sculptural imagery and archaeological ‘hard’ evidence, while also comparing these dual typologies, discussing their strengths and weaknesses.

Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective: Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience


Thomas E. Levy - 2014
    It has also been a pervasive theme in artistic and popular imagination.Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspectiveis a pioneering worksurveying this tradition in unprecedented breadth, combiningarchaeological discovery, quantitative methodology and close literary reading. Archaeologists, Egyptologists, Biblical Scholars, Computer Scientists, Geoscientists and other experts contribute their diverse approaches in a novel, transdisciplinary consideration of ancient topography, Egyptian and Near Eastern parallels to the Exodus story, the historicity of the Exodus, the interface of the Exodus question with archaeological fieldwork on emergent Israel, the formation of biblical literature, and the cultural memory of the Exodus in ancient Israel and beyond.This edited volume contains research presented at the groundbreaking symposium"Out of Egypt: Israel s Exodus Between Text and Memory, History and Imagination"held in 2013at the Qualcomm Institute of the University of California, San Diego. The combination of 44 contributions by an international group of scholars from diverse disciplines makes this the first such transdisciplinary study of ancient text and history. In the original conference and with this new volume, revolutionary media, such as a 3D immersive virtual reality environment, impart innovative, Exodus-based research to a wider audience. Out of archaeology, ancient texts, science and technology emergean up-to-date picture of the Exodus for the21stCentury and a new standard for collaborative research."

Warfare in Northern Europe Before the Romans: Evidence from Archaeolgy


Julie Rosemary Wileman - 2014
    Julie Wileman challenges the traditional view of the barbaric fighting which went on prior to the Roman occupation of Northern Europe as she uncovers the true nature of warfare before the Romans.Aspects investigated include what war meant in a pre-state society, the many levels of battle and warfare, the reasons why prehistoric people fought, evidence of early attacks and massacres, ways in which prehistoric war can be identified, heroic warfare, and the rise of war in the Iron Age.Wileman also looks at the Roman evidence for the portrayal of the drunken, savage and barbaric fighting as well as the tactics they employed against one another, why certain battles were won and lost, and which aspects went on to influence Roman warfare in later centuries.Warfare in Northern Europe Before the Romans provides an exciting read for both archaeologists and military historians interested in how warfare developed outside of classical Europe as well as being one of the only books in the area accessible to the non-academic reader.

The Lost Book of Alexander the Great


Andrew Young - 2014
    Among those fellow Macedonian officers who accompanied Alexander in his epic conquests from Greece to India was Ptolemy Lagides. Ptolemy served alongside Alexander from the Persian defeat at the Battle of Issus in modern-day Turkey and the journey to find the oracle that proclaimed Alexander to be Zeus incarnate, to the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 BC that opened India to the West. Following Alexander’s death, Ptolemy gained control of Egypt where he founded the dynasty in his name, created the great library of Alexandria, and was patron of the mathematician Euclid. Sometime during his rule in Egypt, Ptolemy wrote a history of Alexander’s conquests. Although it is probable that Ptolemy enhanced his own importance, sources indicate that it was regarded as an accurate and even-handed account of the campaigns of Alexander. However, Ptolemy’s book was lost—perhaps with the destruction of the library he founded—and not even an original fragment has survived. His book, however, was acknowledged as a primary source of information for later Roman historians. In The Lost Book of Alexander the Great, Andrew Young explores the world of ancient writings about the Macedonian leader in order to determine whether any of Ptolemy’s writings can be recovered. Inspired by Stephen Greenblatt’s distinguished biography of Shakespeare, Will in the World, and written for the general reader, the author uses literary forensics to suggest which parts of later books about Alexander the Great, most notably the account by Arrian of Nicomedia, might be the words of Ptolemy. In addition to separating later Roman sensibilities from the original Greek of Ptolemy, the author re-creates the famous library of Alexandria, and takes the reader along on Alexander’s conquests as closely as we can to how Ptolemy may have recounted them.

A is for Aboriginal


Joseph MacLean - 2014
    Each letter explores a name, a place or facet of Abo­riginal history and culture.The reader will discover some interesting bits of history and tradition that are not widely known. Many, for example. do not know that Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin (two of the American Founding Fathers) both attribute the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, one of the world's oldest democracies, as the inspiration for the American Constitution. Or, that the origin of 'Red Indian' is not because of skin colour, but from the ochre (iron oxide) used by the now extinct Beothuk to colour their skin red.At the bottom of each letter there is a list of Indigenous peoples that begin with that letter. The idea is that the names can be recited as a sort of poem of remembrance. There is a glossary of all of the indigenous peoples named in the book. The glossary although extensive is not a definitive list of indigenous people. The main focus is on North America but there are some indigenous people listed from every continent to give a global sense of the expanse and depth of the Aboriginal story.This book celebrates Aboriginal heritage and culture. The illustration for the book title depicts the creation story that tells of the world coming into being on the back of a turtle. North America is often referred to as Turtle Island.

The Cambridge History of Capitalism: Volume 1, The Rise of Capitalism: From Ancient Origins to 1848


Larry Neal - 2014
    Starting with its distant origins in ancient Babylon, successive chapters trace progression up to the 'Promised Land' of capitalism in America. Adopting a wide geographical coverage and comparative perspective, the international team of authors discuss the contributions of Greek, Roman and Asian civilizations to the development of capitalism, as well as the Chinese, Indian and Arab empires. They determine what features of modern capitalism were present at each time and place, and why the various precursors of capitalism did not survive. Looking at the eventual success of medieval Europe and the examples of city-states in northern Italy and the Low Countries, the authors address how British mercantilism led to European imitations and American successes, and ultimately, how capitalism became global.

Delphi Complete Works of Martial (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 33)


Marcus Valerius Martialis - 2014
    This comprehensive eBook presents the complete extant works of Martial, with contextual illustrations, a special dual English and Latin section, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Martial's life and works * Features the complete works of Martial, in both English translation and the original Latin * Concise introductions to the poetry * Includes Walter C. A. Ker’s translation, previously appearing in the Loeb Classical Library edition, first time in digital print * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the epigrams you want to read with detailed contents tables * Includes Martial's rare apocryphal works, first time in digital print * Provides a special dual English and Latin text, allowing readers to compare the texts epigram by epigram – ideal for students * Features a bonus biography – discover Martial's ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please note: some of Ker’s translations of the more ‘obscene’ epigrams are in Italian. We regret that no suitable English alternatives are available in the public domain at present. Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Translations ON THE SPECTACLES EPIGRAMS The Latin Text LIST OF LATIN TEXT The Dual Texts DUAL LATIN AND ENGLISH TEXTS The Biography INTRODUCTION TO MARTIAL by Walter C. A. Ker Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

The Greatest Battles of the Greco-Persian Wars: Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis


Charles River Editors - 2014
    In 491 B.C., following a successful invasion of Thrace over the Hellespont, the Persian emperor Darius sent envoys to the main Greek city-states, including Sparta and Athens, demanding tokens of earth and water as symbols of submission, but Darius didn’t exactly get the reply he sought. According to Herodotus in his famous Histories, “Xerxes however had not sent to Athens or to Sparta heralds to demand the gift of earth, and for this reason, namely because at the former time when Dareios had sent for this very purpose, the one people threw the men who made the demand into the pit and the others into a well, and bade them take from thence earth and water and bear them to the king.”Thus, in 490 B.C., after the revolt in Ionia had been crushed, Darius sent his general Mardonius, at the head of a massive fleet and invading force, to destroy the meddlesome Greeks, starting with Athens. The Persian army, numbering anywhere between 30,000 and 300,000 men, landed on the plain at Marathon, a few dozen miles from Athens, where an Athenian army of 10,000 hoplite heavy infantry supported by 1,000 Plataeans prepared to contest their passage. The Athenians appealed to the Spartans for help, but the Spartans dithered; according to the Laws of Lycurgus, they were forbidden to march until the waxing moon was full. Accordingly, their army arrived too late. Thus, it fell upon the Athenians to shoulder the burden. With their army led by the great generals Miltiades and Themistocles, the Athenians charged the outnumbering Persians. Outmatched by the might of the heavy, bronze-armored Greek phalanx, the inferior Persian infantry was enveloped and destroyed, causing them to flee for their ships in panic. The Athenians had won a colossal victory against an overwhelming and seemingly invincible enemy. There are few battles in history in which the vanquished are better remembered and celebrated than the victors, and even fewer where a defeat is considered a victory. But that has become the enduring legacy of the Battle of Thermopylae, a battle as unique as it is famous. The story of the battle and the willing sacrifice of the Greek defenders to buy the rest of the retreating Greeks time is well known across the world and still resonates with audiences to this day. Last stands are the stuff of martial legends, and Thermopylae is the greatest of them all. Though there was another contingent of Greeks fighting alongside them, Thermopylae is remembered for the stand of the 300 Spartans, who, with no compulsion binding them, chose to fight and die in the remote mountain pass against insurmountable odds. Their story has been told in literature, art, film, and even in graphic novels. When the Spartans’ famous and sacrificial stand at the Battle of Thermopylae ended, the Athenian fleet was forced to fall back, and Xerxes’ massive Persian army marched unopposed into Greece before advancing on Athens. However, Themistocles managed to lure the Persian fleet into the straits of Salamis. There, on a warm day in September 480 BCE, hundreds of Greek and Persian ships faced each other in a narrow strait between the Attic peninsula of Greece and the island of Salamis.

A History of the Eastern Roman Empire - Book III of III (Illustrated)


John Bagnell Bury - 2014
    Illustrated to enhance the reading experience. Contents include: THE EMPIRE AND ITS NORTHERN NEIGHBOURS. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FIRST BULGARIAN EMPIRE (679-1018). THE GREEK CHURCH ITS RELATIONS WITH THE WEST UP TO 1054 MUSLIM CIVILISATION DURING THE ABBASID PERIOD THE EARLIER COMNENI. ISAAC I (1057-4059). ALEXIUS I (1081-1118) THE LATER COMNENI. JOHN (1118-1143). MANUEL (1143-1180). ALEXIUS II (1180-1183). ANDRONICUS (1183-1185) VENICE THE FOURTH CRUSADE AND THE LATIN EMPIRE GREECE AND THE AEGEAN UNDER FRANK AND VENETIAN DOMINATION (1204-1571). THE EMPIRE OF NICAEA AND THE RECOVERY OF CONSTANTINOPLE THE BALKAN STATES. ATTEMPTS AT REUNION OF THE GREEK AND LATIN CHURCHES THE MONGOLS THE OTTOMAN TURKS TO THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE BYZANTINE LEGISLATION FROM THE DEATH OF JUSTINIAN (565) TO 1453. THE GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. BYZANTINE CIVILISATION.

On This Day in Chicago History


John R. Schmidt - 2014
    Schmidt on a day-by-day look at some of Chicago's most fascinating lesser-known events.Think you know Chicago? If you are thinking of Al Capone, the L, the Cubs, Barack Obama or the Great Fire of 1871, then you are remembering the highlights from the tour bus. Here's the rest of the story, day by day. Chicago opened the first blood bank, invented the vacuum cleaner and sent a bowling ball around the world. One high school football game drew 120,000 people. Chicagoans fought nineteen years over the name of a street. For fifty years, they saved a gallows for an escaped killer. And those are just some of the stories...

Inside Roman Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity


George W. Houston - 2014
    Even in antiquity, the library at Alexandria was nearly legendary. Until now there has been relatively little research to discover what was inside these libraries, how the collections came into being and evolved, and who selected and maintained the holdings. In this engaging and meticulously researched study, George W. Houston examines a dozen specific book collections of Roman date in the first comprehensive attempt to answer these questions.Through a careful analysis of the contents of the collections, Houston reveals the personalities and interests of their owners, shows how manuscripts were acquired, organized, and managed, and identifies the various purposes that libraries served. He considers the life expectancy of manuscripts, the sizes of libraries, and dangers to books, as well as the physical objects within libraries from scribal equipment to works of art. The result is a clearer, more specific, and more detailed picture of ancient book collections and the elements of Roman libraries than has previously been possible.

The Global Prehistory of Human Migration


Peter Bellwood - 2014
    Previously published as the first volume of The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration, this work is devoted exclusively to prehistoric migration, covering all periods and places from the first hominin migrations out of Africa through the end of prehistory.Presents interdisciplinary coverage of this topic, including scholarship from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, genetics, biology, linguistics, and more Includes contributions from a diverse international team of authors, representing 17 countries and a variety of disciplines Divided into two sections, covering the Pleistocene and Holocene; each section examines human migration through chapters that focus on different regional and disciplinary lenses

In the Footsteps of Alexander: The King Who Conquered the Ancient World


Miles Doleac - 2014
    By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world. And even after he died in 323 BCE, aged 32 and undefeated in battle, his legacy remained in the form of a Hellenized Asia and the Seleucid Empire. Divided into eight chapters, In the Footsteps of Alexander traces the physical and historical journey of the man who conquered Asia and was declared a god-king. Chapter one examines the Macedonian background and Alexander’s rise to power; chapters two and three explore the invasion of Asia Minor and his first encounters with Persian armies at the battles of Granicus (334) and Issus (333); chapter four looks at the siege of Tyre (332) and the great victory over Persian king Darius at Gaugamela (331); chapters five and six follow Alexander’s conquest of the outer reaches of the Persian Empire, from the battle of the Persian Gates (330) to the invasion of India and the battle of Hydaspes (326); while chapter seven examines the new cities he founded across Asia, including Alexandria, Antioch, and Kandahar; finally, chapter eight considers his death and legacy. Including more than 200 photographs, illustrations, paintings, and maps, In the Footsteps of Alexander is a colorful, accessible examination of one of history’s greatest military leaders.

Darius in the Shadow of Alexander


Pierre Briant - 2014
    Yet, despite being the most powerful king of his time, Darius remains an obscure figure.As Pierre Briant explains in the first book ever devoted to the historical memory of Darius III, the little that is known of him comes primarily from Greek and Roman sources, which often present him in an unflattering light, as a decadent Oriental who lacked the masculine virtues of his Western adversaries. Influenced by the Alexander Romance as they are, even the medieval Persian sources are not free of harsh prejudices against the king Dārā, whom they deemed deficient in the traditional kingly virtues. Ancient Classical accounts construct a man who is in every respect Alexander's opposite--feeble-minded, militarily inept, addicted to pleasure, and vain. When Darius's wife and children are captured by Alexander's forces at the Battle of Issos, Darius is ready to ransom his entire kingdom to save them--a devoted husband and father, perhaps, but a weak king.While Darius seems doomed to be a footnote in the chronicle of Alexander's conquests, in one respect it is Darius who has the last laugh. For after Darius's defeat in 331 BCE, Alexander is described by historians as becoming ever more like his vanquished opponent: a Darius-like sybarite prone to unmanly excess.

A History of the Eastern Roman Empire - Book II of III (Illustrated)


John Bagnell Bury - 2014
     Contents include: THE SUCCESSORS OF HERACLIUS TO 717 LEO III AND THE ISAURIAN DYNASTY (717-802) FROM NICEPHORUS I TO THE FALL OF THE PHRYGIAN DYNASTY THE MACEDONIAN DYNASTY FROM 867 TO 976 AD THE MACEDONIAN DYNASTY FROM 976 TO 1057 A.D. THE STRUGGLE WITH THE SARACENS (717-867) THE STRUGGLE WITH THE SARACENS (867-1057) HISTORY OF ARMENIA.

The Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana


Eleanor Dickey - 2014
    They thus offer a unique glimpse of daily life in the early Roman Empire and are an important resource for understanding ancient culture. They have, however, been unjustly neglected because until now there were no modern editions of the texts, no translations into any modern language, and little understanding of what the Colloquia are and where they come from. This book completes the task begun by Volume 1 of making the Colloquia accessible for the first time, presenting a new edition, translation and commentary of the remaining surviving texts. It is clearly written and will interest students, non-specialists and professional scholars alike.

New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops


Paul E. Minnis - 2014
    Despite the astonishing agricultural diversity that existed long ago, the world’s current food base has narrowed to a dangerous level. By studying the long and dynamic history of farming in the ancient past, archaeology can play a part in helping ensure the stability of the human food supply by identifying once-important crops and showing where and how such crops were grown in the past. Thanks to this work, extinct crops might even be redomesticated from their wild progenitors. New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops profiles nine plant species that were important contributors to human diets and had medicinal uses in antiquity: maygrass, chenopod, marshelder, agave, little barley, chia, arrowroot, little millet, and bitter vetch. Each chapter is written by a well-known scholar, who illustrates the global value of the ancient crop record to inform the present. From eastern and western North America, Mesoamerica, South America, western Asia, and south-central Asia, the contributors provide examples of the unexpected wealth of information available in the archaeological record about ancient and extinct crops.

Delphi Complete Works of Statius (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics)


Publius Papinius Statius - 2014
    Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the treasures of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin texts. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works of Statius for the first time in digital publishing, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Statius’ life and works * Features the complete works of Statius, in both English translation and the original Latin * Concise introductions to the poetry * Includes all the translations previously appearing in Loeb Classical Library edition of Statius’ works * Images of famous paintings that have been inspired by Statius’ works * Excellent formatting of the texts * Easily locate the poems or sections you want to read with individual contents tables * Includes Statius’ rare works SILVAE and ACHILLEID, first time in digital print * Features Mozley’s bonus biography - discover Statius’ ancient world * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Translations THE THEBAID THE SILVAE THE ACHILLEID The Latin Texts LIST OF LATIN TEXTS The Biography INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE AND WORKS OF STATIUS by J. H. Mozley Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles

Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires: The Near East After the Achaemenids, C. 330 to 30 Bce


Rolf Strootman - 2014
    During the Hellenistic Period (c. 330-30 BCE), Alexander the Great and his successors reshaped their Persian and Greco-Macedonian legacies to create a new kind of rulership that was neither 'western' nor 'eastern' and would profoundly influence the later development of court culture and monarchy in both the Roman West and Iranian East.Drawing on the socio-political models of Norbert Elias and Charles Tilly, After the Achaemenids shows how the Hellenistic dynastic courts were instrumental in the integration of local elites in the empires, and the (re)distribution of power, wealth, and status. It analyses the competition among courtiers for royal favour and the, not always successful, attempts of the Hellenistic rulers to use these struggles to their own advantage.It demonstrates the interrelationships of the three competing 'Hellenistic' empires of the Seleukids, Antigonids and Ptolemies, casts new light on the phenomenon of Hellenistic Kingship by approaching it from the angle of the court and covers topics such as palace architecture, royal women, court ceremonial, and coronation ritual.

Mesoamerican Plazas: Arenas of Community and Power


Kenichiro Tsukamoto - 2014
    Many scholars have assumed that ancient Mesoamericans invested their labor, wealth, and symbolic value in pyramids and other prominent buildings, viewing plazas as by-products of these buildings. Even when researchers have recognized the potential significance of plazas, they have thought that plazas as vacant spaces could offer few clues about their cultural and political roles. Mesoamerican Plazas challenges both of these assumptions.   The primary question that has motivated the contributors is how Mesoamerican plazas became arenas for the creation and negotiation of social relations and values in a community. The thirteen contributions stress the significance of interplay between power relations and embodied practices set in specific historical and material settings, as outlined by practice theory and performance theory. This approach allows the contributors to explore broader anthropological issues, such as the negotiation of power relations, community making, and the constitution of political authorities.   Overall, the contributions establish that physical interactions among people in communal events were not the outcomes of political machinations held behind the scenes, but were the actual political processes through which people created, negotiated, and subverted social realities. If so, spacious plazas that were arguably designed for interactions among a large number of individuals must have also provided critical arenas for the constitution and transformation of society.

Psychology and History: Interdisciplinary Explorations


Cristian Tileaga - 2014
    Yet historically, the relationship between the two fields has been uneasy, marked by a long-standing climate of mutual suspicion. This book engages with the history of this relationship and possibilities for its future intellectual and empirical development. Bringing together internationally renowned psychologists and historians, it explores the ways in which the two disciplines could benefit from a closer dialogue. Thirteen chapters span a broad range of topics, including social memory, prejudice, stereotyping, affect and emotion, cognition, personality, gender and the self. Contributors draw on examples from different cultural contexts - from eighteenth-century Britain, to apartheid South Africa, to conflict-torn Yugoslavia - to offer fresh impetus to interdisciplinary scholarship. Generating new ideas, research questions and problems, this book encourages researchers to engage in genuine dialogue and place their own explorations in new intellectual contexts.

Roman Girlhood and the Fashioning of Femininity


Lauren Caldwell - 2014
    Yet the social regime that ushered these same women into marriage and childbearing at an early age was remarkably restrictive. In the first book-length study of girlhood in the early Roman Empire, Lauren Caldwell investigates the reasons for this paradox. Through an examination of literary, legal, medical, and epigraphic sources, she identifies the social pressures that tended to overwhelm concerns about girls' individual health and well-being. In demonstrating how early marriage was driven by a variety of concerns, including the value placed on premarital virginity and paternal authority, this book enhances an understanding of the position of girls as they made the transition from childhood to womanhood.

Divination and Theurgy in Neoplatonism: Oracles of the Gods (Ashgate Studies in Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity)


Crystal Addey - 2014
    Examining some of the most significant debates between pagan philosophers and Christian intellectuals on the nature of oracles as a central yet contested element of religious tradition, Addey focuses particularly on Porphyry's Philosophy from Oracles and Iamblichus' De Mysteriis.

Chichen Itza & Mayapan: The Most Famous Mayan Capitals of the Postclassic Period


Jesse Harasta - 2014
    *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. *Includes a table of contents. Many ancient civilizations have influenced and inspired people in the 21st century, like the Greeks and the Romans, but of all the world’s civilizations, none have intrigued people more than the Mayans, whose culture, astronomy, language, and mysterious disappearance all continue to captivate people. At the heart of the fascination is the most visited and the most spectacular of Late Classic Maya cities: Chichén Itzá. Chichén Itzá was inhabited for hundreds of years and was a very influential center in the later years of Maya civilization. At its height, Chichén Itzá may have had over 30,000 inhabitants, and with a spectacular pyramid, enormous ball court, observatory and several temples, the builders of this city exceeded even those at Uxmal in developing the use of columns and exterior relief decoration. Of particular interest at Chichén Itzá is the sacred cenote, a sinkhole was a focus for Maya rituals around water. Because adequate supplies of water, which rarely collected on the surface of the limestone based Yucatan, were essential for adequate agricultural production, the Maya here considered it of primary importance. Underwater archaeology carried out in the cenote at Chichén Itzá revealed that offerings to the Maya rain deity Chaac (which may have included people) were tossed into the sinkhole. Although Chichén Itzá was around for hundreds of years, it had a relatively short period of dominance in the region, lasting from about 800-950 A.D. Today, tourists are taken by guides to a building called the Nunnery for no good reason other than the small rooms reminded the Spaniards of a nunnery back home. Similarly the great pyramid at Chichén Itzá is designated El Castillo (“The Castle”), which it almost certainly was not, while the observatory is called El Caracol (“The Snail”) for its spiral staircase. Of course, the actual names for these places were lost as the great Maya cities began to lose their populations, one by one. Chichén Itzá was partially abandoned in 948, and the culture of the Maya survived in a disorganized way until it was revived at Mayapán. Mayapán emerged first as a minor settlement in the orbit of Chichén, but it slowly came to replace it after the larger city's trade connections with the Toltecs of Tula crumbled and it suffered a staggering defeat by Mayapán's armies. The building styles and art in their city show both admiring references to the great Chichén Itzá as well as an attempt to position Mayapán as a more orthodox heir of Maya tradition. At the same time, they emulated many features and could not escape the tremendous influences - especially in religion - of Chichén. This is seen in the fact that many of the most important buildings in the new city appear to be small-scale reproductions of ones in Chichén. Due in part to the fact that it has long been overshadowed by Chichén Itzá, a lot excavation and scholarly research on the site has only come about in recent decades, and even though there is still plenty of work to do, a lot of information about life in Mayapán has been unearthed. At its height, Mayapán may have boasted a population of over 15,000, and archaeologists have had their hands full trying to discover and restore the several thousand buildings both inside Mayapán’s walls and outside them. Chichén Itzá & Mayapán: The Most Famous Mayan Capitals of the Postclassic Period comprehensively covers the history of the city, as well as the speculation surrounding the purpose of Chich&eacut

The Material Life of Roman Slaves


Sandra R. Joshel - 2014
    Rather than regarding slaves as irretrievable in archaeological remains, the book takes the archaeological record as a key form of evidence for reconstructing slaves' lives and experiences. Interweaving literature, law, and material evidence, the book searches for ways to see slaves in the various contexts - to make them visible where evidence tells us they were in fact present. Part of this project involves understanding how slaves seem irretrievable in the archaeological record and how they are often actively, if unwittingly, left out of guidebooks and scholarly literature. Individual chapters explore the dichotomy between visibility and invisibility and between appearance and disappearance in four physical and social locations - urban houses, city streets and neighborhoods, workshops, and villas.