Ancient History Lives

Publicada en 1940 y considerada una obra maestra, La vida privada y pública de Sócrates consagró a René Kraus como biógrafo de excepción. René Kraus realiza impagables descripciones del filósofo, de algunos de sus célebres contemporáneos y del ambiente de la ciudad y la época, subrayando la tesis que subyace en esta obra: que los seres excepcionales, incluso cuando son incomprendidos y maltratados en vida, terminan imponiendo su elevado ejemplo moral y proporcionan a la humanidad un horizonte de civilización.

The ruins of Pompeii, buried by an explosion of Vesuvius in 79 CE, offer the best evidence we have of everyday life in the Roman empire. This remarkable book rises to the challenge of making sense of those remains, as well as exploding many myths: the very date of the eruption, probably a few months later than usually thought, or the hygiene of the baths that must have been hotbeds of germs, or the legendary number of brothels, most likely only one, or the massive death count, maybe less than 10 per cent of the population.

Two Years Before the Mast is an 1840 memoir by the author Richard Henry Dana. A Harvard graduate, he spent the years 1834 to 1836 as a sailor on a merchant ship on a voyage from Boston to California. The journey took them past Cape Horn on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet. Dana provides detailed descriptions of ship life and the technical aspects of sailing. A chapter on California and its inhabitants offers valuable historical insights on the state which was then a foreign land.

Herod is one of the more well-known characters of the Bible, as even those with a limited knowledge of the Bible will recognize the name and maybe have some idea of who Herod was. One of the most popular stories, known even to non-Christians, is Herod's slaying of the Innocents, a gruesome part of the Christmas story.

Aristotle was an extraordinary thinker, perhaps the greatest in history. Yet he was preoccupied by an ordinary question: how to be happy. His deepest belief was that we can all be happy in a meaningful, sustained way - and he led by example. In this handbook to his timeless teachings, Professor Edith Hall shows how ancient thinking is precisely what we need today, even if you don’t know your Odyssey from your Iliad.

Would you like to learn about daily life in ancient Rome, but find conventional history books a bit boring? Would you like a more entertaining way to learn about Roman history, from the Republic to the Empire? We have a look at Roman sanitation, medicine, education, wine, sex, bathing, dining, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health from an accessible, non-academic perspective in this book, as well as looking at some of the perils or downsides in these advances in civilization. We discuss the developments in these aspects of daily life.

While he was one of the most influential men in the ancient world, research on Cyrus the Great is simultaneously fascinating and frustrating. Of course, this reality has deepened the mystique that surrounds Cyrus even to this day, and it has elevated his status from conqueror and king to enlightened humanist monarch and ideal ruler. Whatever the underlying issues, the incredible achievements of Cyrus distinguish him as one of the greatest kings in history, and his life, conquests, reforms, and rule continue to be of great interest over 2,500 years later.

This new, original translation of Cornelius Nepos's Lives of the Great Commanders is the first to appear in many generations. The Roman writer Cornelius Nepos (circa 110 BC to 25 BC) was one of the first biographers in the Western tradition. He composed memorable and entertaining sketches of some of the most famous statesmen of antiquity.

On August 24 and 25 in the year 79 A.D., a Volcanic eruption from Mt. Vesuvius spewed fire, lava, smoke, and ash upon the city of Pompeii, burying it and many of its inhabitants. Before this catastrophe, the streets of Pompeii had been bustling with the activity of its people, busy with commerce supported by its shipping trade and its role as a link between interior Italy and the outside world. In Pompeii, based on the Time Life Books series Lost Civilizations, you'll visit this ancient, lost city as it was in its heyday and how it exists today, its ruins lying in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius.

The Romans hated Pompey’s greedy father, Strabo, with a vengeance. Yet when Pompey rose in prominence, Plutarch notes that he developed the opposite character, and the Romans loved him for it. Pompey had many great accomplishments in his military and political life, but his legacy lies in forming the First Triumvirate with Crassus and Caesar. When the alliance eventually dissolved, and Pompey fled from Caesar to his death, the Roman world would never be the same.

He was the first emperor of one of the greatest empires ever known to man. He commanded unmatched authority in the ancient world and was always one step ahead of his opponents. He had an intellect and a sharp wit that could cut down his foes just as easily as the steel of his sword. The life of Octavian - later known as Augustus - was rich and full. Although he lived and died over 2,000 years ago, this founder of the Roman Empire is as intriguing as ever.

In The Life of Cicero, Plutarch details the priceless contributions Cicero made to Roman society. He translated the works of Greek philosophers into Latin, gained acclaim as an orator and lawyer, and was elected to office. Politics ultimately got the better of him, however, and his life ended in assassination while in exile. Cicero’s ideas live on through his body of work, but to learn about the man himself, Plutarch’s biography is an excellent starting point.

A little over 2000 years ago a man named Julius Caesar changed the world. Even if you have never heard of him, his lasting legacy has no doubt had an impact on your life. Even the very calendar that you use is based upon the system he created, with the month of July bearing his name. So who was this man that single-handedly changed the course of history? This audiobook follows the life and legacy of the man whose life stood between Republic and Empire.

It would be hard if not outright impossible to overstate the impact Roman Emperor Constantine I had on the history of Christianity, Ancient Rome, and Europe as a whole. Best known as Constantine the Great, the kind of moniker only earned by rulers who have distinguished themselves in battle and conquest, Constantine remains an influential and controversial figure to this day. He achieved enduring fame by being the first Roman emperor to personally convert to Christianity.

Alcibiades was brilliant beyond his time and ambitious beyond his own safety. Was he traitor or true patriot? Even his own historian was not sure.

In Book V of Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Laërtius discusses the Peripatetics like Aristotle, Theophrastus, Strato of Lampsacus, Lyco of Troas, Demetrius of Phalerum, and Heraclides Ponticus.

El día a día del faraón y sus súbditos a orillas del Nilo. El campesino que cultivaba en las orillas del Nilo recibía la visita regular del recaudador de impuestos, quien necesitaba del escriba para que nada se le escapara y todos pagaran lo que debían, de lo cual rendía cuentas al visir. Éste era el responsable de hacerse cargo de todo en nombre de su señor, el soberano de la Dos Tierras, el faraón, a quien informaba en profundidad y a diario de lo que sucedía en el país....

Cleopatra’s palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Though her life spanned fewer than 40 years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order, a generation before the birth of Christ.

This small audiobook provides two insightful biographical glimpses into the life and ideas of one of the great thinkers in Roman Catholic history. Sound interesting? The authors thinks so too! Listen to Giordano Bruno and Infinity and learn about Christianity and history.

From an acclaimed classicist comes a witty, unusual, and fascinating "biography" of Homer's fictional Bronze Age hero, Odysseus. In this entertaining book, Charles Beye fills out the story of this extraordinary figure while at the same time portraying Odysseus' evolution through the course of a strange and adventuresome life, at times so remote, at times so immediate in the contemporary perspective.