The Mycenaean World belonged to the legendary heroes who conquered Troy and stand at the heart of Greek identity. This new book brings their culture and society to life with wit and elegance. Since the discovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae in the 1870s, knowledge of these Bronze Age Greeks has increased dramatically. This text is a major new contribution to our understanding of this crucial period.. Stepping into the place of the collapsed civilization of Minoan Crete and the Peloponnese (the subject of Castleden's earlier bestselling study, Minoans), the Mycenaeans dominated mainland Greece and the Greek islands from about 1600-1250 BC. Their exploits became the subject of the legends that were immortalized by Homer. In lively prose informed by the latest research, this vivid study delivers the fundamentals of Mycenaean civilization, its hierarchy, economy, religion and arts. Controversially, Castleden interprets the well-known palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and elsewhere as temples. Their sea empire and their relations with other peoples of the Bronze Age world, including the Hittites, the Egyptians and the Trojans, receive full attention. book is an indispensable starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age. Full bibliography and copious illustrations support this comprehensive interpretation of a civilization whose legend still lives on.

The Mycenaean World belonged to the legendary heroes who conquered Troy and stand at the heart of Greek identity. This new book brings their culture and society to life with wit and elegance. Since the discovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae in the 1870s, knowledge of these Bronze Age Greeks has increased dramatically. This text is a major new contribution to our understanding of this crucial period.. Stepping into the place of the collapsed civilization of Minoan Crete and the Peloponnese (the subject of Castleden's earlier bestselling study, Minoans), the Mycenaeans dominated mainland Greece and the Greek islands from about 1600-1250 BC. Their exploits became the subject of the legends that were immortalized by Homer. In lively prose informed by the latest research, this vivid study delivers the fundamentals of Mycenaean civilization, its hierarchy, economy, religion and arts. Controversially, Castleden interprets the well-known palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos and elsewhere as temples. Their sea empire and their relations with other peoples of the Bronze Age world, including the Hittites, the Egyptians and the Trojans, receive full attention. book is an indispensable starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age. Full bibliography and copious illustrations support this comprehensive interpretation of a civilization whose legend still lives on.

Eretria, on the island of Euboia, was an early and significant coloniser in both the Levant and in the West. During the period of the Persian advance towards the Aegean, the city was the moving spirit in the Greek resistance to Persian domination. Her democratic government pre-dates that of Athens and given the presence in Eretria of political exiles from Peisistratid Athens, it may have provided the basic model of Kleishthenes' reforms in Attica. This comprehensive and well-argued book is the first detailed history in any language of the city, one of the most prosperous and important of the pre-classical period. This study offers an alternative to the orthodox Athenocentric perception of the history of late sixth-and early fifth-century Greece. Keith Walker's stimulating and thoughtful work seamlessly synthesises evidence from archaeology, philology, textual research, epigraphy and numismatics. The study begins by examining the period from the later Neolithic to the early Iron Age. The following chapters cover the city's rise to prominence in the Archaic era. Throughout there is skilful reconstruction of the complex alliances and enmities of the Greek cities, crucial to understand

Geometric Greece has long been the standard work on this absorbing period, which saw the evolution of the Greek city-states, the composition of the Homeric poems, the rise of the great Panhellenic sanctuaries and the first exodus of Greek colonists to southern Italy and Sicily. Professor Coldstream has now fully updated his comprehensive survey with a substantial new chapter on the abundant discoveries and developments made since the book's first publication. The text is presented in three main sections: the passing of the dark ages, c. 900-770 BC; the Greek renaissance, c. 770-700 BC, covered region by region, and the final part on life in eighth century Greece. Its geographical coverage in the Mediterranean ranges from Syria to Sicily, and the detailed archaeological evidence is amplified by reference to literary sources. Heavily illustrated, including images of several finds never previously published, this is the essential handbook for anyone studying early Greek antiquity.

Geometric Greece has long been the standard work on this absorbing period, which saw the evolution of the Greek city-states, the composition of the Honeric poems, the rist of the great Panhellenic sanctuaries and the first exodus of Greek colonists to southern Italy and Sicily.
Professor Coldstream has now fully updated his comprehensive survey with a substantial new chapter on the abundant discoveries and developments made since the book's first publication.
The text is presented in three main sections: the passing of the dark ages, c.900-770 BC; the Greek renaissance, c.770-700 BC, covered region by region, and the final part on life in eighth century Greece. Its geographical coverage in the Mediterranean ranges from Syria to Sicily, and the detailed archaeological evidence is amplified by reference to literary sources.
Highly illustrated, including images of several finds never previously published, this is the essential handbook for anyone studying early Greek antiquity.

This book provides a thorough, area by area companion to the region's wealth of monuments, excavations and artefacts, from Paris and Boulogne-sur-Mer to Strasbourg and Lyon. Over ninety sites are treated in detail, including major attractions such as the parc archéologique in Lyon and the amphitheatre at Autun, numerous local museums and secluded rural excavations.
The guidebook combines a scholarly assessment of the area's Roman heritage, examining and interpreting the surviving remains, with practical visitor information such as directions to sites and opening hours. Comprehensively illustrated with photographs, maps and plans, it is a unique resource both for academic study and for visitors interested in the region's archaeological and historical background.

Religion in ancient Greece had a strong public character and was, in many respects, a way of integrating the individual into the community. Within this public religion, there were special cults - 'mysteries'. These were selected voluntarily by each person in the polis, allowing them to deal with the gods on an individual basis. Privacy was needed for the practice of the mysteries, and this was secured by an initiation ceremony that brought each person to a new spiritual level, and a higher degree of awareness in relation to the gods.
With the lack of written evidence that exists for the mysteries, archaeology has proved central to explaining their significance, and this welcome volume showcases new research on the archaeology, ritual and history of Greek mystery cults.

Religion in ancient Greece had a strong public character and was, in many respects, a way of integrating the individual into the community. Within this public religion, there were special cults - 'mysteries'. These were selected voluntarily by each person in the polis, allowing them to deal with the gods on an individual basis. Privacy was needed for the practice of the mysteries, and this was secured by an initiation ceremony that brought each person to a new spiritual level, and a higher degree of awareness in relation to the gods.
With the lack of written evidence that exists for the mysteries, archaeology has proved central to explaining their significance, and this welcome volume showcases new research on the archaeology, ritual and history of Greek mystery cults.

Who's Who in the Roman World is a wide-ranging biographical survey of one of the greatest civilizations in history. Covering a period from the 5th century BC to AD 364, this is an authoritative and hugely enjoyable guide to an era which continues to fascinate today. The figures included come from all walks of Roman life and include some of history's most famous - not to mention infamous - figures as well as hitherto little-known, but no less fascinating, characters. These include:
* the notorious emperors - Caligula; Nero; Elagabalus; Commodus
* the great poets, philosophers and historians - Virgil; Tacitus; Seneca; Ovid
* the brilliant politicians and soldiers - Hannibal; Scipio; Caesar; Mark Antony; Constantine
* noteworthy citizens - Acte, mistress of Nero; Catiline, the revolutionary; Spartacus, champion of the slaves; Gaius Verres, the corrupt governor of Sicily.
The inclusion of cross-referencing, a glossary of terms, select bibliographies, maps, genealogies and an author's preface complete what is at once a superb reference resource and an enormously entertaining read.

Ceramics are an unparalleled resource for women's lives in ancient Greece, since they show a huge number of female types and activities. Yet it can be difficult to interpret the meanings of these images, especially when they seem to conflict with literary sources. This much-needed study shows that it is vital to see the vases as archaeology as well as art, since context is the key to understanding which images can stand as evidence for the real lives of women, and which should be reassessed.
Sian Lewis considers the full range of female existence in classical Greece - childhood and old age, unfree and foreign status, and the ageless woman characteristic of Athenian red-figure painting.

This book shows the reader how much archaeologists can learn from recent developments in cultural history. Cultural historians deal with many of the same issues as postprocessual archaeologists, but have developed much more sophisticated methods for thinking about change through time and the textuality of all forms of evidence. The author uses the particular case of Iron Age Greece (c. 1100-300 BC), to argue that text-aided archaeology, far from being merely a testing ground for prehistorians' models, is in fact in the best position to develop sophisticated models of the interpretation of material culture.

The book begins by examining the history of the institutions within which archaeologists of Greece work, of the beliefs which guide them, and of their expectations about audiences. The second part of the book traces the history of equality in Iron Age Greece and its relationship to democracy, focusing on changing ideas about class, gender, ethnicity, and cosmology, as they were worked out through concerns with relationships to the past and the Near East. Ian Morris provides a new interpretation of the controversial site of Lefkandi, linking it to Greek mythology, and traces the emergence of radically new ideas of the free male citizen which made the Greek form of democracy a possibility.

Contents:
Contents Forward Acknowledgements Information for the Reader Athens and Piraeus 1. Athens: a historical overview 2. The Acropolis 3. The slopes of the Acropolis and the Peripatos 4. The Areopagos, the Hill of the Nymphs, the Mouseion Hill with the Pnyx, the Philopappos Monument and the Kerameikos 5. The Greek Agora, the Roman Market, the Library of Hadrian and Monastiraki 6. Plaka, Olympieion, Ilissos Area, the First Cemetery and the Stadium of Herodes Atticus 7. The National Garden, main boulevards, National Museum, Lykabettos, Tourkovounia and the Academy at Kolonos Hippios 8. Piraeus and Daphni 9. Kaisariani and the monasteries and quarries on Hymettos Attica I: from Athens to Sounion and in the Mesogeia 1. Glyphada, Voula, Vouliagmeni, Vari and the southwest Attic coastal sites 2. From Anavyssos to Sounion 3. The Laurion, Thorikos, Porto Raphti and Brauron 4. The Mesogeia: Loutsa, Raphina, Spata, Markopoulo, Koropi and Paiania Attica II: the Plain of Marathon and the Battle of MArathon 490BC 2. The Marathon Area 3. Rhamnous 4. The Amphiareion of Oropos and Avlona Attica III: Pentelikon and Dionysos 2. Parnes with Phyle and Menidi 3. Eleusis 4. The Thriasian Plain The Megarid, the Attic Border Forts and Perachora 1. Megara 2. Alepochori and Vathichoria in the Megarian Hinterland 3. The Attic Border Forts: Aigosthenai, Eleutherai and Oinoe 4. The Isthmus of Corinth and Diolkos 5. Perachora The Islands of the Saronic Gulf: Salamis, Aigina and Poros 1. Salamis 2. Aigina 3. Poros Appendices 1. The Geography of Attica 2. The modern Structure: Administration and economy 3. The Flora 4. The Fauna 5. Some basic concepts of ancient architecture Glossary 6. Observations on Byzantine Church Building in Greece a) the Early Christian period (306-527) b) The Early Byzantine Period (527-843) c) The Middle Byzantine Period (843-1204) d) The Late Byzantine Period (1204-1460) e) the Post Byzantine Period (1460-1830) 7. List of the most important monuments in chronological order Index of Sites and Monuments Bibliography

Plato's legend of the famed lost continent of Atlantis has become notorious among scholars as the most absurd lie in literature. Exciting our imagination and our curiosity, Atlantis Destroyed explores the possibility that Plato's account is the historical truth.
In this fascinating account, Rodney Castleden considers the widely-debated location of Atlantis and its destruction, the literary origins of utopian Atlantis and how this became confused with Plato's authentic account and also the remarkable parallels between Plato's narrative and the bronze age civilisation in the Aegean.

This landmark book shows how much Victorian and Edwardian Roman archaeologists were influenced by their own experience of empire in their interpretation of archaeological evidence. This distortion of the facts became accepted truth and its legacy is still felt in archaeology today. While tracing the development of these ideas, the author also gives the reader a throrough grounding in the history of Roman archaeology itself.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203136500

The impact of classical Rome on ancient Britain, as perceived by the late Victorian and Edwardian elites, was a resource of immense contemporary political value. The images it produced helped to define the idea and practice of British imperialism, and the very concept of "Englishness". Academics colluded in this process and this created a legacy in Roman archaeology which persists to the present day. Richard Hingley's work explores this relationship. His thorough examination of late Victorian and Edwardian writings on Rome and the ancient Britons illuminates the historical context and development of Roman archaeology, and simultaneously makes a contribution to the debates on English identity and imperialism. This landmark study should be useful reading for scholars and students in Roman archaeology, ancient history, colonial studies and historiography.

The narrative of Roman history has been largely shaped by the surviving literary sources, augmented in places by material culture. The numerous surviving coins can, however, provide new information on the distant past. This accessible but authoritative guide introduces the student of ancient history to the various ways in which they can help us understand the history of the Roman republic, with fresh insights on early Roman-Italian relations, Roman imperialism, urban politics, constitutional history, the rise of powerful generals and much more. The text is accompanied by over 200 illustrations of coins, with detailed captions, as well as maps and diagrams so that it also functions as a sourcebook of the key coins every student of the period should know. Throughout, it demystifies the more technical aspects of the field of numismatics and ends with a how-to guide for further research for non-specialists.

This is an accessible and up-to-date account of the Jews during the millennium following Alexander the Great's conquest of the East. Unusually, it acknowledges the problems involved in constructing a narrative from fragmentary yet complex evidence and is, implicitly, an exploration of how this might be accomplished. Moreover, unlike most other introductions to the subject, it concentrates primarily on the people rather than issues of theology and adopts a resolutely unsentimental approach to the subject. Professor Schwartz particularly demonstrates the importance of studying Jewish history, texts and artefacts to the broader community of ancient historians because of what they can contribute to wider themes such as Roman imperialism. The book serves as an excellent introduction for students and scholars of Jewish history and of ancient history.

The Roads of Roman Italy offers a complete re-evaluation of both the evidence and the interpretation of Roman land transport. The book utilises archaeological, epigraphic and literary evidence for Roman communications, drawing on recent approaches to the human landscape developed by geographers. Among the topics considered are:
* the relationship between the road and the human landscape
* the administration and maintenance of the road system
* the role of roads as imperial monuments
* the economics of road construction and urban development.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203062418

In this book, Sarah Levin-Richardson offers the first authoritative examination of Pompeii's purpose-built brothel, the only verifiable brothel from Greco-Roman antiquity. Taking readers on a tour of all of the structure's evidence, including the rarely seen upper floor, she illuminates the subculture housed within its walls. Here, prostitutes could flout the norms of society and proclaim themselves sexual subjects and agents, while servile clients were allowed to act as 'real men'. Prostitutes and clients also exchanged gifts, greetings, jokes, taunts, and praise. Written in a clear, engaging style, and accompanied by an ample illustration program and translations of humorous and haunting graffiti, Levin-Richardson's book will become a new touchstone for those interested in the history of women, slavery, and prostitution in the classical world.

First published in 1928, this volume contains six sequential lectures delivered by H.R. Hall in 1923 detailing the archaeological remains of Bronze Age Greece. Hall was keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum and author of 'The Ancient History of the Near East'. Each of the author's lectures was strictly chronological, with the main feature of each period being described in order. The profuse illustrations recreated here were fundamental to his view, with each Age defined through its art, pottery and stone carvings. These printed lectures follow their spoken counterparts closely and are brought to life with 320 illustrations inserted in places which reflect the original performances.

This book explores the insights that Cultural Astronomy provides into the classical Roman world by unveiling the ways in which the Romans made use of their knowledge concerning the heavens, and by shedding new light on the interactions between astronomy and heritage in ancient Roman culture. Leading experts in the field present fascinating information on how and why the Romans referred to the sky when deciding upon the orientation of particular monuments, temples, tombs and even urban layouts. Attention is also devoted to questions of broader interest, such as the contribution that religious interpretation of the sky made in the assimilation of conquered peoples. When one considers astronomy in the Roman world it is customary to think of the work and models of Ptolemy, and perhaps the Julian calendar or even the sighting of the Star of Bethlehem. However, like many other peoples in antiquity, the Romans interacted with the heavens in deeper ways that exerted a profound influence on their culture. This book highlights the need to take this complexity into account in various areas of research and will appeal to all those who wish to learn more about the application of astronomy in the lives and architecture of the Romans.

Plato's legend of Atlantis has become notorious among scholars as the absurdest lie in literature. Atlantis Destroyed explores the possibility that the account given by Plato is historically true.
Rodney Castleden first considers the location of Atlantis re-examining two suggestions put forward in the early twentieth century; Minoan Crete and Minoan Thera. He outlines the latest research findings on Knossos and Bronze Age Thera, discussing the material culture, trade empire and agricultural system, writing and wall paintings, art, religion and society of the Minoan civilization. Castleden demonstrates the many parallels between Plato's narrative and the Minoan Civilization in the Aegean.
Fired by the imagination a new vision of Atlantis has arisen over the last one hundred and fifty years as a lost utopia. Rodney Castleden discusses why this picture arose and xplains how it has become confused with Plato's genuine account.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203024869

Explores the social structures of the Roman world by analyzing the plans of buildings of all sizes from slightly Romanized farms to palaces. The text assesses how the ways in which the rooms are grouped together; how they intercommunicate; and the ways in which individual rooms and the house are approached, reveal various social patterns, which question traditional ideas about the Roman family and household. The text argues that virtually all houses were occupied by groups of varying composition, challenging the received wisdom that they were single family houses whose size reflected only the owner's wealth and number of servants. Provides an examination of the relationship between the living quarters of the Romans and their social and economic development which introduces a new area in Roman studies and a corpus of material for further analysis. The inclusion of almost 500 ground plans, drawn to a uniform scale, allows the reader to compare the similarities and differences between house structure as well as illustrating the arguments.

East Greek Pottery provides a comprehensive survey of the pottery made by the Greek settlers along the western coast of Turkey. The various styles of decoration described cover the period from the eleventh century to the beginning of the fifth century B.C. Subsequently, competition from Athens pressed local potters into using very simple ornament. Chapters include analysis of Grey ware, relief ware and archaic East Greek containers (or trade) amphorae, a class of pottery which is now attracting attention for its contribution to the study of ancient economic history. East Greek pottery is a field that has been neglected, and much remains uncertain. Conjecture and fact have been clearly distinguished in this volume, and detailed references allow the evidence to be viewed and judged by the reader.

Archaeologists do not discover the past but take the fragmentary remains which they recover and make something of them. Archaeology is a process of detection and supposition; this is what makes it so fascinating. However, the interpretations of archaeologists differ and change over time. They depend upon the amount of evidence available, the ideas and preconceptions of the archaeologist and their interests and aims.
Michael Shanks's enlivening work is a guide to the discipline of classical archaeology and its objects. It assesses archaeology as a means of reconstructing ancient Greek society using the latest approaches of social archaeology. In addition, The Classical Archaeology of Greece outlines the history of the discipline and discusses why Classical Greece continues to fascinate us and why it has had such an impact on European civilization and identity.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203171977