Ancient World, The: A Social and Cultural History

by Nagle, D. Brendan

• ISBN13: 9780131930414
• ISBN10: 0131930419
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

This comprehensive chronicle of the history of the ancient Mediterranean (from Sumer to the fall of Rome) explores thedistinctive formssociety took in the ancient worldespecially the unusual relationship between society and the state (unlike anything we encounter today) that characterized the social order of antiquity.By closely integrating social and cultural histories with the political, institutional, and military climates in which they unfolded, this book provides fascinating insights into family, gender relations, class structures, public vs. private realms, slavery, popular culture, religion, art, architecture, leisure styles, philosophy, science, and educationand their complex relationships to ideology and political events.An excellent resource for anyone interested in politics and culture; this book is a font of information; if we understand the past, we can understand the changes that politics and society have undergone, and the reasons for those changes.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Illustrations	ix
Maps	xii
Part One: The Ancient Middle East
The Early Civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt	1	(30)
Why Mesopotamia?	1	(2)
The Agricultural Revolution	3	(2)
The State and Urban Revolution	5	(3)
Early Mesopotamian History: The Sumerian Period (3100--2000 B.C.)	8	(11)
The Egyptian Alternative: The Old and Middle Kingdoms	19	(12)
An Age of Empires: The Middle East, 2000--1000 B.C.	31	(18)
A Time of Turmoil: New Peoples East and West	31	(1)
Mesopotamia in the Age of Hammurapi	31	(5)
The Hittite Empire	36	(2)
The Egyptian Empire	38	(8)
Egypt in Decline	46	(3)
The Middle East to the Persian Empire	49	(30)
The New Peoples of the Middle East	49	(7)
The Glory of Assyria and Babylon	56	(6)
The Persians	62	(6)
Religion and Culture in Israel	68	(11)
Part Two: The Greek World
The Emergence of Greek Civilization	79	(42)
Geography and History	79	(1)
The Origins of Greek Culture	80	(1)
The Minoan and Mycenaean Ages	81	(4)
The Mycenaean Age	85	(5)
The Dark Ages	90	(3)
Out of the Darkness: The Archaic Age	93	(6)
The Example of Two Cities: Sparta and Athens	99	(3)
Polis Society	102	(6)
Culture and Society in the Archaic Age	108	(13)
The Wars of the Greeks	121	(20)
Persians and Greeks	121	(6)
The Military Situation after the Persian Wars	127	(3)
The Great War between Athens and Sparta	130	(7)
The Hegemony of Sparta and Thebes	137	(4)
Classical Athens	141	(43)
The Early Classical Period (ca. 490--450 B.C.)	141	(4)
The Classical Age, Part I (450--430 B.C.)	145	(9)
The Later Classical Period (430--338 B.C.)	154	(9)
Athenian Society	163	(21)
Philip, Alexander, and the Hellenistic World	184	(47)
Backward Macedonia Challenges Greece	184	(1)
The Genius of Philip	185	(1)
The Orator and the King: Demosthenes and Philip	186	(2)
Alexander the Great	188	(4)
Campaigns in Central Asia (330--323 B.C.)	192	(1)
Alexander's Successors	193	(2)
The State and Society in the Hellenistic World	195	(3)
Hellenistic Society	198	(6)
Culture and Religion in the Hellenistic World	204	(10)
Greek High Culture Adapts to a New Environment	214	(12)
Becoming Greek: Education in the New World	226	(3)
The Hellenistic Age: Achievements and Limitations	229	(2)
Part Three: The Roman World
Early Rome	231	(20)
The Western Mediterranean and Early Italy	231	(8)
The Latins and Early Rome	239	(3)
The Republic	242	(7)
The Social and Political Achievement of Early Rome: Consensus	249	(2)
The Building of an Empire	251	(36)
The Growth of Rome in Italy	251	(10)
The Punic Wars	261	(4)
Roman Territorial Expansion after the Hannibalic War	265	(5)
Society and the State in the Roman Republic	270	(15)
An Estimate of Roman Society	285	(2)
The Transformation of the Roman Republic	287	(33)
The Old Order Fades	287	(10)
The Gracchan Revolution: Social and Political Context	297	(5)
From the Gracchi to Augustus: The Roman Revolution	302	(7)
The Fall of the Roman Republic	309	(11)
The Roman World from Augustus to the Third-Century Crisis	320	(16)
The Reforms of Augustus	320	(6)
Rounding Out the Empire	326	(6)
The Severan Emperors	332	(4)
The Roman Peace	336	(32)
Challenge and Response	336	(2)
Society and the State in the Empire	338	(23)
The Government, the Army, and Society	361	(7)
The Empire from the Third-Century Crisis to Justinian	368	(19)
The Third-Century Crisis	368	(2)
Political Anarchy	370	(2)
Diocletian and Constantine	372	(4)
The Emperor and the Administration	376	(4)
The Army, the Empire, and the Barbarians	380	(2)
The Collapse of the Western Empire	382	(3)
The Rise of the Byzantine Empire	385	(2)
The Transformed Mediterranean	387	(26)
History Moves Northward and Eastward	387	(3)
The Transformation of the Classical Tradition	390	(1)
The Empire and the Church Come to Terms	391	(5)
The Christian Way of Life	396	(7)
Civilizing the Barbarians	403	(2)
Diverging Beliefs	405	(1)
Islam and the Transformation of the Mediterranean	406	(3)
Religious Legacies	409	(2)
Epilogue	411	(2)
Suggested Readings	413	(5)
Glossary	418	(7)
Index	425