This Is A Unique And Comprehensive Introduction To The Ancient Mediterranean And Its Three Major Civilizations, Egypt, Greece, And Rome. It Reveals A Fascinating Picture Of The Deep Links Between The Cultures Across The Mediterranean And Explores The Ways In Which These Civilizations Continue To Be Influential To This Day. Beginning With The Emergence Of The Earliest Egyptian Civilization Around 3200 Bc, Charles Freeman Follows The History Of The Mediterranean Over A Span Of Four Millennia To Ad 600, Beyond The Fall Of The Roman Empire In The West To The Emergence Of The Byzantine Empire In The East. In Addition To The Three Great Civilizations, The Peoples Of The Ancient Near East And Other Lesser-known Cultures Such As The Etruscans, Celts, Persians, And Phoenicians Are Explored. The Author Examines The Art, Architecture, Philosophy, Literature, And Religious Practices Of Each Culture, Set Against Its Social, Political, And Economic Background. Ample Space Is Also Given To Key Individuals, From Homer To Horace, The Pharaoh Akhenaten To The Emperor Augustus, Alexander The Great To Julius Caesar, Jesus To Justinian, And Aristotle To Augustine.--jacket. Rediscovering The Ancient World -- Egypt, The Gift Of The Nile, 3200-1500 Bc -- Egypt As An Imperial Power, 1500-1000 Bc -- Daily Life In New Kingdom Egypt -- The Ancient Near East, 3500-500 Bc -- The Early Greeks, 2000-700 Bc -- The Greeks In A Wider World, 800-600 Bc -- Hoplites And Tyrants: The Emergence Of The City State -- Cultural Change In The Archaic Age -- The Perisan Wars, Interlude One. Herodotus And Egypt -- Everyday Life In Classical Greece -- Religion And Culture In The Greek World -- Athens: Democracy And Empire -- From Aeschylus To Aristotle -- The Struggle For Power, 431-338 Bc -- Alexander Of Macedon And The Expansion Of The Greek World -- The Hellenistic World, Interlude Two. Celts And Parthians -- The Etruscans And Early Rome. Rome Becomes A Mediterranean Power -- From The Gracchi To Caesar, 133-55 Bc, Interlude Three. Voices From The Republic -- The Fall Of The Roman Republic, 55-31 Bc, Interlude Four. Women In The Roman Republic -- Augustus And The Founding Of Empire -- Consolidating The Empire, Ad 14-138 -- Administering And Defending The Empire, Interlude Five. The Romans As Builders -- Social And Economic Life In The Empire -- Transformations: The Roman Empire, 138-313 -- The Foundations Of Christianity -- The Empire In The Fourth Century -- The Creation Of A New Europe, 395-600 -- The Emergence Of The Byzantine Empire. Charles Freeman. Index: P. [618]-638 Includes Bibliographical References (p. [564]-583).

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