Inductive zoology.In History of Animals Aristotle analyzes “differences”―in parts, activities, modes of life, and character―across the animal kingdom, in preparation for establishing their causes, which are the concern of his other zoological works. Over...

Comparative biographies of distinguished Greeks and Romans.Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. AD 45–120, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular...

In ordinary life an Athenian woman was allowed no accomplishments beyond leading a quiet and exemplary existence as wife and mother. Her glory was to have no glory. In Greek tragedy, however, women die violently and, through violence, master their own...

The splendid culture of the ancient Greeks has often been described as emerging like a miracle from a genius of its own, owing practically nothing to its neighbors. Walter Burkert offers a decisive argument against that distorted view, pointing toward a...

This small book, the last work of a world-renowned scholar, has established itself as a classic. It provides a superb overview of the vast historical process by which Christianity was Hellenized and Hellenic civilization became Christianized. Werner...

Examining the Roman world from an unusual and illuminating angle, this volume explores the central period of the Roman empire from Julius Caesar to Marcus Aurelius.Martin Goodman focuses on the perspective of its peoples and its fringe areas, rather than...

One of the most original and penetrating thinkers in Greek studies describes the transformation from oral culture to literacy in classical times and reflects upon its continued meaning for us today.“Fresh insights into the orality-literacy shift in human...

"[Veyne's] present book has some kinship with his sprightly theoretical work Comment on ecrit l'histoire; and he declares that its aim was to provoke reflection on the way our conception of truth is built up and changes over the centuries. . . . The...

This definitive full-color guide traces the development of the Greeks, their impact on the ancient world, and their influence on our own attitudes and environment.The cradle of Western civilisation, Ancient Greece was a land of contradictions and...

"The creature you have to deal with, Romans, is not just a villainous crook"Cicero (106-43BC) was a key figure in the Roman Republic and a witness to its dramatic collapse into a dictatorship. The seven works collected here expound his passionate belief...

Following Rome's long road to peace after decades of civil war, Cassius Dio provides the fullest account of the reign of the first emperor in Books 50 through 60 of his Roman History.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of...

Josephus’ account of a war marked by treachery and atrocity is a superbly detailed and evocative record of the Jewish rebellion against Rome between AD 66 and 70. Originally a rebel leader, Josephus changed sides after he was captured to become a...

Books VI-X of Livy's monumental work trace Rome's fortunes from its near collapse after defeat by the Gauls in 386 BC to its emergence, in a matter of decades, as the premier power in Italy, having conquered the city-state of Samnium in 293 BC. In this...

The Greek statesman Polybius (c.200–118 BC) wrote his account of the relentless growth of the Roman Empire in order to help his fellow countrymen understand how their world came to be dominated by Rome. Opening with the Punic War in 264 BC, he vividly...

One of the most controversial of all works to survive from ancient Rome, the Augustan History is our main source of information about the Roman emperors from 117 to 284 AD. Written in the late fourth century by an anonymous author, it is an enigmatic...

"Whereas the place for prejudice is a public meeting, a court of law is the adobe of truth."Cicero was still in his twenties when he got Sextus Roscius off a charge of murdering his father and nearly sixty when he defended King Deiotarus, accused of...