Ancient World

A beautifully written personal account of the discovery of late antiquity by one of the world’s most influential and distinguished historians

An entrancing new telling of ancient Greek myths

“This book is a triumph! . . . [A] magnificent retelling of the Greek myths.”—Alexander McCall Smith, author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series

The surprising story of how Greek classics are being pressed into use in contemporary China to support the regime’s political agenda

A rich, discovery-filled history that tells how a forgotten empire transformed the ancient world

How rhetorical training influenced deeds as well as words in the Roman Empire

A groundbreaking reinterpretation that draws on cognitive theory to show that belief wasn’t absent from—but rather was at the heart of—Roman religion

The first comprehensive study of Pliny the Elder’s economic thought—and its implications for understanding the Roman Empire’s constrained innovation and economic growth

A unique look at how classical notions of ascent and flight preoccupied early modern British writers and artists

A cultural and literary history of mountains in classical antiquity

An argument for why Plato’s Laws can be considered his most important political dialogue

A treasury of astonishing mythic marvels—and the surprising truths behind them

A gripping and groundbreaking history of how ancient cultures developed and used biological, chemical, and other unconventional weapons of war

The fascinating story of how the fossils of dinosaurs, mammoths, and other extinct animals influenced some of the most spectacular creatures of classical mythology

The burnt-red badlands of Montana's Hell Creek are a vast graveyard of the Cretaceous dinosaurs that lived 68 million years ago. Those hills were, much later, also home to the Sioux, the Crows, and the Blackfeet, the first people to...

A vibrant new translation of Seneca’s “On the Shortness of Life,” a pointed reminder to make the most of our time

Aristotle’s essential guide to human flourishing—the Nicomachean Ethics—in a lively new abridged translation

An entertaining and enlightening collection of ancient writings about the philosophers who advocated simple living and rejected unthinking conformity

An engaging new translation of a timeless masterpiece about coping with the death of a loved one

How ancient Stoicism can help teach us to treat others—and ourselves—more fairly and mercifully

An energetic new translation of an ancient Roman masterpiece about a failed coup led by a corrupt and charismatic politician

An inviting and highly readable new translation of Aristotle’s complete Poetics—the first and best introduction to the art of writing and understanding stories

A panoramic narrative that places ancient Africa on the stage of world history

A constitutionalist reading of Plato’s political thought

A bold reconception of ancient Greek drama by one of the most brilliant and original classical scholars of his generation

The second volume in a landmark commentary on an important and influential work of ancient philosophy

A provocative account of Jewish encounters with the public baths of ancient Rome

A sweeping germ’s-eye view of history from human origins to global pandemics

This is a collection of the late Heda Segvic's papers in ancient moral philosophy. At the time of her death at age forty-five in 2003, Segvic had already established herself as an important figure in ancient philosophy, making bold new...

The definitive account of Aristotle's life and school

A boldly innovative study of nonverbal communication in the poetry and prose of Hellenic antiquity

A riveting history of the city that led the West out of the ruins of the Roman Empire

Drawing on new archaeological evidence, an authoritative history of Rome’s Great Fire—and how it inflicted lasting harm on the Roman Empire

Contemporary translations and adaptations of ancient Greek poet Callimachus by noted writer and critic Stephanie Burt

A vivid portrait of the early years of biblical archaeology from the acclaimed author of 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed

How religious ritual united a growing and diversifying Roman Republic

A major new history of the race between two geniuses to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Europe

Coptic emerged as the written form of the Egyptian language in the third century, when Greek was still the official language in Egypt. By the time of the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641, Coptic had almost achieved official status, but...

Named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern Library

Anne Carson’s remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic love

Sicily and the strategies of empire in the poetic imagination of classical and medieval Europe

A sweeping look at Chinese art across the millennia that upends traditional perspectives and offers new pathways for art history

The essential handbook for doing historical research in the twenty-first century

A panoramic history of the antiquarians whose discoveries transformed Renaissance culture and gave rise to new forms of art and knowledge

The essential resource on military and political strategy and the making of the modern world