3rd Edition

An Introduction to the Ancient World

By Lukas de Blois, R.J. van der Spek Copyright 2019
    432 Pages
    by Routledge

    432 Pages
    by Routledge

    An Introduction to the Ancient World offers a thorough survey of the history of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome. Covering the social, political, economic and cultural processes that have influenced later western and Near Eastern civilisations, this volume considers subjects such as the administrative structures, economies and religions of the ancient Near East, Athenian democracy, the development of classical Greek literature, the interaction of cultures in the Hellenistic world, the political and administrative system of the Roman Republic and empire, and the coming of Christianity, all within the broad outline of political history.

    This third edition is thoroughly updated and some chapters are completely rewritten to cover recent historical research. Changes include:

    • more attention to economic structures and developments, and to the history of the later Roman Empire (third to sixth centuries AD);
    • incorporation of the results of recent archaeological and historical research, and recently published studies of ancient literature;
    • ‘boxes’ that support the main text, on topics including economic and political systems, religion and terminology;
    • redrawn maps and new, higher-quality images;
    • the inclusion of useful websites in the bibliography.

    An Introduction to the Ancient World provides an easily readable, user-friendly, integrated overview for students of ancient history, classics and archaeology. Lavishly illustrated, clearly and concisely written, and well organised, this fully updated and revised edition will remain a key resource for students beginning to investigate the civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean.

    List of maps

    List of figures

    List of boxes

    Preface to the Third Edition

    Chronology

     

    Introduction

    PART I: THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

     

    1 THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVILISATIONS OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA

     

    2 THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

    The Early Bronze Age

    Egypt, the Old Kingdom (c. 2600 – c. 2150)

    Mesopotamia, Sumer and Akkad

    Epilogue

     

    3 THE SECOND MILLENNIUM

    The Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 - c. 1600)

    Egypt, the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 – c. 1800) and the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1800 – c. 1550)

    Mesopotamia, the Old Assyrian  and Old Babylonian periods

    Northern Mesopotamia: the city of Assur and the kingdom of Shamshi-Adad I (c. 2000–c. 1760)

    Southern Mesopotamia, the Old Babylonian empire (c. 1800 – c. 1600)

    The Late Bronze Age (c. 1600 – c. 1200)

    The ‘concert of powers’

    Egypt, the New Kingdom (c. 1550– c. 1100)

    Babylonia and Assyria

    Mitanni

    The Hittite empire

    Crete and Mycenae

    International relations

     

    4 THE FIRST MILLENNIUM

    The Early Iron Age (c. 1200 - c. 750 BC)

    Disruption and recovery

    Egypt, the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1100–715 BC)

    Syria and the Phoenicians

    Israel

    The West Asian empires (c. 750 BC-AD 651)

    The Neo-Assyrian empire

    The Neo-Babylonian empire

    The Persian or Achaemenid empire

    The Hellenistic kingdoms

    The Parthian or Arsacid empire

    The Neo-Persian or Sasanid empire

    The Roman empire

    The Arabs

     

    5 RELIGION

    Polytheism

    Henotheism and monotheism

    6 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

    Agricultural economy, land tenure

    A ‘Redistribution economy’ and market economy

    Trade and means of payment

    Social organisation

     

    7 GOVERNMENT

    Kingship

    The administrative machinery

    The army

     

    PART II: THE GREEK WORLD

     

    8 THE EARLY IRON AGE (c. 1200 – c. 750 BC): ‘THE DARK AGES’

    Disruption and recovery

     

    9 THE ARCHAIC PERIOD, c. 750 – c. 500 BC

    Introduction

    Demographic and economic changes

    The polis

    Colonisation

    Social changes

    Military changes

    Cultural changes

    The alphabet

    Literature

    The visual arts

    Architecture

    Religion

    Philosophy

    Political changes

    Tyranny

    Sparta

    Athens

     

    10 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD, c. 500 – c. 330 BC

    The Persian Wars

    Sparta and Athens after 479 BC

    The Delian League (477–404 BC)

    Athenian leaders in the fifth century

    Athens’ state income

    The Great Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC)

    The years between 404 and 336 BC

    The Second Athenian League (377–355)

    Social and military changes

    The rise of Macedonia

    Philip II (359–336): the end of the Classical period in Greek history

    The Athenian population in the fifth and fourth centuries BC

    The metics

    The slaves

    Women in Athens and Sparta

    Further development of the Athenian democracy

    The Council of the Areopagus in 462/1

    Pericles

    The democracy and the fleet

    Old and new politicians

    The stability of the Athenian democracy

    Criticism of the Athenian democracy

    Athens as the centre of Greek culture in the Classical periodAttic drama

    Philosophy

    The sophists

    Rhetorical education

    Socrates and Plato

    Aristotle (384–322)

    Historical writing

    Herodotus

    Thucydides

    Historical writing after Herodotus and Thucydides

    The Greeks in the Western Mediterranean

    The economy of the Greek city states

     

    11 THE HELLENISTIC WORLD, c. 330 – c. 30 BC

    Introduction

    Alexander the Great

    From Alexander to the Roman conquest

    Macedonia: the Antigonid kingdom

    Athens and Sparta

    Leagues of states in Greece

    Asia: the Seleucid kingdom

    Egypt: the Ptolemaic kingdom

    The government and the cities of the Hellenistic kingdoms

    Economy and society

    Greece

    The Near East

    Cultural aspects

    General

    Greek religion

    Near Eastern religions

    Philosophy

    Historiography

    Science

    The Judeans (Jews) in the Hellenistic era

    The impact of Hellenistic culture in the Parthian kingdom and the Roman empire

    Conclusion

     

    PART III: ROME

     

    12 EARLY ROMAN HISTORY (753–265 BC)

    The western Mediterranean

    The Etruscans

    Carthage

    The origins of Rome

    State and society in early Rome

    A note on Roman names

    The army and the Comitia Centuriata

    The early republic (509–265 BC)State and society

    Roman expansion in Italy (509–265 BC)

    Colonisation

    Municipia

    The military character of Roman society

    The struggle of the orders (c. 500–287 BC)

    History of the struggle of the orders

    The institutions of the Roman republic at the end of the struggle of the orders

    The magistrates

    The Senate

    Nobiles, senators and equites

    Social composition of the Roman population

    The popular assemblies

    An oligarchic government

    A new type of client

    Some demographic data

     

    13 FURTHER EXPANSION AND NEW SOCIAL TENSIONS, 264–133 BC

    Roman expansion between 264 and 121 BC

    The Punic Wars

    Wars in Spain, the Po valley and the Hellenistic East

    Two forms of Roman expansion

    The administration of a province

    Disadvantages of Roman control

    New social tensions

    The consequences of Rome’s expansion

    Slavery in Italy and Sicily

    Slave revolts

    Piracy

    Some demographic data

    The city of Rome

    Inadequate organisation

    A change in mentality

    Greek influences

    Literature and other forms of amusement

     

    14 THE CENTURY OF THE CIVIL WARS, 133–30 BC

    Serious problems and discontent

    The Gracchi

    Tiberius Gracchus

    Gaius Gracchus

    Political consequences of the Gracchan reforms

    Marius’ military reforms

    The Social War (91–88 BC) and the First Civil War (88 – 82 BC)

    Citizenship for the Italian allies

    The popular assemblies

    The First Civil War (88–82 BC)

    The years 79–49 BC

    Spartacus’ slave revolt (73–71 BC)

    Pompey, Crassus and Caesar

    The first Triumvirate

    Chaos in Rome

    The Second Civil War (49–45 BC) and its aftermath (44–30 BC)

    The flourishing of cultural life during the civil wars

     

    15 THE EARLY IMPERIAL AGE, 27 BC–AD 193

    Augustus

    Augustus’ constitutional position and the real basis of his power

    The settlement of 27 BC: different types of provinces

    The settlements of 23 and 19 BC

    Changes in the administration

    The Senate and the popular assemblies

    The higher orders: senators and equites (knights)

    The decuriones

    The city of Rome

    The army

    Ideal and religious aspects of emperorship

    Emporor worship

    Latin literature in the Augustan era

    Augustus’ conquests

    The early imperial age after Augustus (ad 14–193)

    Wars and rebellions

    Emperorship and the problem of the emperor’s succession

    Developments in administration after Augustus

    The spread of Roman citizenship

    Changes in the higher orders

    Roman law

    The western and eastern provinces

    The western provinces

    The Celts

    The eastern half of the empire

    The Greeks in the Roman Empire

    Agriculture, trade and crafts

    The lower classes

    Trade

    Work and status

    Women in the Roman empire

    Religion

    Roman gods and religious practices

    The introduction of foreign gods

    The Christians

     

    16 THE CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY AD AND LATE ANTIQUITY

    Growing pressures on the northern and eastern frontiers

    The Germans

    The Sasanid empire

    Internal instability in the Roman empire

    Military problems

    Structural defects

    The Severi (193–235)Septimius Severus (193–211)

    Roman citizenship for all free inhabitants of the empire

    The second half of the Severan era

    The soldier emperors (235–284)

    Diocletian (ruled 284–305)

    Further expansion of bureaucracy

    The Senate and the equestrian order

    Emperorship and the emperor’s succession

    The persecutions of the Christians

    Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337)

    Constantine’s conversion to Christianity

    Constantinople

    The army

    Increased fiscal burdens and the monetary system

    The Roman empire after Constantine

    East and West

    The Christian empire

    The end of the Roman empire in the west

     

    17 EPILOGUE 

    The end of the ancient world

    PART IV: APPENDICES

    Appendix 1: Greek and Roman names

    Appendix 2: Near Eastern, Greek and Roman money

    Appendix 3: The Roman emperors

    Select bibliography

    Index

    Biography

    Lukas de Blois is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He published books and articles on the history of the Roman Empire in the third century AD, the history of the Late Roman Republic, ancient historiography (Sallust, Tacitus, Cassius Dio), Plutarch’s biographies and Greek Sicily in the fourth century BC. His most recent contribution is Image and Reality of Roman Imperial Power in the Third Century AD (Routledge, 2018).

    R.J. van der Spek is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Mediterranean and West Asian History at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He specialises in the history of the ancient Near East in the context of Mediterranean history. He has published on Hellenistic Babylonia and economic history. He edited two volumes in the Routledge Explorations in Economic History on market performance (no. 68) and the history of monetary policy (no. 80) from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern world.

    An Introduction to the Ancient World is an engaging and useful introductory text for students who are encountering the ancient Mediterranean and Near East for the first time. It is an excellent mix of erudition, concision and clarity that even advanced students and professionals will find valuable and suitable to their needs. Few introductory ancient history texts compare with An Introduction to the Ancient World, and none surpass it. Having used it as a textbook in both my Western Civilization and World Civilizations courses, it gives students a coherent overview that committee-produced, expensive textbooks lack.’

    Edward Dandrow, University of Central Florida, USA