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The Life and Death of Ancient Cities: A Natural History Reprint Edition
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The growth of cities around the world in the last two centuries is the greatest episode in our urban history, but it is not the first. Three thousand years ago most of the Mediterranean basin was a world of villages; a world without money or writing, without temples for the gods or palaces for the mighty. Over the centuries that followed, however, cities appeared in many places around the Inland Sea, built by Greeks and Romans, and also by Etruscans and Phoenicians, Tartessians and Lycians, and many others. Most were tiny by modern standards, but they were the building blocks of all the states and empires of antiquity. The greatest--Athens and Corinth, Syracuse and Marseilles, Alexandria and Ephesus, Persepolis and Carthage, Rome and Byzantium--became the powerhouses of successive ancient societies, not just political centers but also the places where ancient art and literatures were created and accumulated. And then, half way through the first millennium, most withered away, leaving behind ruins that have fascinated so many who came after.
Based on the most recent historical and archaeological evidence, The Life and Death of Ancient Cities provides a sweeping narrative of one of the world's first great urban experiments, from Bronze Age origins to the demise of cities in late antiquity. Greg Woolf chronicles the history of the ancient Mediterranean city, against the background of wider patterns of human evolution, and of the unforgiving environment in which they were built. Richly illustrated, the book vividly brings to life the abandoned remains of our ancient urban ancestors and serves as a stark reminder of the fragility of even the mightiest of cities.
- ISBN-10019762183X
- ISBN-13978-0197621837
- EditionReprint
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateAugust 26, 2022
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions9.32 x 1.42 x 6.16 inches
- Print length528 pages
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- Publisher : Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (August 26, 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 528 pages
- ISBN-10 : 019762183X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0197621837
- Item Weight : 1.71 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.32 x 1.42 x 6.16 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #874,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #926 in Ancient Greek History (Books)
- #1,445 in History of Civilization & Culture
- #1,459 in Ancient Roman History (Books)
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My highest recommendation!
The book helped correct several misconceptions about cities I had. For instance
-Outside of a few major cities supported subsidized by the empire few cities had more than a few tens of thousands of people even at the Roman peak in 2nd century CE
-Cities were actually experienced a major collapse after the bronze age
An excellent book.
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This book was full of typos, one every few pages
It is very redundant , wordy, and repetitious.
I get that the author tried to organize it in an 'evolutionary ' perspective but it did not work.
He jumps back and forth in time, even when talking about a particular city at a particular stage.
Conclusion: NOT a fun/pleasant read. And I don't think it is an educational read either.
I would give it 0 stars if I could.
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Eastern part. I would be interested if Woolf were to look at that and be a bit braver in looking at the data on why certain cities and civilisations collapsed. And why Egypt and Babylon became Empires rather than multiple city states as Greece started out . It does seem more that it was a miracle that cities survived in many places, especially on the arid shores of the N Mediterranean.
Although the coverage is mostly concentrated on the Mediterranean basin, the conclusions should be broadly valid for other regions of the world.
I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in history who enjoys being challenged by original ideas skillfully presented.