Ancient Europe

Miletus was an ancient city located on the west coast of present-day Turkey. It was the main city in the land of Ionia, a territory that stretched over 2,000 square kilometers of western Anatolia. With its four great harbors and a strategic location, Miletus became one of the most important coastal cities of western Anatolia, linking the Hellenistic world with the great civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, and eventually, Persia. Over time, Miletus was ruled by the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Hittites, Ionians, Persians, Seleucids, Attalids, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks, and Ottomans.

On his deathbed, some historians claim that when he was pressed to name a successor, Alexander the Great muttered that his empire should go "to the strongest". Other sources claim that he passed his signet ring to his general Perdiccas, thereby naming him successor, but whatever his choices were or may have been, they were ignored.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Middle Ages gives listeners the beginning, middle, and end of the era, starting with the fall of the Roman Empire in the year 550 and ending with the Renaissance in 1500, and covers some uncomfortable similarities between the so-called "Dark Ages" and today's "modern world".

Experience the intrigue and drama of Hungary's past as you dive into this captivating book. Learn about the country's turbulent history, filled with twists and turns, triumphs, and tragedies.

The Catacombs of Rome and Paris: The History and Legacy of Europe’s Most Famous Ossuaries examines the origins of these necropolises, their development throughout the years, and the period of rediscovery that put these subterranean cemeteries on the map. You will learn about the Roman and Parisian catacombs like never before.

Modern perceptions of Classical Greece are almost invariably based on Athens and Sparta, but there are perhaps few areas as consistently undervalued as the island of Rhodes. Although solidly part of the Greek world for as long as there has been one, Rhodes, located just off the coast of Asia Minor, was also from its earliest times a port opening to the civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean, and Rhodes was involved in every significant moment in ancient Greek history.

Meet the Nordic god of thunder! Thor is a happy god—unless you make him angry. Then he might shake the earth and topple mountains. So stay on his good side as he takes you on a journey across the rainbow bridge to Middle Earth and beyond, to mysterious Nordic realms filled with frost giants, dark elves, and plundering Vikings. In this engaging and humorous work of nonfiction, Thor offers a wildly entertaining introduction to Norse mythology.

The High Middle Ages had seen a rise in Western Europe’s population in previous centuries, but these gains were almost entirely erased as the plague spread rapidly across all of Europe from 1346-1353. Fighting the Plague in Antiquity and the Middle Ages looks at the ways past societies have striven to cope with epidemics and the various remedies - some bizarre, some desperate, others logical but nonetheless misguided - they employed. The approaches include an eclectic mix of medicine, supernatural rituals, religion, and philosophy.

The morning of August 24, AD 79, seemed like any other in the Roman city of Pompeii. So no one was prepared when the nearby volcano Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupted, spouting ash that buried the city and its inhabitants. The disaster left thousands dead, and Pompeii was no more than a memory for almost 1,700 years. In 1748, explorers rediscovered the port city with intact buildings and beautiful mosaics.

Die griechische Kultur und ihre Geschichte waren so einflussreich, dass sie eine bedeutende Wirkung auf uns moderne Menschen in der ganzen Welt haben. Die alten Griechen hoben die Demokratie aus der Wiege, ein politisches System, das weit verbreitet ist und von manchen für die beste Form der Regierung gehalten wird. Große Geister aus Griechenland machten unglaubliche und bedeutende Entdeckungen, wie z.B. die Wassermühle, die Grundlagen der Geometrie und die Anwendung der Medizin, um Krankheiten zu heilen.

When people think of ancient Greece, images of philosophers such as Plato or Socrates often come to mind, as do great warriors like Pericles and Alexander the Great, but hundreds of years before Athens became a city, a Greek culture flourished and spread its tentacles throughout the western Mediterranean region via trade and warfare. Scholars have termed this pre-Classical Greek culture the Mycenaean culture, which existed from about 2000-1200 BCE, when Greece, along with much of the eastern Mediterranean, was thrust into a centuries long Dark Ages.

Si usted desea descubrir la fascinante historia de la Guerra del Peloponeso, siga leyendo...La guerra del Peloponeso involucró a todo el mundo griego, desde Siracusa en la isla de Sicilia hasta las costas del oeste de Turquía. Devastó a la población griega, causó grandes penurias, y condujo a la eventual caída del Imperio ateniense y el surgimiento del Imperio espartano.

The success of the emperors ironically brought about the worst plague in Rome’s epic history. Due to constant warfare on the borders and attempts to defend positions against various groups, Roman soldiers came into contact with foreign diseases, and they unwittingly brought them home when campaigns ended. This culminated around 165 CE, when an unidentified disease brought the empire to its knees and afflicted an untold number of individuals, one of whom may have been Lucius Verus, the co-emperor of Rome alongside Marcus Aurelius.

Some of the most iconic symbols of the Roman Empire that have survived into the modern world today are the arches that Romans erected to commemorate military victories and glorify individual emperors. The story of how arches came to be used throughout the Roman world in such a way is one that involves the evolution of the military and its leaders into the political forces that came to dominate the state. Those arches, along with the triumphs that came to be associated with many of them, were key parts in the process of exhibiting the might of both Rome.

In ancient Finland, young Vierra begins her passage to adulthood. It's a time when Viking warriors prowl the land, and riches are in reach of the powerful. The medieval north of myth is a dangerous place, and powers both natural and supernatural are ready to take away everything she holds dear. Vierra sets to overcome the odds with iron will and sharp wit, but fate has more in store for the young woman.

Los neandertales: la historia de los humanos extintos que fueron contemporáneos del Homo Sapiens en Europa da un vistazo a la evolución de los neandertales y examina las teorías sobre su extinción.

The Cro-Magnon were Homo sapiens, and the most defining characteristics of the species are the cultural traits that begin to show in the archaeological record. Tools were beginning to be made from multiple materials, and these people would often travel long distances or trade to acquire specific materials for tools. Symbolic material became increasingly common among them, as cave paintings, figurines, shell beads, pendants, and even early burials were more common with modern humans than Neanderthals.

Although a simulacrum of the historic literary pieces of Homer and Hesiod, this eBook gives a crisp yet fulfilling account of the Titans, the Olympian gods, their affairs, feuds and rivalries; it provides a through account of the Trojan war and heroes such as Achilles, Hercules and Odysseus. It also includes bonus chapters divulging some enthralling secrets that are less known about the characters of the Greek Mythology.

The ancient Greeks were explorers in many ways. They traveled to new places, creating colonies in strange lands far from their original homes. They were survivors. They were honorable thieves. They used their cunning to explore the frontiers of philosophy and they wrested from the chaos of the surrounding wilderness the building blocks of civilization.

The story of the Silk Road has been a popular topic among tourists, academics, economists, state parties, and daydreaming children for many centuries. In many ways the Silk Road can be seen everywhere, and it has existed for as long as people have traveled across Eurasia. Its impact is widely felt among the diverse peoples that live on the continent, through the unique regional art and architectural styles, as well as in countless films, books, academic studies, and organized tours devoted to the ancient trade routes.