Ancient History category: 8298 books

In 1345, when Petrarch recovered a lost collection of letters from Cicero to his best friend Atticus, he discovered an intimate Cicero, a man very different from either the well-known orator of the Roman forum or the measured spokesman for the ancient schools of philosophy. It was Petrarch’s encounter...

Exploring both how Plato engaged with existing literary forms and how later literature then created 'classics' out of some of Plato's richest works, this book includes chapters on such subjects as rewritings of the Apology and re-imaginings of Socrates' defence, Plato's high style and the criticisms...

The definitive translation of Sun-tzu's timeless classic of military strategy, Art of War Art of War is almost certainly the most famous study of strategy ever written and has had an extraordinary influence on the history of warfare. The principles Sun-tzu expounded were utilized brilliantly...

Arnaldo Momigliano was one of the foremost classical historiographers of the twentieth century. This collection of twenty-one carefully selected essays is remarkable both in the depth of its scholarship and the breadth of its subjects. Moving with ease across the centuries, Momigliano supplements...

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king (basileus) of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling...

". . . gracefully written" - The New York Times. Award-winning historian Lionel Casson paints a vivid portrait of the people of ancient Egypt - from peasants and pharaohs to soldiers and scribes and artists and priests - and what life was like beyond the splendors and treasures that remain with us today.

Democracy's symbolic birthplace, the famed Acropolis, stands today as a reminder of the glory that was ancient Greece. Atop this ancient citadel - once the center of Athenian civil pride and religion - stands the most famous structure in the Western world, the Parthenon. Here, historian R. Taylor...

Joint winner of the One Big Book Launch, London 2014. "Atulya K Bingham has breathed new life into one of Turkey's most beautiful surviving outposts of accessible mountain wilderness." Hugh Pope, Today's Zaman. Ayşe, a 38-year-old mother from Istanbul, decides to tackle the...

Tsenhor was born about 550 BCE in the city of Thebes (Karnak). She died some sixty years later, having lived through the reigns of Amasis II, Psamtik III, Cambyses II, Darius I and perhaps even Psamtik IV. By carefully retracing the events of her life as they are recorded in papyri now kept in museums...

Xenophon of Athens (circa 430 354 B.C.) was a Greek poet, historian, soldier and philosopher who lived at a time of momentous events in Ancient Greek history. Although he was recognized as a great writer and poet in his lifetime, Xenophons involvement with Spartan politics and fighting led to his exile...

Hailed as magisterial when it first appeared, Greek Homosexuality remains an academic milestone and continues to be of major importance for students and scholars of gender studies. Kenneth Dover explores the understanding of homosexuality in ancient Greece, examining a vast array of material and textual...

Xenophon of Athens (circa 430 354 B.C.) was a Greek poet, historian, soldier and philosopher who lived at a time of momentous events in Ancient Greek history. Although he was recognized as a great writer and poet in his lifetime, Xenophons involvement with Spartan politics and fighting led to his exile...

Now it was on this flat plain, between the uplands of the two rivers and the sea, that the cradle of mankind was first rocked, and that the infant human race first opened its eyes and began to see what a wonderful place this world might be. Later, the uplands lying further up the rivers became important...

Polybius was a leading Hellenistic historian, whom many regard as the natural successor to Thucydides. 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....