Ancient Biography

The mere mention of his name, Tutankhamun, brings to mind visions of gold and splendor and thoughts of a majestic kingdom. The reality of this king is something quite different. His fame has less to do with his position in history and nearly everything to do with the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. There are many questions and mysteries still surrounding this famous king of Egypt. Who was Tutankhamun? Where did he come from? What was his kingdom like? How did he live and die?

Marcus Licinius Crassus (115-53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome's first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led an army on an unprovoked campaign against Parthia into what are now the borderlands of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, losing a battle at Carrhae which scarred Roman minds for generations.

La obra trata de la vida del hombre que cambió la historia de Roma para siempre. La biografía de un jurista, escritor y reformista marcada principalmente por los logros, la codicia y la traición política y militar. La obra describe los episodios más relevantes y desconocidos de su vida y además traza una aproximación al entorno político, social, económico y cultural de la época.

Sulla had become renowned in Rome as a general during the Jugurthine, Social, and Mithridatic Wars, but naturally he is now remembered for the gruesome acts committed during his tenure as Rome’s first lifelong dictator. Sulla’s unprecedented period of one-man rule is viewed by many historians as a means of re-establishing peace and order in Roman politics while safeguarding the Republican system from abuse by powerful individuals.

“This in-depth, beautifully illustrated biography of Mary Anning sings with the passion and perseverance of the woman herself, who from girlhood on scoured the shifting cliffs of her native Dorset to dig out prehistoric mysteries and make sense of them—altering forever our view of the past...

Nobilissima. È un titolo che farebbe gola a chiunque. Assicura potere, autorità e il sacro diritto a regnare su un mondo di uomini. È il 392 d.C. e Galla Placidia, principessa di stirpe romana, entra ancora in fasce nei raffinati giochi di palazzo del tempo. L'Impero romano è già a pezzi, e la notte è vicina.

"Dovevo fare i conti prima o poi con Nerone. Lo avevo già affrontato di lato, semplificandolo nel male, similmente a come si tende sempre più a fare semplificandolo nel bene", confessa Andrea Carandini. Chi si è occupato di Roma antica non può evitare di confrontarsi con quell’uragano che è stato Nerone. Per interpretare una personalità del passato romano fuori misura, come quella di Nerone, occorre con una parte di sé entrare nella sua logica, mentre con l’altra avversarla, evitando la soluzione facile e deludente del tiranno democratico e individuando i modelli a cui s’ispirava.

According to the ancient writer Arrian, when Alexander attempted to apply proskynesis to his court, his decision was met with massive criticism from both the Macedonians and Greeks. And even when he stopped the practice, the Macedonians continued to witness their king apply a variety of Persian customs in the kingdom. Some said his Persianization played a minor role in his death, while others claimed that he died of natural causes. The sources that tell the story of Alexander often contradict each other, which can be confusing for those hoping to learn about the great king’s eventful life.

In an interesting and accessible way this course introduces students to the era of the ancient world, its events and characters.

In his lifetime, Mark Antony was a famous man. Ally and avenger of Julius Caesar, rhetorical target of Cicero, lover of Cleopatra, and mortal enemy of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus), Antony played a leading role in the transformation of the Roman world. Ever since his and Cleopatra's demise at the hands of Octavian, he has remained famous, or infamous, a figure of recurring fascination. A Noble Ruin delivers a complex and captivating portrait of Mark Antony that offers a fresh perspective on the fall of the Roman Republic.

Esta es la historia de una mujer excepcional, cuyo atrevimiento al pisar esferas de poder reservadas a los hombres acabó costándole la vida. Una mujer a quien la historia y sus fuentes oficiales, escritas por y para hombres, han malinterpretado y vilipendiado sistemáticamente. Emma Southon rescata a Agripina la Menor, hermana, sobrina, esposa y madre de emperadores, y le devuelve el histórico papel central que efectivamente tuvo en cuatro generaciones de la política romana.

В истории Древнего Рима фигура Марка Туллия Цицерона одна из самых значительных и, возможно, самых трагических. Ученый, политик, гениальный оратор, сумевший искусством слова возвыситься до высот власти... Казалось бы, сами боги покровительствуют своему любимцу, усыпая его путь цветами. Но боги — существа переменчивые, человек в их руках — игрушка. И Рим — это не остров блаженных, Рим — это большая арена, где если не победишь ты, то соперники повергнут тебя, и часто со смертельным исходом. Козни влиятельных врагов во главе с народным трибуном Клодием, несправедливое обвинение и полтора года изгнания.

В истории Древнего Рима фигура Марка Туллия Цицерона одна из самых значительных и, возможно, самых трагических. Ученый, политик, гениальный оратор, сумевший искусством слова возвыситься до высот власти... Козни влиятельных врагов во главе с народным трибуном Клодием, несправедливое обвинение и полтора года изгнания... Возвращение в Рим, гражданская война между Помпеем и Цезарем, смерть Цезаря, новый взлет и следом за ним падение, уже окончательное.

Socrates: A Life Worth Living traces the life and ideas of one of Western civilization’s founding philosophers, whose influence is still felt more than two thousand years later. Socrates is famous for how he died, executed by the Athenian government for corrupting the youth of Athens, but his most important contribution was to challenge the people around him to test their ideas and beliefs in conversation with each other, in the belief that in this way we could become a society that knows the difference between truth and falsehood, and find what makes a life worthwhile.

Looking back at her encounters over the past fifty years, the author has put the events of her life together that seem to fit like a grand puzzle. She realized that she has been walking through Ancient Doors that were being opened and directed by the Ancient One Himself. Now He has called Jean to publish her witness for such a time as this - a time when myriads of His angels are being released to help accomplish His plans and purposes for mankind. When an Ancient Door opens for you, will you recognize it? Will you have the understanding, faith, and courage to walk through that door?

A real-life "Indiana Jones", Donald P. Ryan, PhD, offers a breathtaking personal account of his adventures in archaeology in Beneath the Sands of Egypt. Fans of The Lost City of Z will thrill to the exploits of this "unconventional archaeologist" as he retrieves the remains of Egypt's past - including his breakthrough discovery in the Valley of the Kings of Egypt's famous female pharaoh, Hatshepsut.

Charlemagne, while subjugating the people he conquered, modernized education, currency, art, music, and leadership to bring stability back to Europe, setting it on the path to thrive for years to come. Europe had been in upheaval, with threats from every direction, when Charlemagne came to power in the eighth century. The barbarian king worked to unite Germanic people into one kingdom and to spread Catholicism.

See ancient Rome, and peer into the Roman mind, through the eyes of a gladiator—from the evening before the games at the Colosseum to the evening after "A grippingly original way of making the alien world of the Roman Amphitheatre both accessible and comprehensible." —Tom Holland, co-host...

Un profilo di un uomo straordinario. Una interpretazione originale di una delle figure più controverse della storia. Il libro è già stato tradotto e ha suscitato interesse di pubblico e di critica in Germania, Francia, Spagna, America, Brasile. Luciano Canfora insegna Filologia classica all'Università di Bari.

Avida, sanguinaria, assetata di potere, ma insieme intelligentissima, seducente e colta. Chi era davvero Cleopatra? Questo libro restituisce verità storica alla straordinaria figura dell'ultima e più famosa regina della dinastia tolemaica. La vita di Cleopatra ci parla dei rapporti tra Roma e l'Egitto; ci porta a ripercorrere le storie d'amore e di politica intrecciate con Giulio Cesare e con Antonio. Rappresenta, infine, un punto di vista privilegiato per ripercorrere i principali eventi accaduti nel I secolo a.C. su tutti i paesi affacciati sul Mediterraneo, e in parte dell'Asia.