A compelling history of the Ptolemies, the decline of Egypt, and the rising power of the Roman Empire

The Ptolemaic era, Egypt’s last and one of its longest dynasties, was in many ways a gilded age. Its early rulers restored and even expanded Egyptian power. Over a span of 300 years the period was witness to intellectual enlightenment, imaginative state-building, and some of the most memorable characters in ancient history, including Alexander the Great and Cleopatra VII.

But these Macedonian Greek pharaohs embarked on ruinous warfare, faced rebellion, and descended into murderous family feuds. Increasingly reliant on the dizzying rise of Roman power, Ptolemaic Egypt was finally annexed by Augustus in 30 BCE. How did such an ancient civilization come to this?

Exploring the lives of the Ptolemaic pharaohs, de la Bédoyère reveals the jealousy, greed, and murderous ambition in their Egypt and the legendary city of Alexandria, their capital. This is a lively, accessible account of Ancient Egypt’s last days—and of the new power rising in its place.

New selection of Pepys' letters throws light on his life and early career, and includes 30 never previously published. The correspondence included here represents the first selection of Pepys's letters drawn from all possible sources to be published since 1933. Since the Diary does not cover this period, the letters enable the reader to follow Pepys' early career on the staff of the Earl of Sandwich, his rise to greatness as Secretary of the Admiralty, and his retirement after the Glorious Revolution. Along the way Pepys fought battles with opponents of his naval reforms and enemies who tried to implicate him in the Popish Plot, while taking care of his various relatives and keeping up with an array of friends and acquaintances who included many of the great and famous of late-seventeenth-century England. The letters have been chosen to reflect all these aspects of Pepys's varied and fascinating life, and include 30 never before published. They are accompanied by a running commentary, biographies of persons mentioned, aglossary, a chronology, and an introduction that explains how the letters have survived and analyses how they were written. GUY DE LA BÉDOYERE is an historian and archaeologist with numerous books to his credit. His specialist field is Roman Britain but he has published three books for Boydell on the 'other' seventeenth-century diarist, John Evelyn [1620-1706], including the widely-acclaimed Particular Friends: The Correspondence of SamuelPepys and John Evelyn which features all the letters exchanged by the two men over a period of 38 years.

For more than two centuries Egypt was ruled by the most powerful, successful, and richest dynasty of kings in its long end epic history. They included the female king Hatshepsut, the warrior kings Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, the religious radical Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti, and most famously of all for the wealth of his tomb the short-lived boy king Tutankhamun. The power and riches of the Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty came at enormous cost to Egypt's enemies and most of its people. This was an age of ruthless absolutism, exploitation, extravagance, brutality, and oppression in a culture where not only did Egypt plunder its neighbours but Egyptian kings and their people robbed one another. 3,500 years ago ancient Egypt began two centuries in which it became richer and more powerful than any other nation at the time, ruled by the kings of the 18th Dynasty. They presided over a system built on war, oppression, and ruthlessness, pouring Egypt's wealth into grandiose monuments, temples, and extravagant tombs. Tutankhamun was one of the last of the line and one of the most obscure. Among his predecessors were some of the most notorious and enigmatic figures of all of Egypt's history. Pharaohs of the Sun is their story, showing how the glamour and gold was tainted by selfishness, ostentation, and the systematic exploitation of Egypt's people and enemies.

Evelyn was at the centre of English social and political life in the17c, friend of Charles II, member of Royal Society. The Diary of John Evelyn (1620-1706) is one of the principal literary sources for life and manners in the English seventeenth century. Evelyn was one of an influential group of men which included Wren, Pepys and Boyle; afounding member of the Royal Society, he was also a friend of Charles II, a Commissioner for sick seamen and prisoners of war during the Dutch Wars, a prime mover behind Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals, and a prolific author who wrote about architecture, art, arboriculture, fashion, and pollution. In his Diary he recorded the events and experiences of his long and remarkable life; there are also extensive references to his family, including hispoignant recollections of the children who predeceased him. This edition has been based on the only comprehensive and accurate transcription, by E.S. de Beer, published by Oxford University Press in 1955, but the text hasbeen reworked into individual years and months while retaining the original spelling and grammar throughout. GUY DE LA BEDOYERE holds degrees in history and archaeology from the Universities of Durham and London.

A captivating popular history that shines a light on the notorious Julio-Claudian women who forged an empire Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero-these are the names history associates with the early Roman Empire. Yet, not a single one of these emperors was the blood son of his predecessor. In this captivating history, a prominent scholar of the era documents the Julio-Claudian women whose bloodline, ambition, and ruthlessness made it possible for the emperors' line to continue. Eminent scholar Guy de la Bedoyere, author of Praetorian, asserts that the women behind the scenes-including Livia, Octavia, and the elder and younger Agrippina-were the true backbone of the dynasty. De la Bedoyere draws on the accounts of ancient Roman historians to revisit a familiar time from a completely fresh vantage point. Anyone who enjoys I, Claudius will be fascinated by this study of dynastic power and gender interplay in ancient Rome.

For more than two centuries Egypt was ruled by the most powerful, successful, and richest dynasty of kings in its long end epic history. They included the female king Hatshepsut, the warrior kings Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, the religious radical Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti, and most famously of all for the wealth of his tomb the short-lived boy king Tutankhamun. The power and riches of the Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty came at enormous cost to Egypt's enemies and most of its people. This was an age of ruthless absolutism, exploitation, extravagance, brutality, and oppression in a culture where not only did Egypt plunder its neighbours but Egyptian kings and their people robbed one another. 3,500 years ago ancient Egypt began two centuries in which it became richer and more powerful than any other nation at the time, ruled by the kings of the 18th Dynasty. They presided over a system built on war, oppression, and ruthlessness, pouring Egypt's wealth into grandiose monuments, temples, and extravagant tombs. Tutankhamun was one of the last of the line and one of the most obscure. Among his predecessors were some of the most notorious and enigmatic figures of all of Egypt's history. Pharaohs of the Sun is their story, showing how the glamour and gold was tainted by selfishness, ostentation, and the systematic exploitation of Egypt's people and enemies.

The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine the ancient world produced. The Roman Empire depended on soldiers not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers and control the seas but also to act as the engine of the state. Roman legionaries and auxiliaries came from across the Roman world and beyond. They served as tax collectors, policemen, surveyors, civil engineers and, if they survived, in retirement as civic worthies, craftsmen and politicians. Some even rose to become emperors. Gladius takes the reader right into the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army through the words of Roman historians, and those of the men themselves through their religious dedications, tombstones, and even private letters and graffiti. Guy de la Bedoyere throws open a window on how the men, their wives and their children lived, from bleak frontier garrisons to guarding the emperor in Rome, enjoying a ringside seat to history fighting the emperors' wars, mutinying over pay, marching in triumphs, throwing their weight around in city streets, and enjoying esteem in honorable retirement.

This lively, authoritative account of a crucial period in Britain's history has been revised and updated to incorporate the very latest findings and research. Guy de la Bedoyere - the popular face of Romano-British archaeological studies - puts the Roman conquest and occupation within the larger context of Romano-British society and how it functioned. With nearly 300 illustrations and dramatic aerial views of Roman sites, and brimming with the very latest research and discoveries, Roman Britain will delight and inform all those with an interest in this seminal epoch of British history.

For more than two centuries Egypt was ruled by the most powerful, successful, and richest dynasty of kings in its long end epic history. They included the female king Hatshepsut, the warrior kings Thutmose III and Amenhotep II, the religious radical Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti, and most famously of all for the wealth of his tomb the short-lived boy king Tutankhamun. The power and riches of the Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty came at enormous cost to Egypt's enemies and most of its people. This was an age of ruthless absolutism, exploitation, extravagance, brutality, and oppression in a culture where not only did Egypt plunder its neighbours but Egyptian kings and their people robbed one another. 3,500 years ago ancient Egypt began two centuries in which it became richer and more powerful than any other nation at the time, ruled by the kings of the 18th Dynasty. They presided over a system built on war, oppression, and ruthlessness, pouring Egypt's wealth into grandiose monuments, temples, and extravagant tombs. Tutankhamun was one of the last of the line and one of the most obscure. Among his predecessors were some of the most notorious and enigmatic figures of all of Egypt's history. Pharaohs of the Sun is their story, showing how the glamour and gold was tainted by selfishness, ostentation, and the systematic exploitation of Egypt's people and enemies.

An innovative, informative, and entertaining history of Roman Britain told through the lives of individuals in all walks of life The Britain of the Roman Occupation is, in a way, an age that is dark to us. While the main events from 55 BC to AD 410 are little disputed, and the archaeological remains of villas, forts, walls, and cities explain a great deal, we lack a clear sense of individual lives. This book is the first to infuse the story of Britannia with a beating heart, the first to describe in detail who its inhabitants were and their place in our history. A lifelong specialist in Romano-British history, Guy de la Bedoyere is the first to recover the period exclusively as a human experience. He focuses not on military campaigns and imperial politics but on individual, personal stories. Roman Britain is revealed as a place where the ambitious scramble for power and prestige, the devout seek solace and security through religion, men and women eke out existences in a provincial frontier land. De la Bedoyere introduces Fortunata the slave girl, Emeritus the frustrated centurion, the grieving father Quintus Corellius Fortis, and the brilliant metal worker Boduogenus, among numerous others. Through a wide array of records and artifacts, the author introduces the colorful cast of immigrants who arrived during the Roman era while offering an unusual glimpse of indigenous Britons, until now nearly invisible in histories of Roman Britain.

A riveting account of ancient Rome's imperial bodyguard, the select band of soldiers who wielded the power to make-or destroy-the emperors they served Founded by Augustus around 27 B.C., the elite Praetorian Guard was tasked with the protection of the emperor and his family. As the centuries unfolded, however, Praetorian soldiers served not only as protectors and enforcers but also as powerful political players. Fiercely loyal to some emperors, they vied with others and ruthlessly toppled those who displeased them, including Caligula, Nero, Pertinax, and many more. Guy de la Bedoyere provides a compelling first full narrative history of the Praetorians, whose dangerous ambitions ceased only when Constantine permanently disbanded them. de la Bedoyere introduces Praetorians of all echelons, from prefects and messengers to artillery experts and executioners. He explores the delicate position of emperors for whom prestige and guile were the only defenses against bodyguards hungry for power. Folding fascinating details into a broad assessment of the Praetorian era, the author sheds new light on the wielding of power in the greatest of the ancient world's empires.

Gladius delivers a stunning ground-level recreation of what it was like to be a soldier in the fighting force that made the Roman Empire. Empire. The Roman army was the greatest fighting machine in the ancient world. More than that, it was the single largest organization in Western antiquity, taking in members from all classes, from senators to freed slaves. The Roman Empire depended on its army not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers, and control the seas, but to act as the very engine of the state. In Gladius, Guy de la Bedoyere takes us straight to the heart of what it meant to be a part of the Roman army. Rather than a history of the army itself, or a guide to military organization and fighting methods, this book is a ground-level recreation of what it was like to be a soldier in the army that made the empire. Surveying numerous aspects of life in the Roman army between 264 BCE and 337 CE, Gladius-the Latin word for sword-draws not only on the words of famed Roman historians, but also those of the soldiers themselves, as recorded in their religious dedications, tombstones, and even private letters and graffiti. Gladius reveals the everyday life of these soldiers and their families, whether stationed in a bleak frontier garrison in Britain or North Africa, tasked with guarding the emperor in Rome, fighting on foreign battlefields, mutinying over pay, marching in triumph, throwing their weight around on city streets, or enjoying esteem in honorable retirement. By illuminating the history of one organization that reflected all corners of the Roman world, Gladius gives us a portrait of an ancient society that is unprecedented in both its broad sweep and gritty intimacy.

The ruins of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Ostia have excited the imagination of scholars and tourists alike since early modern times. The removal of volcanic debris at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the clearance of centuries of accumulated soil and vegetation from the ancient port city of Rome at Ostia, have provided us with the most important evidence for Roman urban life. Work goes on at all three sites to this day, and they continue to produce new surprises. Pompeii is the subject of numerous books, but the other two cities are nothing like as well-served. This book, written by an archaeologist, historian and teacher with a lifelong interest in the Roman world, is designed for students of A-level and university courses on Classical Civilization who need a one-stop introduction to all three sites. Its principal focus is status and identity in Roman cities, and how they were expressed through institutions, public buildings and facilities, private houses and funerary monuments, against a backdrop of the history of the cities, their rise, their destruction, preservation and excavation. The reader is also guided towards other reading material and Internet sites that now offer unprecedented access to the cities.

Roman archaeological sites in Britain produced huge quantities of pottery providing vast amounts of information about technology, trade, wealth, industry and lifestyle.

Life at home in Britain during the Second World War changed forever. Aerial bombardment destroyed families and homes in their thousands. Men and women worked harder than ever before in factories, as air-raid wardens, and in simply keeping day-to-day life going. Children found themselves evacuated far away from home. Meanwhile, the government exercised unprecedented control over everyday needs and concerns. In the face of all this adversity the Blitz spirit of defiant resilience was born, and its memory has endured right up to the present time.

Guy de la Bidoyhre is a writer, historian and archaeologist. He has written numerous books on aspects of Roman Britain, and on the archaeology of the air war of 193945, including Shire's Aviation Archaeology in Britain and Pottery in Roman Britain. Other titles for Shire by this author are:

Architecture in Roman Britain
Aviation Archaeology in Britain
Pottery in Roman Britain