The heart of the puzzle of Rome's end is presented in a definitive and vivid history by James O'Donnell, renowned historian and the author of Augustine.

Founded by Alexander the Great and built by self-styled Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age, legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lig...

This engaging yet deeply informed work not only examines Roman history and the multitude of Roman achievements in rich and colorful detail but also delineates their crucial and lasting impact on Western civilization. Noted historian C...

After surviving the fifth century fall of the Western European Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire flourished as one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe for a thousand years.In this Very Short Introdu...

Esteemed Egyptologist Barbara Mertz updates her widely praised social history of the people of ancient Egypt, reconstructing the life of the Egyptians from birth to death, and beyond death, too.

Praise for the previous edition: "Wry and imaginative, this gem of a book deconstructs the most famous building in Western history." –Benjamin Schwarz, The Atlantic "In her brief but compendious volume [Beard] ...

Founded by Alexander the Great and built by self-styled Greek pharaohs, the city of Alexandria at its height dwarfed both Athens and Rome. It was the marvel of its age, legendary for its vast palaces, safe harbors, and magnificent lig...

Was the founder of Shaolin kung fu Chinese? Was Zen Buddhism created by a Japanese sage? What role did Nordics play, if any, in the formation of Far Eastern civilizations and cultures?This remarkable essay draws together considerable ...

The story of Twelve Apostles is the story of early Christianity: its competing versions of Jesus's ministry, its countless schisms, and its ultimate evolution from an obscure Jewish sect to the global faith we know today in all its fo...

Alexander the Great became king of Macedon in 336 BC, when he was only 20 years old, and died at the age of 32, twelve years later. During his reign he conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the largest empire that had ever existed,...

A landmark study of ancient Greek and Roman cults, from the nocturnal mysteries at Eleusis to the cults of Dionysus and Mithras. Mystery cults are one of the most intriguing areas of Greek and Roman religion. In the nocturnal mysteri...

Throughout the Roman Empire Cities held public speeches and lectures, had libraries, and teachers and professors in the sciences and the humanities, some subsidized by the state. There even existed something equivalent to universities...

A Short History of England is a history book written by G. K. Chesterton in which he summarizes British history from the time of Roman provinces on the British Island to the great wars in 20th century. Chesterton takes a rather romant...

Late antiquity saw the barbarian invasions overrun the western Roman empire and Persian and Arab armies end Roman rule over the eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean. Was late antiquity therefore merely a time of decline? I...

In 1177 B.C., marauding groups known only as the "Sea Peoples" invaded Egypt. The pharaoh's army and navy managed to defeat them, but the victory so weakened Egypt that it soon slid into decline, as did most of the surroundi...

An engrossing biography of the longest-reigning female pharaoh in Ancient Egypt and the story of her audacious rise to power. Hatshepsut—the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne and a mother with ties to the previous dy...

This riveting paperback explores the lives of six remarkable female pharaohs, from Hatshepsut to Cleopatra, and shines a piercing light on perceptions of powerful women today.\r\n\r\nFemale rulers are a rare phenomenon—but thousa...

The Roman Empire was not only built by the strength of the legions but also by a Navy that was the most powerful maritime force ever to have existed. It was only the existence of the fleet that secured the trade routes and maintained ...

Between the reigns of Augustus and Septimius Severus, the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire frequently saw brutal fighting, most notably during the conquest of Dacia by Trajan, the suppression of the Great Revolt in Judea and inte...

Although often portrayed generically in media, decades of research have revealed a staggeringly diverse range of equipment and uniforms used by the Roman army, tracing how these changed through time and how regional deployment caused ...

For a long time, Sasanian studies were mainly cultivated by linguists and historians of religion, and the only standard work on the history of the Sasanian Empire was Arthur Christensen's L'Iran sous les Sassanides (Copenhagen 1936; s...

"Tour through the Eastern Counties of England, 1722" is a travelogue written by the renowned English author Daniel Defoe. Published in 1722, the book provides a fascinating account of Defoe's journey through the eastern regi...

Become an eyewitness to the Great Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings, discovering all the secrets of this fascinating civilization.Travel back in time with this picture-led guide and explore the magnificent monuments and fabulous to...

Eusebius's groundbreaking History of the Church, remains the single most important source for the history of the first three centuries of Christianity and stands among the classics of Western literature. His iconic story of the church...

Emerging as a market town from a cluster of hill villages in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., Rome grew to become the ancient world's preeminent power. Everitt fashions the story of Rome's rise to glory into an erudite book fill...

The story of the world's greatest civilization―spanning 4,000 years of history―full of epic stories, spectacular places, and an evolving society rich in inventors, heroes, villains, and pioneers.   The story of the world's g...

Powerful pharaohs, deadly curses, beautiful queens, legendary cities, tombs filled with gold ... you'll know it all by the time you finish this smart and wacky book!Did you know that ancient Egyptians formed the world's first police f...

An authoritative account of the mythological beliefs, rites and ceremonies, richly illustrated with 400 images.

The History of the Development of the Doctrine of the trinity is the first codified history of its kind, documenting the events that precipitated the formation of the trinitarian statement, as well as the ideological framework that in...

Homer's mythological tales of war and homecoming, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are widely considered to be two of the most influential works in the history of western literature. Yet their author, 'the greatest poet that ever lived' is ...