Ancient Empires

In the best-selling Warriors of God and Dogs of God, James Reston Jr. limned two epochal conflicts between Islam and Christendom. Here he examines the ultimate battle in that centuries-long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds, they were remarkably similar.

Some 250 years after its first publication, Gibbon's Decline and Fall is still regarded as one of the greatest histories in Western literature. He reports on more than 1,000 years of an empire which extended from the most northern and western parts of Europe to deep into Asia and Africa and covers not only events but also the cultural and religious developments that effected change during that time.

It is difficult to know the Sea People intimately because the records on them aren’t very comprehensive. But we set out to explore the many questions people have about this mysterious civilization. Who were they? Where did they come from? Did they do more than simply pillage, and what impact did they have on society and commerce? Would you be shocked to learn that these mysterious people were more than a band of pirates?

In Volume Three, Gibbon picks up his story with the chaotic events following the retreat of the Eastern Roman Empire from the Italian peninsula in the seventh century. As the German conquerors settle into the new territories they took from the old Roman Empire, Islam suddenly emerges on the Arabian peninsula and sweeps across North Africa and into Spain. Muslim forces move north and threaten Constantinople itself.

Among all the periods in ancient Egyptian history, the Ptolemaic Kingdom and its most famous ruler, Cleopatra, may be the most well-known today. By the 4th century BCE, it appeared as though ancient Egypt was in its final death throes. It had long ceased to be an influential kingdom in the Near East and Mediterranean regions, and it had been ruled over by a succession of foreign peoples including Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, and Persians. But just when Egypt seemed was doomed to pass forever into obscurity, it was reinvigorated by outsiders, most notably Alexander the Great. While in the process of campaigning to destroy the Achaemenid Persian Empire and conquer the world in 331 BCE, he made a pit stop in Egypt that forever changed the course of Egyptian history. Although his understanding of ancient Egyptian chronology and religion was minimal, Alexander was intrigued by ancient pharaonic culture, knowing, as the 5th century BCE Greek historian Herodotus once wrote, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” As a result, Alexander endeavored to incorporate the land of the pharaohs into Hellenic Civilization.

Around the year 1162, near the modern capital of Mongolia, a baby boy was born into a fractious and violent world. The birth of this child must have caused quite a stir among the members of the nomadic tribe that he had been born into. Word soon traveled that the son of Yesügei, the Borjigin tribal leader, had been born clutching a blood clot in his tiny hand.

On Christmas morning in the year 800, Pope Leo III placed the crown of imperial Rome on the brow of a Germanic king named Karl - a gesture that enabled the man later hailed as Charlemagne to claim his empire and forever shape the destiny of Europe. Becoming Charlemagne tells the story of the international power struggle that led to this world-changing event, illuminating an era that has long been overshadowed by myth.

The sheer importance of Sumerian culture in regards to world culture as a whole is impossible to overstate. This civilization is single-handedly responsible for some of the most major innovations in nearly every field relevant to maintaining a civilized society - this includes religion, lawmaking, architecture, schooling, art, literature, and even entertainment. Naturally, most of what we see as negative aspects of society were established in ancient Sumer as well. There wasn’t an aspect of Sumerian life that wasn’t plagued with corruption or devastation of one form or another.

The island city of Tyre along the coast of Lebanon was for centuries an impregnable fortress and key to unlocking Phoenician and Persian power in the Near East. Its fall was first prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel; but it would not be Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who would take the city as the Bible foretold, but a Macedonian warrior king, Alexander. Alexander's siege of 332 BC was one of the most remarkable events in the classical world. The Siege of Tyre is the first book-length treatment of this critical and fascinating campaign

The pope wanted it, Montesquieu used it, and the Nazis pilfered an Italian noble's villa to get it: the Germania, by the Roman historian Tacitus, took on a life of its own as both an object and an ideology. When Tacitus wrote a not-very-flattering little book about the ancient Germans in 98 CE, at the height of the Roman Empire, he could not have foreseen that the Nazis would extol it as "a bible", nor that Heinrich Himmler, the engineer of the Holocaust, would vow to resurrect Germany on its grounds. But the Germania inspired - and polarized - people long before the rise of the Third Reich.

Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule form Augustus (23 BC - AD 14) to the first of the barbarian kings, Odoacer (476- 490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian, and other remarkable men.

Esta historia del Imperio azteca, fácil de leer, completa y atractiva, desvelará las historias y la cultura poco conocidas y asombrosas de un pueblo legendario. Con una presentación muy documentada y autorizada, acompañada de sorprendentes ilustraciones, esta obra da vida a la civilización azteca.

One of the most shocking things about the Persians is how quickly they went from an obscure, powerless, and nomadic tribe to an immense empire that spanned across western Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe. The rise of Cyrus the great, considered the father of Persia, in the seventh century BCE, filled the power vacuum caused by the fall of the Assyrians, and it led to the formation of one of the most powerful empires of the ancient world.

A bloody revolt by a North African prince and a plot to seize control of Rome are the subjects of two short masterpieces of ancient history by the illustrious Roman chronicler, Sallust. He could not have chosen two more dramatic episodes in the long history of this city.

The exemplary life of a noble soldier/statesman, a description of ancient Germany, and a discussion of oratory are the subjects of three short masterpieces by the brilliant Roman historian, Tacitus.

The ancient masters of war and conquest became the most powerful force in the Near East, thousands of years ago. One of the first empires in world history, the Assyrians rose to power through the strength of their sophisticated military. The creation of professional soldiers, advanced iron weapons technology, and siege warfare tactics made the Assyrians the strongest fighting force in the ancient world.

It is probably the greatest story in all history: how the people in a tiny village on the Tiber River took over the entire known world of its day and developed brilliant literature, buildings, armies, roads, and laws that we still talk about thousands of years later. Discover the glorious history of Rome.

In this extensive sequel to Science Education in the Early Roman Empire, Dr. Richard Carrier explores the social history of scientists in the Roman era. Was science in decline or experiencing a revival under the Romans? What was an ancient scientist thought to be and do? Who were they, and who funded their research? And how did pagans differ from their Christian peers in their views toward science and scientists?

"The Five Good Emperors", a reference to the five emperors who ruled the Roman Empire between 96 and 180 CE (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius), was a term first coined by Machiavelli and later adopted and popularized by historian Edward Gibbon. This period of 84 years is generally regarded as the high point of the Roman Empire, at least after Augustus. According to some academics, the success these rulers had in centralizing the empire's administration, while undoubtedly bringing huge benefits, also sowed the seeds for later problems.

Whether we realize it or not, stories and characters from Timbuktu are everywhere in our modern-day lives. The great Mansa Musa was the most iconic king of the Mali Empire. Considered to be one of the richest men ever, Mansa Musa is not only the right answer to a commonly asked trivia question but also one of the inspirations behind Marvel’s Black Panther. Although the other kings who reigned over Timbuktu may not be known quite as well as Mansa Musa, their lives have also inspired stories we are quite familiar with today.