Ancient World, The: A Social and Cultural History, 7th Edition

For courses in Ancient History (Ancient Near East - Egypt/Mesopotamia), Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome. 

 

The Ancient World is a comprehensive, multi-perspective, and integrated chronicle of the history of the ancient world, from Sumer to the fall of Rome, that explores the distinctive forms society took--particularly the unusual (by the standards of college students today) relationships between society and the state that characterized the social order of antiquity.

 

By closely integrating social and cultural histories with the political, institutional, and military climates in which they unfolded, this text provides fascinating insights into family, gender relations, class structures, public vs. private realms, slavery, popular culture, religion, art, architecture, leisure styles, philosophy, science, and education, and explores their complex relationships to ideology and political events.

Preface
Maps

PART ONE: THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

Chapter 1: The Early Civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt
Why Mesopotamia?
The Agricultural Revolution
The State and Urban Revolution
Early Mesopotamian History: The Sumerian Period (3100—2000 B.C.)
The Egyptian Alternative: The Old and Middle Kingdoms

 

Chapter 2: An Age of Empires: The Middle East, 2000—1000 B.C.
A Time of Turmoil: New Peoples East and West
Mesopotamia in the Age of Hammurapi
The Hittite Empire
The Egyptian Empire
Egypt in Decline
 
Chapter 3: The Middle East to the Persian Empire 
The New Peoples of the Middle East 
The Glory of Assyria and Babylon 
The Persians 

Religion and Culture in Israel 

PART TWO: THE GREEK WORLD

Chapter 4: The Emergence of Greek Civilization 
Geography and History 
The Origins of Greek Culture 
The Minoan and Mycenaean Ages 
The Mycenaean Age 
The Dark Ages 
Out of the Darkness: The Archaic Age 
The Example of Two Cities: Sparta and Athens 
Polis Society 
Culture and Society in the Archaic Age 

Chapter 5: The Wars of the Greeks 
Persians and Greeks 
The Military Situation after the Persian Wars 
The Great War between Athens and Sparta 
The Hegemony of Sparta and Thebes 

Chapter 6: Classical Athens 
The Early Classical Period (ca. 490—450 B.C.) 
The Classical Age, Part I (450—430 B.C.) 
The Later Classical Period (430—338 B.C.) 
Athenian Society 

Chapter 7: Philip, Alexander, and the Hellenistic World 
Backward Macedonia Challenges Greece 
The Genius of Philip 
The Orator and the King: Demosthenes and Philip 
Alexander the Great 
Campaigns in Central Asia (330—323 B.C.) 
Alexander’s Successors 
The State and Society in the Hellenistic World 
Hellenistic Society 
Culture and Religion in the Hellenistic World 
Greek High Culture Adapts to a New Environment 
Becoming Greek: Education in the New World 
The Hellenistic Age: Achievements and Limitations 

PART THREE: THE ROMAN WORLD

Chapter 8: Early Rome 
The Western Mediterranean and Early Italy 
The Latins and Early Rome 
The Republic 
The Social and Political Achievement of Early Rome: Consensus 

Chapter 9: The Building of an Empire 
The Growth of Rome in Italy 
The Punic Wars 
Roman Territorial Expansion after the Hannibalic War 
Society and the State in the Roman Republic 
An Estimate of Roman Society 

Chapter 10: The Transformation of the Roman Republic 
The Old Order Fades 
The Gracchan Revolution: Social and Political Context 
From the Gracchi to Augustus: The Roman Revolution 
The Fall of the Roman Republic  
 
Chapter 11: The Roman World from Augustus to the Third-Century Crisis 
The Reforms of Augustus 
Rounding Out the Empire 
The Severan Emperors 

Chapter 12: The Roman Peace 
Challenge and Response 
Society and the State in the Empire 
The Government, the Army, and Society 

Chapter 13: The Empire from the Third-Century Crisis to Justinian 
The Third-Century Crisis 
Political Anarchy 
Diocletian and Constantine 
The Emperor and the Administration 
The Army, the Empire, and the Barbarians 
The Collapse of the Western Empire 
The Rise of the Byzantine Empire  
 
Chapter 14: The Transformed Mediterranean 
History Moves Northward and Eastward 
The Transformation of the Classical Tradition 
The Empire and the Church Come to Terms 
The Christian Way of Life 
Civilizing the Barbarians 
Diverging Beliefs 
Islam and the Transformation of the Mediterranean 
Religious Legacies 
Epilogue 

Suggested Readings 
Glossary 
Index