Egypt, Greece, and Rome Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean

Egypt, Greece, and Rome is regarded as one of the best general histories of the ancient world. It is written for the general reader and the student coming to the subject for the first time and provides a reliable and highly accessible point of entry to the period.

Beignning with the early Middle Eastern civilizations of Sumer, and continuing right through to the Islmic invasions and the birth of modern Europe after the collapse of the Roman empire, the book ranges beyond political history to cover art and architecture, philosophy, literature, society, and economy. A wide range of maps, illustrations, and photographs complements the text.

This third edition has been extensively revised to appeal to the general reader with several chapters completely rewritten and a great deal of new material added, including a new selection of images.

Charles Freeman is a freelance academic historian with wide interests in the history of European culture and thought.

In recent years, he has developed a study tour programme of Italy, including Sicily. He has now led twelve tours, the latest to Friuli, with Turin on the schedule for 2013. In 2005 Charles was appointed to the Editorial Board of the Blue Guides as Historical Consultant and he has written the historical introductions to several volumes of the new editions including Rome, Florence, Venice, and Mainland Greece. He is also the author of The Blue Guide Sites of Antiquity: Fifty Sites that Explain the Classical World (2009) which has been widely praised.

Dedication
Foreword to the Third edition Oswyn Murray
Author's Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Plates
List of Maps
List of Figures
1. Approaching the Ancient World
2. The Birth of Civilization: The Ancient Near East, 5000- 1200 BC
3. Pyramids and Power, the Creation of an Egyptian State, 3500-1985 BC
4. Stability and Expansion, Egypt in the Middle and New Kingdoms, 1985- 1000 BC
Interlude 1: The Amarna Letters
5. Living in New Kingdom Egypt
6. The Ancient Near East, 1200- 500 BC
7. 'The Sea between the Lands', the Mediterranean as the Cradle of the Classical World
8. Civilizations of the Bronze Age Aegean, 2000 -1100 BC
9. The Birth of a New Greece 1100 - 700 BC
10. 'Travelling Heroes', The Greeks in a Wider World, 800-600 BC
Interlude 2: Sappho and Lyric Poetry
11. Hoplites and Tyrants: The Emergence of the City State
12. Craftsmanship and Creativity in Archaic Greece
13. The Persian Wars
14. The Greek Way of Life
15. Experiencing the Supernatural: the Spiritual World of the Greeks
Interlude 3: 'After this all becomes possible.' Creating Classical Art, 500 - 460 BC
16. Democracy and Empire, Athens in the Fifth Century
17. Rethinking the World: From Aeschylus to Aristotle
Interlude 4: Rhetoric
18. The Struggle for Power, 431- 338 BC
19. Alexander the Great and the Transformation of the Greek World
20. Tensions and Creativity: The Hellenistic World, 323 -30 BC
Interlude 5: Celts and Parthians
21. The Etruscans and Early Rome
22. Rome Becomes a Mediterranean Power
23. Rome, A Republic Under Stress
Interlude 6: Voices from the Republic
24. The Failure of Republican Politics
Interlude 7: Women in the Roman Republic
25. Augustus and the Founding of Empire
26. Consolidating the Roman Empire, AD 14-161
Interlude 8: The Sebasteion at Aphrodisias
27. Running and Defending an Empire
28. Social and Economic Life in the Empire
Interlude 9: The Romans as Builders
29. The Flourishing of Greek Culture
30. An Empire in Crisis, AD 161-313
31. The Early Christian Communities, AD 33-313
32. Constantine and His Successors
33. The Christian Emperor
34. The Collapse of the Classical West, 395-600
35. The Emergence of the Byzantine Empire
36. Legacies
What to Read Next
Date Chart
List of Events
Index