A History of the Classical World: The Story of Ancient Greece and Rome

by Elizabeth Wyse

Overview

This fascinating guide chronicles the rise and fall of ancient Greece and Rome and its cultural influence today.

From palace-based societies in Minoan Crete to the Germanic invasion of Rome, it tells the story of these classical civilizations, covering their political development, the rise of the city state and the growth of their empires. Also included are insights into the architectural, artistic and cultural impact of early Greece and Rome and vignettes of key political and cultural figures.

Accompanied by features on major developments, detailed maps and superb photographs, this is a fascinating introduction to the two great empires that shaped the modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839406720
Publisher:	Arcturus Publishing Limited
Publication date:	02/25/2022
Series:	Sirius Visual Reference Library , #16
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	8.86(w) x 11.02(h) x (d)

About the Author

Elizabeth Wyse is an author and editor with a special interest in early history including archaeology as well as historical thematic atlases. She has edited amongst many other titles: Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology, The London History Atlas and the DK Children'd Atlas. She is currently Editorial Director of the online historical map site, The Map Archive. She has a BA (Hons) in English from Cambridge University.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

Part I Beginnings 13

Minoan Crete 15

Mycenaen Greece 18

Homeric Greece 21

The Greek Dark Ages 24

Part II Polis 27

Evolution of the City-state 750-600 BCE 29

Tyrants 32

The Greek Alphabet 35

Olympians 38

The Oracle of Delphi 44

Kouroi and Korai - the Human Form 47

Magna Graecia 49

The Olympic Games 52

Lyric Poetry of Lesbos 54

The Emergence of Democracy 57

The Athenian Brand 60

The World on a Vase 62

Healers 65

Sparta 68

The Persian Wars 70

Hoplites 73

Triremes 75

Athens Under Pericles 77

The Parthenon 80

Greek Architectural Orders 83

The Peloponnesian War 86

Gymnasia 90

Greek Theatre 92

Greek Philosophy 96

The Rise of Macedonia 100

Vergina 104

Alexander the Great 106

Part III Translations 109

Hellenistic Greece 111

The Seleucids 114

Ptolemaic Egypt 117

Pergamon 120

Indo-Greek Kingdoms 123

Hellenistic Art 126

Seven Wonders of the World 129

Part IV Republic 137

The Etruscans 137

Rome: From Village to City 140

Birth of the Republic 144

The Senate and Roman Law 146

Life in Republican Rome 149

Roman Dress 152

Propitiating the Gods 156

Roman Expansion 159

The Punic Wars 162

Rome's Mediterranean Empire 167

Roman Lettering 170

The Rise of Julius Caesar 173

Civil War 176

Part V Imperium 181

Augustus and the Rise of Imperial Rome 183

City of Marble 186

Bread and Circuses 189

Roman Provincial Life 193

Trier 197

Water Management 200

The Roman Villa 203

Roman Roads 206

Roman Glassware 209

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty 212

Conquest and Consolidation 216

The Roman Army 220

The Roman Fort 224

Women in the Roman Empire 227

Roman Baths 230

A Roman Childhood 233

Roman Dining 236

Pompeii: Frozen in Time 240

Shades of the Departed 243

Roman Trade 246

Triumph 249

Life on the Frontier 252

Rome in the East 256

Roman Portraiture 259

The Troubled Century 262

Mystery Cults 266

The Mosaics of North Africa 269

A Christian Empire 271

City of Constantine 274

Divided Empire 277

The Fall of Rome 280

Ravenna: The New Capital 284

The Inheritors 287

The Classical Legacy 290

Further Reading 295

Index 294

Picture Credits 304