Christopher S. Mackay

Ancient Rome is a concise, comprehensive political and military history of the Roman Republic and Empire, from the origins of the city in the Italian Iron Age, until the deposition of the last emperor in 476 AD. Christopher Mackay describes how military events undermined the political institutions of the Republic, how the Empire was administered and controlled, why Christianity was adopted as the state religion under Constantine, and how military and economic pressures of the third and fourth centuries eventually led to the downfall of the Western empire. Illustrated with relevant art works from Rome's long history, this volume serves as an up-to-date overview of one of the most extraordinary civilizations in human history.

Margaret M. Mitchell

Over thirty essays provide a comprehensive overview of the essential events, persons, places and issues involved in the emergence of the Christian religion in the Mediterranean world over the first three centuries. The collection traces the dynamic history from the time of Jesus through to the rise of Imperial Christianity in the fourth century. It provides a thoughtful and well-documented analysis of the diverse forms of Christian community, identity and practice that arose soon after Jesus's death, and which through missionary efforts were soon implanted throughout the Roman Empire.

John Murrell

A new series of students aged 16 and over studying the ancient world. Strikes a balance between civilisation and literary topics - the series encompasses literary, historical and philosophical subjects as well as topics of civilisation. It helps students understand the primary sources in contexts, and will appeal to those studing the whole range of classical topics. New translations - fresh translations of significant passages by Latin and Greek authors, with accompanying commentaries by key scholars in the classical field, provide readable, informative texts with broad appeal. Attractively illustrated to motivate students - helps students to draw parallels between the literary and material sources. Supporting exam success - the student friendly texts give valuable support for the AS and A2 exam syllabi. Written in approachable, readable English with a clear, user-friendly layout, they can be easily accessed by all students.

Eric Dugdale

A new series of students aged 16 and over studying the ancient world. Strikes a balance between civilisation and literary topics - the series encompasses literary, historical and philosophical subjects as well as topics of civilisation. It helps students understand the primary sources in contexts, and will appeal to those studing the whole range of classical topics. New translations - fresh translations of significant passages by Latin and Greek authors, with accompanying commentaries by key scholars in the classical field, provide readable, informative texts with broad appeal. Attractively illustrated to motivate students - helps students to draw parallels between the literary and material sources. Supporting exam success - the student friendly texts give valuable support for the AS and A2 exam syllabi. Written in approachable, readable English with a clear, user-friendly layout, they can be easily accessed by all students.

John Claughton

A new series of students aged 16 and over studying the ancient world. Strikes a balance between civilisation and literary topics - the series encompasses literary, historical and philosophical subjects as well as topics of civilisation. It helps students understand the primary sources in contexts, and will appeal to those studing the whole range of classical topics. New translations - fresh translations of significant passages by Latin and Greek authors, with accompanying commentaries by key scholars in the classical field, provide readable, informative texts with broad appeal. Attractively illustrated to motivate students - helps students to draw parallels between the literary and material sources. Supporting exam success - the student friendly texts give valuable support for the AS and A2 exam syllabi. Written in approachable, readable English with a clear, user-friendly layout, they can be easily accessed by all students.

Robert Bittlestone

Where is the Ithaca described in such detail in Homer's Odyssey? The mystery has baffled scholars for over two millennia, particularly because Homer's descriptions bear little resemblance to the modern island called Ithaki. This highly illustrated book tells the extraordinary story of the exciting recent discovery of the true location of Homer's Ithaca by following a detective trail of literary, geological and archaeological clues. We can now identify all the places on the island that are mentioned in the epic--even the site of Odysseus' palace itself. The pages of the Odyssey come alive as we follow its events through a landscape that opens up before our eyes via glorious color photographs and 3-D satellite images. Over a century after Schliemann's discovery of Troy, the information in this groundbreaking volume will revolutionize our understanding of Homer's text and of our cultural ancestors in Bronze Age Greece. Robert Bittlestone was educated in classics and science before reading economics at the University of Cambridge. He is the founder of Metapraxis Ltd., a company specializing in the detection of early warnings for multinational companies. Bittlestone is the author of many articles about the importance of visualization and has applied these principles to the enigma described in this book. James Diggle is Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Queens' College. John Underhill is Chair of Stratigraphy at the University of Edinburgh and Associate Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University.

Michael Kulikowski

Late in August 410, Rome was starving, its residents were turning on one another, and, to make matters worse, the Gothic army camped at Rome's gates was restless. The Gothic commander was Alaric, a Roman general and barbarian chieftain. Leading an army that was short of food and potentially mutinous, sacking Rome was his only way forward. The old heart of Rome's empire fell to a conqueror's sword for the first time in eight hundred years. For three days, Alaric's Goths sacked the eternal city. In the words of a contemporary, the mother of the world had been murdered. Alaric's story is the culmination of a long historical journey by which the Goths came to be a part of the Roman world. Whether as friends or foes of the Roman empire, the Goths and their history are entwined with the larger history of Rome in the third and fourth centuries. Rome's Gothic Wars explains how the Goths came into existence on the margins of the Roman world, how different Gothic groups dealt with the enormous power of Rome just beyond their lands, and how, in two traumatic years, thousands of Goths entered the imperial provinces and destroyed the army that was sent to suppress them, leaving the emperor of the eternal city dead on the field of battle. Unlike other histories of the barbarians, Rome's Gothic Wars shows exactly how and why modern historians understand the Goths the way they do ? and why our understanding is so controversial. Michael Kulikowski is associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. A recipient of the Solmsen Fellowship at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he is the author of Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, which was awarded an Honorable Mention in Classics and Archaeology from the Association of American University Presses. His scholarly articles have appeared in Early Medieval Europe, Britannia, Phoenix, and Byzantium, and he has appeared on the History Channel's Barbarians series.

Roger Woodard

The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology presents a comprehensive and integrated treatment of ancient Greek mythic tradition. Divided into three sections, the work consists of sixteen original articles authored by an ensemble of some of the worlds most distinguished scholars of classical mythology. Section one provides readers with an examination of the forms and uses of myth in Greek oral and written literature from the epic poetry of the eight century BC to the mythographic catalogues of the early centuries AD. Section two looks at the relationship between myth, religion, art and politics among the Greeks, and at the Roman appropriation of Greek mythic tradition.

Karl Galinsky

The age of Augustus, commonly dated to 30 BC--AD 14, was a pivotal period in world history. At a time of tremendous change in Rome, Italy, and throughout the Mediterranean world, many developments were underway when Augustus took charge and a recurring theme is the role that he played in influencing their direction. Written by distinguished specialists from the U.S. and Europe, this Companion's sixteen essays explore the multi-faceted character of the period and the interconnections among social, religious, political, literary, and artistic developments.

Howard Clark Kee
Bruce Chilton

The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, Second Edition focuses on the ever-changing social and cultural contexts in which the biblical authors and their original readers lived. The authors of the first edition were chosen for their internationally recognized expertise in their respective fields: the history and literature of Israel; postbiblical Judaism; biblical archaeology; and the origins and early literature of Christianity. In this second edition, all of their chapters have been updated and thoroughly revised, with a view towards better investigating the social histories embedded in the biblical texts and incorporating the most recent archaeological discoveries from the Ancient Near East and Hellenistic worlds.

Graham Shipley

Few historical epochs have influenced the development of civilization to the extent that those of ancient Greece and Rome have. This Guide, with over 1700 entries and 500 illustrations, is a key reference work on both, covering all the main branches of ancient literature, art and institutions. In addition, it explores traditionally neglected areas such as dress, housing, minority groups and social relations. Ranging from post-Bronze Age Greece to the later Roman Empire, it surveys not only ancient Greece and Rome, but discusses those cultures with which Greeks and Romans exchanged information and culture (e.g., Phoenicians, Celts and Jews) as well as the remote peoples with whom they were in contact (e.g., Persia, China and India). Graham Shipley is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and chair of the Council of University Classical Departments as well as the Sparta and Laconia Committee of the British School of Athens. His publications include A History of Samos and The Greek World after Alexander. John Vanderspoel is Professor of Late Antiquity at the University of Calgary, where he was initially appointed in 1985. His publications include Themistius and the Imperial Court (1995) and numerous journal articles and chapters on Roman history, intellectual and religious developments in the Roman imperial period and Roman Britain. David Mattingly is a Fellow of the British Academy and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. His publications include monographs on Tripolitania (1995) and An Atlas of Roman Britain (2002); edited volumes including Economies beyond Agriculture in the Classical World (2001), Life, Death and Entertainment in the Roman World (1999), and Dialogues in Roman Imperialism (supplement to Journal of Roman Archaeology, 1997). Lin Foxhall is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Her publications include co-edited volumes on masculinity in the ancient world (Thinking Men and When Men were Men 1998), on ancient law (Greek Law in its Political Setting 1996), and the ancient economy (Money, Labour and Land 2002) as well as many journal articles and chapters on Greek social relations, gender, agriculture, field survey and economy.

Walter Scheidel

In this, the first comprehensive one-volume survey of the economies of classical antiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarise the current state of scholarship in their specialised fields and sketch new directions for research. The approach taken is both thematic, with chapters on the underlying determinants of economic performance, and chronological, with coverage of the whole of the Greek and Roman worlds extending from the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. The contributors move beyond the substantivist-formalist debates that dominated twentieth-century scholarship and display a new interest in economic growth in antiquity. New methods for measuring economic development are developed, often combining textual and archaeological data that have previously been treated separately. This important work represents a major advance in our understanding of the economic expansion that made the civilisation of the classical Mediterranean world possible.

Philip Sabin

Warfare was the single biggest preoccupation of historians in antiquity. In recent decades fresh textual interpretations, numerous new archaeological discoveries and a much broader analytical focus emphasising social, economic, political and cultural approaches have transformed our understanding of ancient warfare. Volume II of this two-volume History reflects these developments and provides a systematic account, written by a distinguished cast of contributors, of the various themes underlying the warfare of the Roman world from the Late Republic to the sixth-century empire of Justinian and his successors. For each broad period developments in troop-types, equipment, strategy and tactics are discussed. These are placed in the broader context of developments in international relations and the relationship of warfare to both the state and wider society. Numerous illustrations, a glossary and chronology, and information about the authors mentioned supplement the text. This will become the primary reference work for specialists and non-specialists alike.

Philip Sabin

Warfare was the single biggest preoccupation of historians in antiquity. In recent decades fresh textual interpretations, numerous new archaeological discoveries and a much broader analytical focus emphasising social, economic, political and cultural approaches have transformed our understanding of ancient warfare. Volume I of this two-volume History reflects these developments and provides a systematic account, written by a distinguished cast of contributors, of the various themes underlying the warfare of the Greek world from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period and of Early and Middle Republican Rome. For each broad period developments in troop-types, equipment, strategy and tactics are discussed. These are placed in the broader context of developments in international relations and the relationship of warfare to both the state and wider society. Numerous illustrations, a glossary and chronology, and information about the authors mentioned supplement the text. This will become the primary reference work for specialists and non-specialists alike.

Philip Sabin

Warfare was the single biggest preoccupation of historians in antiquity. In recent decades fresh textual interpretations, numerous new archaeological discoveries and a much broader analytical focus emphasising social, economic, political and cultural approaches have transformed our understanding of ancient warfare. This two-volume History reflects these developments and provides a systematic account, written by a distinguished cast of contributors, of the various themes underlying the warfare of the Greek world from Archaic Greece to the Arab conquests of the seventh century AD. For each broad period developments in troop-types, equipment, strategy and tactics are discussed. These are placed in the broader context of developments in international relations and the relationship of warfare to both the state and wider society. Numerous illustrations, a glossary and chronology, and information about the authors mentioned supplement the text. This will become the primary reference work for specialists and non-specialists alike.

Learn More

Waldemar Heckel

In this book, Waldemar Heckel provides a revisionist overview of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Emphasizing the aims and impact of his military expeditions, the political consequences of military action, and the use of propaganda, both for motivation and justification, his underlying premise is that the basic goals of conquest and the keys to military superiority have not changed dramatically over the millennia. Indeed, as Heckel makes clear, many aristocratic and conquest societies are remarkably similar to that of Alexander in their basic aims and organization.

John Romer

The Great Pyramid's eerily precise architecture has for centuries both astounded and puzzled archaeologists and has given rise to numerous modern fantasies concerning the so-called 'Mystery of the Pyramids'. Sweeping away centuries of myth and confusion, John Romer describes for the first time exactly how the Great Pyramid was designed and built. He argues that the pyramid makers worked from a single plan whose existence has long been doubted and even denied by scholars. Moreover, the Great Pyramid's unique architecture is integral to the way it was built, and for its builders the tasks of construction and design were not separate as they are now. By placing this awesome monument in its genuine contemporary context, this book underlines the extraordinary talents and the originality of the ancient Egyptians at the time of King Khufu.

James Morwood

A new series of students aged 16 and over studying the ancient world. Strikes a balance between civilisation and literary topics - the series encompasses literary, historical and philosophical subjects as well as topics of civilisation. It helps students understand the primary sources in contexts, and will appeal to those studing the whole range of classical topics. New translations - fresh translations of significant passages by Latin and Greek authors, with accompanying commentaries by key scholars in the classical field, provide readable, informative texts with broad appeal. Attractively illustrated to motivate students - helps students to draw parallels between the literary and material sources. Supporting exam success - the student friendly texts give valuable support for the AS and A2 exam syllabi. Written in approachable, readable English with a clear, user-friendly layout, they can be easily accessed by all students.

John W. I. Lee

Professor Lee provides a social and cultural history of the Cyreans, the mercenaries of Xenophon's Anabasis. While they have often been portrayed as a single abstract political community, this book reveals that life in the army was mostly shaped by a set of smaller social communities: the formal unit organisation of the lochos (company), and the informal comradeship of the suskenia (mess group). It includes full treatment of the environmental conditions of the march, ethnic and socio-economic relations amongst the soldiers, equipment and transport, marching and camp behaviour, eating and drinking, sanitation and medical care, and many other topics. It also accords detailed attention to the non-combatants accompanying the soldiers. It uses ancient literary and archaeological evidence, ancient and modern comparative material, and perspectives from military sociology and modern war studies. This book is essential reading for anyone working on ancient Greek warfare or on Xenophon's Anabasis.

John R. Hinnells

Ancient civilisations exercise an intense fascination for people the world over. This Handbook provides a vivid, scholarly, and eminently readable account of ancient cultures around the world, from China to India, the Middle East, Egypt, Europe, and the Americas. It examines the development of religious belief from the time of the Palaeolithic cave paintings to the Aztecs and Incas. Covering the whole of society not just the elite, the Handbook outlines the history of the different societies so that their religion and culture can be understood in context. Each chapter includes discussion of the broad field of relevant studies alerting the reader to wider debates on each subject. An international team of scholars convey their own deep enthusiasm for their subject and provide a unique study of both popular and 'official' religion in the ancient world.

A.-F. Christidis

This book provides the most comprehensive account of the history of the Greek language from its beginnings to late antiquity. In this revised and expanded translation of the Greek original published in 2001, a distinguished international team of scholars goes beyond a merely technical treatment of the subject by examining the languages relationship with politics, society and culture. An attempt is made to cover all aspects of the history of Greek, including those that are usually considered marginal, such as obscene language, the language of the gods and child talk. Other topics which receive particular emphasis are language contact and translation practices in antiquity. The books clear organisation and concise chapters make it highly readable and accessible to non-specialists, and the text is supported by example passages from primary sources and numerous informative illustrations. It is an essential reference work for all those interested in the history of Greek.

Gordon P. Kelly

Roman senators and equestrians were always vulnerable to prosecution for their official conduct, especially since politically motivated accusations were common. When charged with a crime in Republican Rome, such men had a choice concerning their fate. They could either remain in Rome and face possible conviction and punishment, or go into voluntary exile and avoid legal sentence. For the majority of the Republican period, exile was not a formal legal penalty contained in statutes, although it was the practical outcome of most capital convictions. Despite its importance in the political arena, Roman exile has been a neglected topic in modern scholarship. This study examines all facets of exile in the Roman Republic: its historical development, technical legal issues, the possibility of restoration, as well as the effects of exile on the lives and families of banished men.

Nigel Nicholson

Athletics represented an important institution through which the Greek aristocracies sought to maintain their privileged political position, with the assistance of charioteers, jockeys and trainers from the lower classes. In the late archaic and early classical period, the relationship between the victors and helpers changed radically, threatening the political value of athletics, and undermining the institution for aristocrats. Nigel Nicholson examines how aristocrats responded to these changes through a study of the significance of victory memorials as a symbol of social struggle in ancient Greece.

Daryn Lehoux

The focus of this book is the interplay between ancient astronomy, meteorology, physics and calendrics. It looks at a set of popular instruments and texts (parapegmata) used in antiquity for astronomical weather prediction and the regulation of day-to-day life. Farmers, doctors, sailors, and others needed to know when the heavens were conducive to various activities, and they developed a set of fairly sophisticated tools and texts for tracking temporal, astronomical, and weather cycles. For the first time the sources are presented in full, with an accompanying translation. A new and comprehensive analysis explores questions such as: What methodologies were used in developing the science of astrometeorology? What kinds of instruments were employed and how did these change over time? How was the material collected and passed on? How did practices and theories differ in the different cultural contexts of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome?

Andrew Stewart

This volume examines the "little barbarians," ten highly expressive Roman marble figures found in Rome in 1514, now recognized as copies of the Small (or Lesser) Attalid Dedication on the Athenian Akropolis. Manolis Korres' recent discovery of the monument's pedestals led Andrew Stewart to a complete reconsideration of the statues' form, date, and significance. Illustrated with new photographs of all ten barbarians, and 26 new drawings by Manolis Korres, Stewart's book systematically traces the Barbarians' impact upon the intellectual history of art and archaeology.

Josiah Osgood

Caesar's Legacy recounts the rise to power of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, by focusing on how the bloody civil wars which he and his soldiers fought transformed the lives of men and women throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond. The volume demonstrates how, during this violent period, Romans came to accept a new form of government and found ways to celebrate it in their towns and cities. It also reveals how they mourned, in literary masterpieces and stories passed onto their children, the terrible losses that accompanied the long years of fighting.

John Buckler

The streams of Greek history in the fourth century are highly controversial. Sandwiched between the Classical fifth century and the Hellenistic period, the era has invited various readings, most prominently the verdict of decrepitude and decline. Recent discoveries, however, indicate that the period was not simply illustrative of the political, social, and economic weaknesses of the Greek city-state. This book examines the fourth century from an area with its own regional dynamics: central Greece, a region often considered as a backwater for macro-politics. The authors disclose a vivid tension between regional politics in Boeotia and its adjacent territories and Greek affairs. They provide a meticulous and, at times, microscopic investigation into the region's military and political history, together with detailed analyses of the topography of the places 'where history was made.' The result is a dazzling account of Greece's power transition crisis on the eve of the Macedonian conquest.

Jaclyn L. Maxwell

How did ordinary people and church authorities communicate with each other in late antiquity and how did this interaction affect the processes of Christianization in the Roman Empire? By studying the relationship between the preacher and his congregation within the context of classical, urban traditions of public speaking, this book explains some of the reasons for the popularity of Christian sermons during the period. Its focus on John Chrysostoms sermons allows us to see how an educated church leader responded to and was influenced by a congregation of ordinary Christians. As a preacher in Antioch, Chrysostom took great care to convey his lessons to his congregation, which included a broad cross-section of society. Because of this, his sermons provide a fascinating view into the variety of beliefs held by the laity, demonstrating that many people could be actively engaged in their religion while disagreeing with their preacher.

Vincent Farenga

Combining contemporary political philosophy with historical, literary, and philosophical texts, this study examines a series of remarkable individuals who promoted justice in early Iron Age, archaic, and classical Greece. From the earlier periods, Homer's Achilles and Odysseus were represented as heroic individuals who are also prototypical citizens, and Solon the lawgiver, wrote the scripts of statute law and the jury trial. The book's focus later turns to dialogues between a citizen's moral autonomy and political obligation in democratic Athens.

Willy Clarysse

How did a new Egyptian dynasty cope with the problems of establishing rule in a country with a long history of developed administration? This volume publishes fifty-four Ptolemaic papyri from the Fayum and Middle Egypt, with English translations and extensive commentaries. Dating from c. 250-150 BC and written in either Greek or Egyptian demotic, the texts record lists of adults, arranged by village, occupation and social group, and by household, together with the taxes paid on their persons, their livestock and trades. Volume I provides the documentary basis for the historical studies of Volume II, enabling it to reveal much about Hellenistic Egypt's taxation system, the occupational and demographic breakdown of the population, and relations between Greeks and Egyptians.

Willy Clarysse

The historical studies of this second volume provide a new look at the economic and social history of Ptolemaic Egypt. The salt-tax registers of P.Count not only throw light on key aspects of the fiscal policy of the Greek pharaohs but also provide the best information for family and household structure for the Western world before the fifteenth century AD. The makeup of the population is thoroughly analysed here in both demographic and occupational terms. A constant theme running throughout is the impact of the Greeks on the indigenous population of Egypt. This is traced in cultural policies, in administrative geography, in the realm of stock-rearing and in the changing religious affiliations traceable through the names that parents gave their children. The extent to which Egypt is typical of the Hellenistic world more widely is the final topic addressed.

Robin Osborne

Whatever aspect of Athenian culture one examines, whether it be tragedy and comedy, philosophy, vase painting and sculpture, oratory and rhetoric, law and politics, or social and economic life, the picture looks very different after 400 BC from before 400 BC. Scholars who have previously addressed this question have concentrated on particular areas and come up with explanations, often connected with the psychological effect of the Peloponnesian War, which are very unconvincing as explanations for the whole range of change. This book attempts to look at a wide range of evidence for cultural change at Athens and to examine the ways in which the changes may have been co-ordinated. It is a complement to the examination of the rhetoric of revolution as applied to ancient Greece in Rethinking Revolutions through Ancient Greece (Cambridge, 2006).

Edward M. Harris

This volume brings together essays on Athenian law by Edward M. Harris, who challenges much of the recent scholarship on this topic. Presenting a balanced analysis of the legal system in ancient Athens, Harris stresses the importance of substantive issues and their contribution to our understanding of different types of legal procedures. He combines careful philological analysis with close attention to the political and social contexts of individual statutes. Collectively, the essays in this volume demonstrate the relationship between law and politics, the nature of the economy, the position of women, and the role of the legal system in Athenian society. They also show that the Athenians were more sophisticated in their approach to legal issues than has been assumed in the modern scholarship on this topic.

H. E. M. Cool

What were the eating and drinking habits of the inhabitants of Britain during the Roman period? Drawing on evidence from a large number of archaeological excavations, this fascinating new study shows how varied these habits were in different regions and amongst different communities and challenges the idea that there was any one single way of being Roman or native. Integrating a range of archaeological sources, including pottery, metalwork and environmental evidence such as animal bone and seeds, this book illuminates eating and drinking choices, providing invaluable insights into how those communities regarded their world. The book contains sections on the nature of the different types of evidence used and how this can be analysed. It will be a useful guide to all archaeologists and those who wish to learn about the strength and weaknesses of this material and how best to use it.

Peter Sarris

The reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (52765) stands out in late Roman and medieval history. Justinian reconquered far-flung territories from the barbarians, overhauled the Empire's administrative framework and codified for posterity the inherited tradition of Roman law. This work represents the first modern study in English of the social and economic history of the Eastern Roman Empire in the reign of the Emperor Justinian. Drawing upon papyrological, numismatic, legal, literary and archaeological evidence, the study seeks to reconstruct the emergent nature of relations between landowners and peasants, and aristocrats and emperors in the late antique Eastern Empire. It provides a social and economic context in which to situate the Emperor Justinian's mid-sixth-century reform programme, and questions the implications of the Eastern Empire's pattern of social and economic development under Justinian for its subsequent, post-Justinianic history.

Gary D. Farney

The ancient Romans are usually thought of as a monolithic ethnic group, though in fact they formed a self-consciously pluralistic society. In this book, Gary D. Farney explores how senators from Romes Republican period celebrated and manipulated their ethnic identity to get ahead in Romes political culture. He examines how politicians from these lands tried to advertise positive aspects of their ethnic identity, how others tried to re-create a negative identity into something positive, and how ethnic identity advertisement developed over the course of Republican history. Finally, in an epilogue, Farney addresses how the various Italic identities coalesced into a singular Italian identity in the Empire, and how Romes experience with Italic groups informed how it perceived other groups, such as Gauls, Germans, and Greeks.

Galen's treatises on the classification and causation of diseases and symptoms are an important component of his prodigious oeuvre, forming a bridge between his theoretical works and his practical, clinical writings. As such, they remained an integral component of the medical teaching curriculum well into the second millennium. In these four treatises (only one of which has been previously translated into English), Galen not only provides a framework for the exhaustive classification of diseases and their symptoms as a prelude to his analysis of their causation, but he also attempts to establish precise definitions of all the key terms involved. Unlike other of his works, these treatises are notably moderate in tone, taking into account different views on structure and causation in a relatively even-handed way. Nonetheless, they are a clear statement of the Dogmatic position on the theoretical foundations of medicine in his time.

John Marincola

This survey of more recent work on Herodotus, Thucydides and Polybius focuses on developments in the study of Greek historiography and synthesises some of the most important research from the last few decades. There is a detailed treatment of each writer, with an emphasis on analysis of the historians' sources, their narrative methods and their use of speeches. Also examined are the structure and themes of each man's work, together with consideration of the way each historian employs characterisation. The book provides a full bibliography of recent work done mainly (but not exclusively) in English, and suggests future directions that the study of these historians may take. It will be of interest to upper-level students and scholars who would like an overview of recent trends in the study both of the historians themselves and of ancient Greek historiography in general.

Jan N. Bremmer

In this brief but highly informative book Jan Bremmer presents an outline of Greek religion in the classical period. After a survey of its main characteristics, he offers a clear and innovative view of the great gods and heroes as well as their sanctuaries and also the main myths, rituals and mysteries: from Athena to Zeus, from sacrifice to the puritan Orphics, from the Indo-European roots to the influence of the ancient Near East. The approach pays attention to the sociological, anthropological and psychological aspects of Greek religion and also to the gender roles. By analyzing the often modern origin of many of the notions employed in the analysis of Greek religion, it also shows the difference between the polytheism of the Greeks and the place of religion in modern Western society. Its excellent bibliography makes this book a very useful tool for students and teachers alike.

T. E. Rihll

Greek Science is written for scientists, classicists, historians of science, and anyone with an interest in the beginnings of science. It surveys the range and scope of ancient work on topics now called science, at a lively pace and with colourful examples. It encompasses ancient empirical studies as well as theoretical works, the life sciences and the exact sciences, and is written by one of the foremost authorities on ancient science and technology. No knowledge of Greek, Latin, or ancient history is assumed.

A. H. Merrills

The civilized world witnessed massive political, social and religious change from the fifth century to the eighth century. Geographical and historical thought, long rooted to Roman ideologies, had to adopt new perspectives of late antiquity. Taking their lead from Orosius in the early fifth century, Latin historians turned increasingly to geographical description, as well as historical narrative, to examine the world around them. This book explores the interdependence of geographical and historical modes of expression in four of the most important writers of the period: Orosius, Jordanes, Isidore of Seville and the Venerable Bede.

Joel Allen

Hundreds of foreign hostages were detained among the Romans as the empire grew in the Republic and early Principate. As prominent figures at the center of diplomacy and as ?exotic? representatives, or symbols, of the outside world, they drew considerable attention in Roman literature and other artistic media. Our sources discuss hostages in terms of the geopolitics that motivated their detention, as well as in accordance with other structures of power. Hostages, thus, could be located in a social hierarchy, in a family network, in a cultural continuum, or in a sexual role. In these schemes, an individual Roman, or Rome in general, becomes not just a conqueror, but also a patron, father, teacher, or generically masculine. By focusing on the characterizations of hostages in Roman culture, we witness Roman attitudes toward ethnicity and imperial power. Joel Allen received his Ph.D. from Yale University and currently is Assistant Professor of History at Queens College, City University of New York.

Polly Low

In this book Dr Low explores the assumptions and principles which determined the conduct and representation of interstate politics in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. She employs a wide range of ancient evidence, both epigraphic and literary, as well as some contemporary theoretical approaches from the field of International Relations. Taking a thematic rather than a chronological approach, she addresses topics such as the nature of interstate society in the Greek world; the sources, scope and enforcement of 'international law'; the nature of interstate ethics and morality; interventionism and imperialism; and the question of change and stability. She argues that Classical Greece's reputation for unrestrained and unsophisticated diplomacy is undeserved, and shows that relations between Greek city-states were shaped by and judged according to a complex network of customs, beliefs and expectations which pervaded all areas of interstate behaviour.

Jill Harries

What was crime in ancient Rome? Was it defined by law or social attitudes? How did damage to the individual differ from offences against the community as a whole? This book explores competing legal and extra-legal discourses in a number of areas, including theft, official malpractice, treason, sexual misconduct, crimes of violence, homicide, magic and perceptions of deviance. It argues that court practice was responsive to social change, despite the ingrained conservatism of the legal tradition, and that judges and litigants were in part responsible for the harsher operation of justice in Late Antiquity. Consideration is also given to how attitudes to crime were shaped not only by legal experts but also by the rhetorical education and practices of advocates, and by popular and even elite indifference to the finer points of law.

Adriaan Lanni

Adriaan Lanni draws on contemporary legal thinking to present a new model of the legal system of classical Athens. She analyzes the Athenians' preference in most cases for ad hoc, discretionary decision-making, as opposed to what moderns would call the rule of law. Lanni argues that the Athenians consciously employed different approaches to legal decision-making in different types of courts. The varied approaches to legal process stems from a deep tension in Athenian practice and thinking, between the demand for flexibility of legal interpretation consistent with the exercise of democratic power by ordinary Athenian jurors; and the demand for consistency and predictability in legal interpretation expected by litigants and necessary to permit citizens to conform their conduct to the law. Lanni presents classical Athens as a case study of a successful legal system that, by modern standards, had an extraordinarily individualized and discretionary approach to justice.

David Wiles

Why did Greek actors in the age of Sophocles always wear masks? David Wiles provides the first book-length study of this question. He surveys the evidence of vases and other monuments, arguing that they portray masks as part of a process of transformation, and that masks were never seen in the fifth century as autonomous objects. Wiles goes on to examine experiments with the mask in twentieth-century theatre, tracing a tension between the use of masks for possession and for alienation, and he identifies a preference among modern classical scholars for alienation. Wiles declines to distinguish the political aims of Greek tragedy from its religious aims, and concludes that an understanding of the mask allows us to see how Greek acting was simultaneously text-centred and body-centred. This book challenges orthodox views about how theatre relates to ritual, and provides insight into the creative work of the actor.

Sitta von Reden

First book to explore the impact of Alexander the Greats introduction of coined money on the economy and society of Egypt and its political implications for the formation of the Ptolemaic state. It argues that the introduction of coinage happened slowly, spreading gradually from Alexandria into the chora. Under Ptolemy II, however, Egypt was aggressively monetised. Using both numismatic and papyrological evidence, the workings of a rural monetary economy are reconstructed where coinage was in high demand but short supply. It is argued that by the middle of the third century BC Egypt was much more thoroughly monetised than is usually assumed, but that the degree of monetisation was sustained only by an extensive credit economy as well as ad hoc commutation of monetary payments into kind. Contextualising the complexities of credit and banking in rural Egypt, the book offers a new picture of their function in the ancient economy.

Norman Yoffee

Classical archaeology promotes the view that a state's evolution reflects general, universal forces. Norman Yoffee challenges the model in this book by presenting more complex and multi-linear models for the evolution of civilizations. Yoffee questions the definition of the prehistoric state, particularly that which heralds "the chiefdom" as the forerunner of the ancient state and explores case studies on the role of women in ancient societies.

Kenneth S. Rothwell, Jr

Aristophanes Birds, Wasps, and Frogs offer the best-known examples of the animal choruses of Greek comedy of the fifth century BC, but sixth-century vase-paintings of men costumed as cocks, bulls, and horses indicated that comedies were only the last phase of a longer tradition. This book suggests that although the earlier masquerades may have had ritual origins, they should also be seen as products of the culture of the archaic aristocratic symposium. The animal choruses of the late fifth century may have been conscious revivals of an earlier tradition. Moreover, the animals of comedy were not the predators found in other literary genres; they were, instead, social animals who showed that nature and culture could co-exist. The Birds, which tells the story of a city foundation, also parodies fifth-century philosophical accounts of the origins of human civilization. Also discussed are the Wasps, Frogs, and fragments of lost comedies.

Paul Christesen

This is the first comprehensive examination of Olympic victor lists. The origins, development, content, and structure of Olympic victor lists are explored and explained, and a number of important questions, such as the source and reliability of the year of 776 for the first Olympics, are addressed. Olympic victor lists emerge as a clearly defined type of literature that is best understood as a group of closely related texts.

Jason Knig

The Romans commanded the largest and most complex empire the world had ever seen, or would see until modern times. The challenges, however, were not just political, economic and military: Rome was also the hub of a vast information network, drawing in worldwide expertise and refashioning it for its own purposes. This groundbreaking collection of essays considers the dialogue between technical literature and imperial society, drawing on, developing and critiquing a range of modern cultural theories (including those of Michel Foucault and Edward Said). How was knowledge shaped into textual forms, and how did those forms encode relationships between emperor and subjects, theory and practice, Roman and Greek, centre and periphery? Ordering Knowledge in the Roman Empire will be required reading for those concerned with the intellectual and cultural history of the Roman Empire, and its lasting legacy in the medieval world and beyond.

Rachel Sternberg

Arguing that the exercise of power in democratic Athens, especially during its brief fifth-century empire, raised troubling questions about the alleviation and infliction of suffering, this book examines how pity emerged as a timely topic in Atheninan culture. Ten essays examine the role of pity in the literature, art, and society of classical Athens by analyzing evidence from tragedy, philosophy, historiography, epic, oratory, vase painting, sculpture, and medical writings. Athenians had power and used it ruthlessly, but the infliction of suffering did not mesh well with their civic self-images.

Lester K. Little

Plague was a key factor in the waning of Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Eight centuries before the Black Death, a pandemic of plague engulfed the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and eventually extended as far east as Persia and as far north as the British Isles. Its persisted sporadically from 541 to 750, the same peri