Ancient World, The: A Social and Cultural History

by Nagle, D. Brendan

• ISBN13: 9780205637447
• ISBN10: 0205637442
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-20
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

For courses in Ancient History (Ancient Near East - Egypt/Mesopotamia), Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome.#xA0; #xA0; The Ancient Worldis a comprehensive, multi-perspective, and integratedchronicle of the history of the ancient world, from Sumer to the fall of Rome, that explores the distinctive formssociety took--particularly the unusual (by the standards of college students today) relationships between society and the state that characterized the social order of antiquity. #xA0; By closely integrating social and cultural histories with the political, institutional, and military climates in which they unfolded, this text provides fascinating insights into family, gender relations, class structures, public vs. private realms, slavery, popular culture, religion, art, architecture, leisure styles, philosophy, science, and education, and explores#xA0;their complex relationships to ideology and political events.

Author Biography

D. Brendan Nagle, University of Southern California

Stanley M. Burstein, California State University, Los Angeles

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Illustrations	p. vii
Maps	p. x
The Ancient Middle East
The Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt	p. 1
Key Topics	p. 1
Why Mesopotamia?	p. 1
The Agricultural Revolution	p. 2
The State and Urban Revolution	p. 5
Early Mesopotamian History: The Sumerian Period (3100-2000 b.c.)	p. 6
The Egyptian Alternative: The Old and Middle Kingdoms	p. 16
Questions	p. 25
An Age of Empires: The Middle East, 2000-1000 b.c.	p. 26
Key Topics	p. 26
A Time of Turmoil: New Peoples East and West	p. 26
Mesopotamia in the Age of Hammurabi	p. 26
The Hittite Empire	p. 30
The Egyptian Empire	p. 32
Egypt in Decline	p. 38
Questions	p. 40
The Middle East to the Persian Empire	p. 41
Key Topics	p. 41
The New Peoples of the Middle East	p. 41
The Glory of Assyria and Babylon	p. 47
The Persians	p. 52
Religion and Culture in Israel	p. 58
Questions	p. 66
The Greek World
The Emergence of Greek Civilization	p. 67
Key Topics	p. 67
Geography and History	p. 67
The Origins of Greek Culture	p. 68
The Minoan and Mycenaean Ages	p. 69
The Dark Ages	p. 76
Out of the Darkness: The Archaic Age	p. 78
The Example of Two Cities: Sparta and Athens	p. 83
Polis Society	p. 87
Culture and Society in the Archaic Age	p. 93
Questions	p. 102
The Wars of the Greeks	p. 103
Key Topics	p. 103
Persians and Greeks	p. 103
The Military Situation after the Persian Wars	p. 108
The Great War between Athens and Sparta	p. 111
The Hegemony of Sparta and Thebes	p. 116
Questions	p. 119
Classical Athens	p. 120
Key Topics	p. 120
The Early Classical Period (ca. 490-450 b.c.)	p. 120
The Classical Age, Part I (450-430 b.c.)	p. 124
The Later Classical Period (430-338 b.c.)	p. 131
Athenian Society	p. 138
Questions	p. 155
Philip, Alexander, and the Hellenistic World	p. 156
Key Topics	p. 156
Backward Macedonia Challenges Greece	p. 156
The Genius of Philip	p. 157
The Orator and the King: Demosthenes and Philip	p. 158
Alexander the Great	p. 159
Campaigns in Central Asia (330-323 b.c.)	p. 162
Alexander's Successors	p. 164
The State and Society in the Hellenistic World	p. 165
Hellenistic Society	p. 167
Culture and Religion in the Hellenistic World	p. 172
Greek High Culture Adapts to a New Environment	p. 180
Becoming Greek: Education in the New World	p. 190
The Hellenistic Age: Achievements and Limitations	p. 192
Questions	p. 193
The Roman World
Early Rome	p. 194
Key Topics	p. 194
The Western Mediterranean and Early Italy	p. 194
The Latins and Early Rome	p. 200
The Republic	p. 203
The Social and Political Achievement of Early Rome: Consensus	p. 209
Questions	p. 210
The Building of an Empire	p. 211
Key Topics	p. 211
The Growth of Rome in Italy	p. 211
The Punic Wars	p. 219
Roman Territorial Expansion after the Hannibalic War	p. 222
Society and the State in the Roman Republic	p. 226
An Estimate of Roman Society	p. 239
Questions	p. 240
The Transformation of the Roman Republic	p. 241
Key Topics	p. 241
The Old Order Fades	p. 241
The Gracchan Revolution: Social and Political Context	p. 249
From the Gracchi to Augustus: The Roman Revolution	p. 253
The Fall of the Roman Republic	p. 259
Questions	p. 267
The Roman World from Augustus to the Third-Century Crisis	p. 268
Key Topics	p. 268
The Reforms of Augustus	p. 268
Rounding Out the Empire	p. 273
The Severan Emperors	p. 278
Questions	p. 281
The Roman Peace	p. 282
Key Topics	p. 282
Challenge and Response	p. 282
Society and the State in the Empire	p. 284
The Government, the Army, and Society	p. 302
Questions	p. 308
The Empire from the Third-Century Crisis to Justinian	p. 309
Key Topics	p. 309
The Third-Century Crisis	p. 309
Political Anarchy	p. 311
Diocletian and Constantine	p. 312
The Emperor and the Administration	p. 315
The Army, the Empire, and the Barbarians	p. 319
The Collapse of the Western Empire	p. 320
The Rise of the Byzantine Empire	p. 323
Questions	p. 324
The Transformed Mediterranean	p. 325
Key Topics	p. 325
History Moves Northward and Eastward	p. 325
The Transformation of the Classical Tradition	p. 326
The Empire and the Church Come to Terms	p. 329
The Christian Way of Life	p. 333
Civilizing the Barbarians	p. 339
Diverging Beliefs	p. 341
Islam and the Transformation of the Mediterranean	p. 342
Religious Legacies	p. 344
Epilogue	p. 346
Questions	p. 347
Suggested Readings	p. 349
Glossary	p. 355
Index	p. 361
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