An Introduction to the Ancient World

This introductory textbook covers the history of the ancient Near East, Greece and Rome within the framework of a short narrative history of events. It is designed to offer an easily readable, integrated overview for students of history, classics, archaeology and philosophy whether at college, at undergraduate level or among the wider reading public. Focusing mainly on the social, political and cultural processes which have influenced later western civilizations, the text considers subjects such as the religions of the ancient Near East, Athenian democracy, the interaction of cultures in the Hellenistic world, the political and administrative system of the Roman republic and empire, gender problems and ancient demography.