Jasper Griffin Knihy

This handy guide will introduce students to a text that has been fundamental to literature for nearly 3000 years.

Written by a team of distinguished scholars these volumes offer a comprehensive view of the Graeco-Roman world, its history and achievements. With over 250 illustrations and with extensive reference material.

From the epic poems of Homer to the art and architecture of Greece's Golden Age and the influential Roman systems of law and leadership, the classical world laid the foundations of our culture and many enduring achievements. Now in a more convenient format, this in-depth and acclaimed history serves as the definitive companion to the Graeco-Roman world. The first volume covers Classical Greece and the Hellenistic World, spanning the eighth to the first centuries B.C., a period renowned for its brilliance in literature, philosophy, and visual arts, as well as the Hellenization of the Middle East following Alexander the Great's conquests. The second volume focuses on Classical Rome, detailing early Rome and Italy, the expansion of the Roman Republic, the establishment of the Empire by Augustus, its consolidation, and the later Empire's influence on Western civilization. Editors John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray, along with thirty leading scholars, blend political and social history with literature, philosophy, and the arts, supported by maps, charts, bibliographies, and a full index. The contributors present modern scholarship with wit and style, emphasizing elements of the classical world that remain relevant and engaging today, offering a provocative and entertaining exploration of our classical heritage.

This book tells the story of the rise of Rome from its origins as a cluster of villages to the foundation of the Roman Empire by Augustus and its consolidation in the first two centuries AD. It also discusses some aspects of the later Empire and its influence on western civilizations, not least through the adoption of Christianity.