The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome

by Bauer,Susan Wise

• ISBN13: 9780393059748
• ISBN10: 039305974X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. Dozens of maps provide a clear geography of great events, while timelines give the reader an ongoing sense of the passage of years and cultural interconnection. This narrative history employs the methods of 'œhistory from beneath''”literature, epic traditions, private letters and accounts'”to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them.

Table of Contents

The Edge of History	p. 1
The Origin of Kingship	p. 3
The Earliest Story	p. 10
The Rise of Aristocracy	p. 17
The Creation of Empire	p. 22
The Age of Iron	p. 30
The Philosopher King	p. 36
Firsts	p. 41
The First Written Records	p. 43
The First War Chronicles	p. 51
The First Civil War	p. 61
The First Epic Hero	p. 71
The First Victory over Death	p. 78
The First Reformer	p. 88
The First Military Dictator	p. 95
The First Planned Cities	p. 104
The First Collapse of Empire	p. 110
The First Barbarian Invasions	p. 118
The First Monotheist	p. 127
The First Environmental Disaster	p. 139
Struggle	p. 145
The Battle for Reunification	p. 147
The Mesopotamia Mixing Bowl	p. 155
The Overthrow of the Xia	p. 164
Hammurabi's Empire	p. 170
The Hyksos Seize Egypt	p. 178
King Minos of Crete	p. 183
The Harappan Disintegration	p. 192
The Rise of the Hittites	p. 196
Ahmose Expels the Hyksos	p. 202
Usurpation and Revenge	p. 206
The Three-Way Contest	p. 213
The Shifting Capitals of the Shang	p. 219
The Mycenaeans of Greece	p. 224
Struggle of the Gods	p. 229
Wars and Marriages	p. 238
The Greatest Battle in Very Ancient Times	p. 246
The Battle for Troy	p. 253
The First Historical King of China	p. 259
The Rig Veda	p. 264
The Wheel Turns Again	p. 267
The End of the New Kingdom	p. 275
The Dark Age of Greece	p. 281
The Dark Age of Mesopotamia	p. 285
The Fall of the Shang	p. 291
Empires	p. 297
The Mandate of Heaven	p. 299
The Bharata War	p. 306
The Son of David	p. 314
From Western to Eastern Zhou	p. 328
The Assyrian Renaissance	p. 335
New Peoples	p. 344
Trading Posts and Colonies	p. 354
Old Enemies	p. 363
Kings of Assyria and Babylon	p. 371
Spectacular Defeat	p. 382
The Decline of the King	p. 391
The Assyrians in Egypt	p. 399
Medes and Persians	p. 410
Conquest and Tyranny	p. 418
The Beginnings and End of Empire	p. 431
A Brief Empire	p. 443
Cyrus the Great	p. 455
The Republic of Rome	p. 469
Kingdoms and Reformers	p. 482
The Power of Duty and the Art of War	p. 491
The Spreading Persian Empire	p. 500
The Persian Wars	p. 514
Identity	p. 537
The Peloponnesian Wars	p. 539
The First Sack of Rome	p. 555
The Rise of the Ch'in	p. 563
The Macedonian Conquerors	p. 570
Rome Tightens Its Grasp	p. 584
Alexander and the Wars of the Successors	p. 591
The Mauryan Epiphany	p. 609
First Emperor, Second Dynasty	p. 613
The Wars of the Sons	p. 622
Roman Liberators and Seleucid Conquerors	p. 638
Between East and West	p. 649
Breaking the System	p. 659
The Problems of Prosperity	p. 668
New Men	p. 680
Empire	p. 697
Eclipse and Restoration	p. 712
The Problem of Succession	p. 717
The Edges of the Roman World	p. 735
Children on the Throne	p. 746
The Mistake of Inherited Power	p. 751
Savior of the Empire	p. 764
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.