The world's first great narrative history, Herodotus' Histories vividly describes how the Greeks--few in number, poor, and disunited--managed to repulse a massive invasion by the powerful Persian army in the fifth century B.C. This amazing upset victory changed the course of Western civilization, as the cities that led the resistance--Athens and Sparta--became the two major powers on the Greek mainland.

The author makes the point that in this abridgement he has adhered to Gibbon's style, format, planning, and footnotes, and has made only selective exclusions. The history covers the centuries from Marcus Aurelius to the capture of Constantinople, and concludes with an epilogue dealing with medieval Rome and the dawn of the Renaissance.

Written by the renowned authority on ancient ships and seafaring Lionel Casson, The Ancient Mariners has long served the needs of all who are interested in the sea, from the casual reader to the professional historian. This completely revised edition takes into account the fresh information that has appeared since the book was first published in 1959, especially that from archaeology's newest branch, marine archaeology. Casson does what no other author...

Written in the 2nd century by the Greek historian Polybius, "The Histories" is a multi-volume work detailing many of the events, people, and ideas of the Hellenistic Period. While his focus is the space of time in which ancient Rome became a world power from 220 to 167 BC, Polybius also discusses his role as a 'pragmatic historian', a discourse on fate (called tyche), and the superiority of the mixed constitution. Though all forty volumes have not...

Ancient cities came to life over 5,000 years ago. Readers will journey to the civilizations that set the base of history, exploring why they formed and how they functioned. Fascinating facts and vivid illustrations make this a page-turner for any young reader.

The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT Robotics Lab, but by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention. More than 2,500 years ago, long before medieval automata, and centuries before technology made self-moving devices possible, Greek mythology was exploring ideas about creating artificial life--and grappling with still-unresolved ethical concerns about biotechne, "life through craft."...

Who lived in our world's ancient places? How did they survive? Travel back to the lost cities of Babylon, Karnak, Herculaneum, Mesa Verde, Angkor Wat, Great Zimbabwe, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), Tenochtitlan, Machu Picchu, Fatehpur Sikri, Jamestown, Caughnawaga, and Akrotiri. See why these civilizations were lost--and how they were found!--back cover.

Twenty-five-hundred years ago, civilizations around the world entered a revolutionary new era that overturned old order and laid the foundation for our world today. In the face of massive social changes across three continents, radical new forms of government emerged; mighty wars were fought over trade, religion, and ideology; and new faiths were ruthlessly employed to unify vast empires. The histories of Rome and China, Greece and India--the stories...

Simon Peter, the most human of the Apostles of Jesus, lays down his nets to follow his ways.

"Think you know a lot about ancient civilizations? Prepare to learn even more about the people of the ancient world and the surprising details of their cities, people, and daily lives. You'll be surprised by how much you'll discover in this totally terrific book of trivia about ancient civilizations"--