Tag Archives: classical world

Pompey and Caesar

And do you now strew flowers in his wayThat comes in triumph over Pompey’s blood? Be gone! The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare The narrative of Julius Caesar and the fall of Rome that we get in elementary school … Continue reading

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Paul Among the People

Paul Among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in his Own Time© 2010 Sarah Ruden240 pages Although liberal Quaker Sarah Ruden had heard criticisms of Paul all her life,  after becoming familiar with the culture of the Greco-Roman world … Continue reading

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The War that Made the Roman Empire

The War that Made the Roman Empire: Anthony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium© 2022 Bary Strauss368 pages Rome, at the death of Julius Caesar, was no stranger to internal war.  A functioning, healthy republic had long vanished,  torn in pieces … Continue reading

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Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans© Garrett Ryan 288 pages For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an … Continue reading

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Antiquity

Antiquity: The Civilization of the Ancient World© 2003 Norman F. Cantor256 pages Perhaps western history is all Greek to you. In that case, Norman Cantor’s Antiquity may shed a little light on the subject. It is a brief work, scarcely over … Continue reading

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Romans Without Laurels

Romans Without Laurels© 1962  Indro Montanelli352 pages In Romans Without Laurels, Indro Montanelli delivers an affectionate history of the Roman Republic and the empire which followed. Although a work in translation, it succeeds wonderfully as narrative history, reminding and entertaining … Continue reading

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The Greeks

The Greeks© 1950 HDF Kitto256 pages HDF Kitto’s history of the Greeks came highly recommended to me by another author, and I found it utterly delightful.  Here we have history written not by an archaeologist, but by a classicist whose … Continue reading

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When the Eagle Hunts

When the Eagle Hunts© 2002 Simon Scarrow274 pages The Emperor Claudius is determined to make good the conquest of Britain, but his supply fleet sleeps with the fishes. The only Romans to survive a wintry crossing of the (English) channel … Continue reading

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Lost to the West

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization © 2009 Lars Brownsworth 329 pages The Roman empire not not fade quietly into history in 474, when a Gothic warlord decided to run the city of Rome directly instead … Continue reading

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The Egyptians

The Egyptians© 1997 Barbara Watterson368 pages “We stand where Caesar and Napoleon stood, and remember that fifty centuries look down upon us; where the Father of History came four hundred years before Caesar, and heard the tales that were to … Continue reading

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