The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600

by Robin W. Winks, Susan P. Mattern-Parkes

Overview

What is a city, and what forms did urbanization take in different times and places? How do peoples and nations define themselves and perceive foreigners? Questions like these serve as the framework for The Ancient Mediterranean World: From the Stone Age to A.D. 600. This book provides a concise overview of the history of the Mediterranean world, from Paleolithic times through the rise of Islam in the seventh century A.D. It traces the origins of the civilizations around the Mediterranean—including ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome—and their interactions over time.
The Ancient Mediterranean World goes beyond political history to explore the lives of ordinary men and women and investigate topics such as the relationships between social classes, the dynamics of the family, the military and society, and aristocratic values. It introduces students not only to the ancient texts on which historians rely, but also to the art and architecture that reveal how people lived and how they understood ideas like love, death, and the body. Numerous illustrations, chronological charts, excerpts from ancient texts, and in-depth discussions of specific art objects and historical methods are included. Text boxes containing primary source materials examine such diverse subjects as warfare in early Mesopotamia, sculpting the body in classical Greece, the young women of Sappho's chorus, and early descriptions of the Huns. Combining excellent chronological coverage with a clear, concise narrative, The Ancient Mediterranean World is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in ancient history and ancient civilization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195155624
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/26/2004
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	9.44(w) x 6.44(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Yale University

University of Georgia

Table of Contents

List of MapsList of Chronological TablesList of BoxesPreface: The Value of HistoryAcknowledgementsCHAPTER ONE: The First CivilizationsWhat Is History? The Origins of CivilizationiThe Archaeological Record—The First Modern Humans—The Beginnings of Agriculture—A New Complexity: Some Neolithic Sites/iThe First Civilizations: The Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze AgeiThe Bronze Age—Mesopotamian Civilization—Egypt in the Bronze Age—The Canaanites—The Hittites—The Agean—The Collapse of Bronze Age Civilization/iIsrael and JudahiMyth and History—The Hebrew Bible—Early Israel—The Monarchy and the Babylonian Exile—Society and Family—Religion and Law/iSummaryCHAPTER TWO: Greek Civilization: Hellas and HellenismThe Dark AgeiPopulation Decline and Dark Age Culture—Lefkandi—Homer and Oral Poetry/iThe Archaic Age: Hellas and the CityiHellas—War and the City: The Rise of the/i Polis—iLiterature and Culture in Archaic Hellas/iThe Classical Age: The Empire and Culture of AthensiThe Persian Empire—The Persian Wars—Herodotus: The First History—Greeks and Barbarians—Democracy and Empire: Athens at Its Height—Culture in Imperial Athens—The Peloponnesian War—Athens after the War—Society in Classical Athens/iThe Hellenistic WorldiThe Macedonian Conquerors—Greeks and Natives—Judaism in the Second Temple Period—Greek Culture in the Hellenistic Period/iSummaryCHAPTER THREE: The Romans and Their EmpireRoman OriginsiWho Were the Romans?—From Village to City—The Etruscans/iGovernment and Society in the Early RepubliciThe Ruling Class—Plebeians and Patricians—Society in the Twelve Tables—Warfare and the Conquest of Italy—Conquests Overseas—Imperialism and Culture/iThe Late Republic: Society in CrisisiThe Aristocracy—Peasants: Gracchus' Land Reform—Slaves—The Knights: Provincial Government and Corruption—Soldiers: Marius' Military Reforms and Sulla's Dictatorship—Cicero and Roman Society—Pompey and Ceasar—The First Emperor/iThe EmpireiThe Emperors—The Emperor and the City of Rome—The Army—Taxes—Roads and Cities—Law—Greek Culture in the Roman Empire/iLife in the ProvincesiImperial Rule: The Example of Judaea—The Army in Roman Britain—Society in Roman Egypt/iCrisis and Reform in the Third CenturyiWars and Emperors—Economic Crisis—Diocletian and the Later Roman Empire/iSummaryCHAPTER FOUR: Christianity and the Late Antique WorldPaganismThe Rise of ChristianityiThe New Testament and the Gospels—Paul—Persecution and Martyrs—Bishops and Theologians/iChristianity in the Later Roman EmpireiThe Conversion of Constantine—Heresy and Schism—Monks and Ascetics—Christianity and Social Change—Literature: St. Augustine and the Classics/iThe Decline of the Western EmpireiFranks—Visigoths—Ostrogoths—Vandals—Barbarian Legal Codes—Justinian/iMuhammad and the Rise of IslamSummarySuggested ReadingsIndex