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An Introduction to the Ancient World

2nd Edition

By Lukas De Blois, R.J. van der Spek

Translated by Susan Mellor

Published September 24th 2008 by Routledge – 352 pages

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Description

Integrating the results of scholarly work from the past decade, the authors of An Introduction to the Ancient World, Lukas de Blois and R.J. van der Spek, have fully-updated and revised all sixteen chapters of this best-selling introductory textbook. Covering the history and culture of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome within the framework of a short narrative history of events, this book offers an easily readable, integrated overview for students of history, classics, archaeology and philosophy, whether at college, at undergraduate level or among the wider reading public.

This revised second edition offers a new section on early Christianity and more specific information on the religions, economies, and societies of the ancient Near East. There is extended coverage of Greek, Macedonian and Near Eastern history of the fourth to second centuries BC and the history of the Late Roman Republic. The consequences of Julius Caesar’s violent death are covered in more detail, as are the history and society of Imperial Rome.

This new edition is:

  • comprehensive: covers 3,000 years of ancient history and provides the basis for a typical one-semester course
  • lavishly illustrated: contains maps, line drawings and plates to support and supplement the text, with updated captions
  • clearly and concisely written: two established and respected university teachers with thirty years' experience in the subject areas
  • well-organized: traces the broad outline of political history but also concentrates on particular topics
  • user-friendly: includes chapter menus, an extensive and expanded bibliography organized by subject area and three appendices, an improved introduction and the addition of an epilogue.

Contents

Introduction Part 1: The Ancient Near East 1. The Origins of the Civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia 2. The Third Millennium BC 3. The Second Millennium 4. The First Millennium 5. Religion 6. Economy and Society 7. Government Part 2: The Greek World 8. The Early Iron Age 9. The Archaic Period (c.750–c.500 BC) 10. The Classical Period (c.500–c.330 BC) 11. The Hellenistic World (c.330–c.30BC) Part 3: Rome 12. Early Roman History (753–265 BC) 13. Further Expansion and New Social Tensions (264–133 BC) 14. The Century of the Civil Wars (133–30 BC) 15. The Early Imperial Age (27 BC–AD 193) 16. The Crisis of the Third Century AD and Late Antiquity. Epilogue Part 4: Appendices 1. Greek and Roman Names 2. Greek and Roman Money 3. The Roman Emperors. Bibliography. Index

Author Bio

Lukas de Blois is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and specialises in Roman and Greek history and ancient historiography. Robartus van der Spek is Professor of Ancient History at the Free University of Amsterdam, and specialises in the history of the ancient Near East.

Name: An Introduction to the Ancient World: 2nd Edition (Paperback) – Routledge 
Description: By Lukas De Blois, R.J. van der SpekTranslated by Susan Mellor. Integrating the results of scholarly work from the past decade, the authors of An Introduction to the Ancient World, Lukas de Blois and R.J. van der Spek, have fully-updated and revised all sixteen chapters of this best-selling introductory textbook...
Categories: Classical Studies, Roman History & Culture, Greek History & Culture, Ancient Near East