Book Reviews

Bettany Hughes has a real flare for description. In reconstructing the life of one of the world's most elusive figures, she creates an image of Socrates' world that's so evocative you can almost touch it. Starting with the day of Socrates'...

The Carthaginians were obliterated by the Romans in the Third Punic War, and their history has, ever since, suffered for it. Even their name has largely been replaced by the brutal sounding 'Punic', from the Latin punicus. In the last decade...

Thomas Scanlon presents the reader with a narrative of Classical Greece that offers both eloquence, structure, and may serve as essential reading for students, a comprehensive review for academics, and a timely reminder for strategists that...

The Phoenicians were one of the most influential ancient Mediterranean cultures, and so it is surprising how few general history books there are on the market which cover this fascinating civilization. In addition, of the few books generally...

This book is separated into six parts discussing Rome and Constantinople in context, the urban space and development in a comparative perspective, emperors in the city, Panegyrici (public speeches and texts praising the cities and people...

Mathematics in Ancient Egypt traces the development of Egyptian mathematics, from the end of the 4th millennium BC to the end of the Pharaonic Period in Greco-Roman times. Imhausen uses mathematical texts that have been discovered, documents...

We know the big names - Cicero, Diodorus, Caesar, Livy - but we forget how periods in Rome's history were recorded by multiple people, mostly at the same time. Many times history books were a not just a narrative but a composed book of first-hand...

J. E. Lendon in his book, Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity, uses Greek and Roman culture to explain fundamental changes in the conduct of war. Lendon persuasively argues that competition and an obsession with...