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Pyramid
By David Macaulay. 1975
&“The mystery of the pyramids is solved before our eyes&” in this illustrated YA guide to their construction by the…
Caldecott Medal-winning author (Kirkus). In Pyramid, acclaimed author and illustrator David Macaulay explores the construction of ancient Egyptian pyramids from the initial planning stages to the methods used to lift stones up to the structure&’s highest level. Through concise text and richly detailed black and white illustrations your readers are introduced not only to ancient Egyptian engineering, tools, and labor practices, but also the philosophy of life, death, and afterlife that made these awe-inspiring monuments necessary as a pharaoh&’s final resting place. "Macaulay's brilliant Pyramid shows, detail by detail, how the great pharaohs' burial places were conceived and constructed… His draftsmanship is unexcelled, and his book is pharaonic in opulence and design."—TimeThe Laws (Cambridge Library Collection - Classics Ser.)
By Plato. 1970
In the Laws, Plato describes in fascinating detail a comprehensive system of legislation in a small agricultural utopia he named…
Magnesia. His laws not only govern crime and punishment, but also form a code of conduct for all aspects of life in his ideal state - from education, sport and religion to sexual behaviour, marriage and drinking parties. Plato sets out a plan for the day-to-day rule of Magnesia, administered by citizens and elected officials, with supreme power held by a Council. Although Plato's views that citizens should act in complete obedience to the law have been read as totalitarian, the Laws nonetheless constitutes a highly impressive programme for the reform of society and provides a crucial insight into the mind of one of Classical Greece's foremost thinkers.The Later Roman Empire: (a.D. 354-378)
By Ammianus Marcellinus. 1986
Ammianus Marcellinus was the last great Roman historian, and his writings rank alongside those of Livy and Tacitus. The Later…
Roman Empire chronicles a period of twenty-five years during Marcellinus' own lifetime, covering the reigns of Constantius, Julian, Jovian, Valentinian I, and Valens, and providing eyewitness accounts of significant military events including the Battle of Strasbourg and the Goth's Revolt. Portraying a time of rapid and dramatic change, Marcellinus describes an Empire exhausted by excessive taxation, corruption, the financial ruin of the middle classes and the progressive decline in the morale of the army. In this magisterial depiction of the closing decades of the Roman Empire, we can see the seeds of events that were to lead to the fall of the city, just twenty years after Marcellinus' death.The Makers of Rome
By Plutarch. 1965
These nine biographies illuminate the careers, personalities and military campaigns of some of Rome's greatest statesmen, whose lives span the…
earliest days of the Republic to the establishment of the Empire. Selected from Plutarch's Roman Lives, they include prominent figures who achieved fame for their pivotal roles in Roman history, such as soldierly Marcellus, eloquent Cato and cautious Fabius. Here too are vivid portraits of ambitious, hot-tempered Coriolanus; objective, principled Brutus and open-hearted Mark Anthony, who would later be brought to life by Shakespeare. In recounting the lives of these great leaders, Plutarch also explores the problems of statecraft and power and illustrates the Roman people's genius for political compromise, which led to their mastery of the ancient world.In Search Of The First Civilizations
By Michael Wood. 2005
Five thousand years ago there began the most momentous revolution in human history. Starting in Mesopotamia, city civilization emerged for…
the first time on earth, to be followed in Egypt, India, China and the Americas. The ideals of these ancient civilizations still shape the lives of the majority of mankind. In Search of the First Civilizations (previously published as Legacy) asks the intriguing question: what is civilization? Did it mean the same to the Chinese, the Indians and the Greeks? What can the values of the ancient cultures teach us today? And do the ideals of the West - a latecomer to civilization - really have universal validity? In this fascinating historical search, Michael Wood explores these ancient cultures, looking for their essential character and their continuing legacy. A brilliant exploration. Sunday Times Well-written, gorgeous and guaranteed to induce thought... Wood takes great care to put everything in a large historical perspective, which is actually more disturbing than comforting. New York PostJosephus’ account of a war marked by treachery and atrocity is a superbly detailed and evocative record of the Jewish…
rebellion against Rome between AD 66 and 70. Originally a rebel leader, Josephus changed sides after he was captured to become a Rome-appointed negotiator, and so was uniquely placed to observe these turbulent events, from the siege of Jerusalem to the final heroic resistance and mass suicides at Masada. His account provides much of what we know about the history of the Jews under Roman rule, with vivid portraits of such key figures as the Emperor Vespasian and Herod the Great. Often self-justifying and divided in its loyalties, The Jewish War nevertheless remains one of the most immediate accounts of war, its heroism and its horrors, ever written.An Imperial Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire, 54 BC - AD 409 (Penguin History of Britain)
By David Mattingly. 2006
Part of the Penguin History of Britain series, An Imperial Possession is the first major narrative history of Roman Britain…
for a generation. David Mattingly draws on a wealth of new findings and knowledge to cut through the myths and misunderstandings that so commonly surround our beliefs about this period. From the rebellious chiefs and druids who led native British resistance, to the experiences of the Roman military leaders in this remote, dangerous outpost of Europe, this book explores the reality of life in occupied Britain within the context of the shifting fortunes of the Roman Empire.Homer: A Ladybird Expert Book (The Ladybird Expert Series #38)
By Daisy Dunn. 2019
Part of the ALL-NEW LADYBIRD EXPERT SERIES'Brought evocatively to life' HISTORY REVEALED- Was there really a Trojan War?- What makes…
a Homeric hero?- How did Odysseus defeat the Cyclops?IMMERSE yourself in the epic adventures of the Ancient Greek gods and heroes. Filled with daring feats, battles and terrifying monsters, the poems and the stories told within them raise complex questions about fate, death and forgiveness that are still debated today.MIGHTY HEROES AND MEDDLING GODSWritten by the winner of the Classical Association Prize 2020, Daisy Dunn's Homer is a fascinating introduction to these ancient stories and their truly timeless themes.Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory
By Francis Pryor. 2014
In Home Francis Pryor, author of The Making of the British Landscape, archaeologist and broadcaster, takes us on his lifetime's…
quest: to discover the origins of family life in prehistoric BritainFrancis Pryor's search for the origins of our island story has been the quest of a lifetime. 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.History of the Peloponnesian War
By Thucydides. 1954
'With icy remorselessness, it puts paid to any notion that the horrors of modern history might be an aberration -…
for it tells of universal war, of terrorism, revolution and genocide' Tom HollandThe long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta plunged the ancient Greek world into decades of war. Thucydides was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war, and in this detailed, first-hand contemporary account he writes as both a soldier and a historian. He applies a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling a factual record of a ruinous conflict that would eventually destroy the Athenian empire.Translated by Rex Warner with an introduction and notes by M. I. FinleyThe History of the Kings of Britain
By Geoffrey Of Monmouth. 2010
Completed in 1136, The History of the Kings of Britain traces the story of the realm from its supposed foundation…
by Brutus to the coming of the Saxons some two thousand years later. Vividly portraying legendary and semi-legendary figures such as Lear, Cymbeline, Merlin the magician and the most famous of all British heroes, King Arthur, it is as much myth as it is history and its veracity was questioned by other medieval writers. But Geoffrey of Monmouth's powerful evocation of illustrious men and deeds captured the imagination of subsequent generations, and his influence can be traced through the works of Malory, Shakespeare, Dryden and Tennyson.The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
By Edward Gibbon. 2005
Spanning thirteen centuries from the age of Trajan to the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, DECLINE & FALL is…
one of the greatest narratives in European Literature. David Womersley's masterly selection and bridging commentary enables the readerto acquire a general sense of the progress and argument of the whole work and displays the full variety of Gibbon's achievement.Eusebius's account is the only surviving historical record of the Church during its crucial first 300 years. Bishop Eusebius, a…
learned scholar who lived most of his life in Caesarea in Palestine, broke new ground in writing the History and provided a model for all later ecclesiastical historians. In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century, and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, his aim was to show the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity and its struggle against persecutors and heretics.A History of My Times
By Xenophon. 1966
Xenophon's History recounts nearly fifty turbulent years of warfare in Greece between 411 and 362 BC. Continuing the story of…
the Peloponnesian War at the point where Thucydides finished his magisterial history, this is a fascinating chronicle of the conflicts that ultimately led to the decline of Greece, and the wars with both Thebes and the might of Persia. An Athenian by birth, Xenophon became a firm supporter of the Spartan cause, and fought against the Athenians in the battle of Coronea. Combining history and memoir, this is a brilliant account of the triumphs and failures of city-states, and a portrait of Greece at a time of crisis.A History of India
By Romila Thapar. 1966
The History of Alexander
By Quintus Curtius Rufus. 2001
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), who led the Macedonian army to victory in Egypt, Syria, Persia and India, was perhaps…
the most successful conqueror the world has ever seen. Yet although no other individual has attracted so much speculation across the centuries, Alexander himself remains an enigma. Curtius' History offers a great deal of information unobtainable from other sources of the time. A compelling narrative of a turbulent era, the work recounts events on a heroic scale, detailing court intrigue, stirring speeches and brutal battles - among them, those of Macedonia's great war with Persia, which was to culminate in Alexander's final triumph over King Darius and the defeat of an ancient and mighty empire. It also provides by far the most plausible and haunting portrait of Alexander we possess: a brilliantly realized image of a man ruined by constant good fortune in his youth.The Histories
By Herodotus. 2013
'The first example of non-fiction, the text that underlies the entire discipline of history ... it is above all a…
treasure trove' Tom HollandOne of the masterpieces of classical literature, The Histories describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus' natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colourful digressions - a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; tales of lake-dwellers, dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, The Histories offers a compelling Greek view of the world in the fifth century BC, in Aubrey de Sélincourt's elegant and celebrated translation.Translated by AUBREY DE SÉLINCOURT Revised with an Introduction and notes by JOHN MARINCOLAThe Histories
By Tacitus. 1995
In AD68 Nero's suicide marked the end of the first dynasty of imperial Rome. The following year was one of…
drama and danger, though not of chaos.In the surviving books of his Histories the barrister-historian Tacitus, writing some thirty years after the events he describes, gives us a detailed account based on excellent authorities. In the 'long but single year' of revolution four emperors emerge in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian - who established the Flavian dynasty.Rhiannon Ash stays true to the spirit of Wellesley's prose whilst making the translation more accessible to modern readers.The Historical Figure of Jesus
By E. Sanders. 1993
A biography of the historical figure of Jesus. The book studies the relationship between Judaism and Christianity, distinguishing the certain…
from the improbable, and assessing the historical and religious context of Christ's time. The spread of Christianity is also discussed.The Gladiator: The Secret History of Rome's Warrior Slaves
By Alan Baker. 2000
Alan Baker weaves an extraordinary, vivid picture of Roman life as his compelling and evocative history tells the story of…
Rome's most notable gladiators. They were condemned and feared by emperors, slaughtered and adored by the masses and worshipped by their female fans, yet their lives were invariably violently short. Whether their enemy was a starved tiger or a battle-hardened criminal, their numbered days were dark and bloody. Yet men gave up their wealth and freedom to become gladiators and noble-women gave up their positions to be with them. The Gladiator illuminates the extraordinary lives of Spartacus, Commodus, Eppia and others - bringing the same energy and passion to the page that Ridley Scott's cinematic triumph bough to the screen.