Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was the model of what we call a philosopher-king. Though his rule was troubled by war and conflict, he remained a thoughtful and even-handed ruler. This beautiful edition brings to you a collection of his personal diary entries written over a ten-year campaign in Greece. The entries were never meant to be published; instead, they were a reminder to himself of how to remain calm, tranquil, and kind,...

Widely referred to as the "Father of History", Greek Historian Herodotus lived during the 5th century BC and "The Histories" is generally accepted as the first work of historical literature in Western Civilization. Departing from the ancient Homeric tradition of treating historical subjects as epically romantic figures, Herodotus instead approached his subjects with a systematic method of investigation. "The Histories" of Herodotus describe the important...

"Giant gemstones, precious artworks, architectural wonders, intriguing ruins, moon rocks, and more! Treasures both natural and man-made make an appearance in a tour which stretches across thousands of years and all around the globe. Discover sunken wrecks loaded with pirate gold, the abandoned tombs of the world's most powerful rulers, and even meteorites--treasures from outer space! A central foldout map reveals the locations of all the treasures...

In the ninth century BCE, the peoples of four distinct regions of the civilized world created the religious and philosophical traditions that have continued to nourish humanity to the present day: Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, monotheism in Israel, and philosophical rationalism in Greece. Later generations further developed these initial insights, but we have never grown beyond them. Now, Karen Armstrong reveals...

Who lived in our world's ancient places? How did they survive? Travel back to the lost cities of Babylon, Karnak, Herculaneum, Mesa Verde, Angkor Wat, Great Zimbabwe, Easter Island (or Rapa Nui), Tenochtitlan, Machu Picchu, Fatehpur Sikri, Jamestown, Caughnawaga, and Akrotiri. See why these civilizations were lost--and how they were found! -back cover.

In this volume I have attempted to give especial and marked attention to the fate of Greek science in late antiquity. Elementary texts in the past have long ignored this aspect of Greek science. The importance of the course of Greek science in late antiquity is evident, for it was during this period that much of the Greek scientific corpus was put into the form in which it passed to the medieval Latin West. We are justified, then, in considering this...

"A history of the ways in which ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional warfare, drawing on myth, science, and history and told Mayor's scrupulous, yet entertaining style"--

"Gabriel Richardson Lear presents a bold new approach to one of the enduring debates about Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: the controversy about whether it coherently argues that the best life for humans is one devoted to a single activity, namely philosophical contemplation. Many scholars oppose this reading because the bulk of the Ethics is devoted to various moral virtues - courage and generosity, for example - that are not in any obvious way either...

Among the most durable and engaging texts in world literature, Julius Caesars Conquest of Gaul tells how he and his legions conquered much of modern France in less than a decade (58-51 BCE), despite determined resistance. Perhaps the most famous Roman ever, Gaius Julius Caesar created a legacy which has resonated, for good or ill, throughout Western culture. Architect of an imperial system, eponymous sponsor of a reformed calendar system, orator second...