Ancient Empires

From plebeians refusing to join the Roman army to bakers withholding bread, this is the first book to explore how Roman workers used strikes, boycotts, riots, and rebellion to get their voices—and their labor—acknowledged. Sarah E. Bond explores Ancient Rome from a new angle to show that the history of labor conflicts and collective action goes back thousands of years, uncovering a world far more similar to our own than we realize.

A bloody revolt by a North African prince and a plot to seize control of Rome are the subjects of two short masterpieces of ancient history by the illustrious Roman chronicler, Sallust. He could not have chosen two more dramatic episodes in the long history of this city.

The earliest history of Babylon is little known. Among the many cities flourishing in southern Iraq, the town first appears in texts in the third millennium BC. Until the last century of the third millennium, few references existed to Babylon; however, offerings made to the temple of Enlil in Nippur during this period (when Babylon was part of an empire ruled by Ur) suggest a city already of some size and wealth. From relative obscurity in the middle of the 18th century BC, Babylon emerged as the political center of southern Mesopotamia.

In contrast to their Danish and Norwegian cousins, Swedish Vikings traveled east rather than west in search of riches, land, and power. The extensive river systems of Russia provided economic and military “superhighways” to the adventurers from the north who journeyed down them all the way to the Black Sea and Constantinople in search of fame and riches. In Captivating History’s History of Sweden, you will learn more about these Swedish adventurers along with other parts of Sweden’s fascinating history.

This captivating history bundle includes The Roman Republic, The Roman Empire, and The Byzantine Empire.

Suetonius wrote his Lives of the Twelve Caesars in the reign of Vespasian around 70AD. He chronicled the extraordinary careers of Julius, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, and Domitian and the rest in technicolour terms. They presented some high and low times at the heart of the Roman Empire. The accounts provide us with perspicacious insights into the men as much as their reigns.

The story of the Roman Republic is the greatest epic in human history. Seen in the long perspective of time, it seems too fantastic to be real. From its modest beginnings as a convenient fording place on the Tiber to its eventual destiny as the mistress of the Mediterranean, Rome offers a strange tale of fate, sacrifice, and indomitable willpower. The stern realities of war shaped its policies from the very beginning.

*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION* An epic, boundary-pushing tale of five young women rebelling against an era that relies on their submission, from the acclaimed author of Etta and Otto and Russell and James. During the golden age of the Roman Empire, five girls enjoy a...

The success of the emperors ironically brought about the worst plague in Rome’s epic history. Due to constant warfare on the borders and attempts to defend positions against various groups, Roman soldiers came into contact with foreign diseases, and they unwittingly brought them home when campaigns ended. This culminated around 165 CE, when an unidentified disease brought the empire to its knees and afflicted an untold number of individuals, one of whom may have been Lucius Verus, the co-emperor of Rome alongside Marcus Aurelius.

Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is one of the greatest texts in the English language. In magisterial prose, Gibbon charts the gradual collapse of the Roman rule form Augustus (23 BC - AD 14) to the first of the barbarian kings, Odoacer (476- 490 AD). It is a remarkable account, with the extravagant corruption and depravity of emperors such as Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus contrasted by the towering work of Constantine, Julian, and other remarkable men.

"A hugely entertaining Roman world Romantasy—with a hilarious heroine and smoldering hero.”—ELODIE HARPER, bestselling author of The Wolf Den In the last days of the Roman Empire, a desperate princess and a brutal Gothic warlord forge a dangerous alliance. Julia, only daughter of the...

Empire of the Romans, from Julius Caesar to Justinian provides a sweeping historical survey of the Roman empire. Uncommonly expansive in its chronological scope, this unique two-volume text explores the time period encompassing Julius Caesar's death in 44 BCE to the end of Justinian's reign six centuries later.

This book contains the daily life, culture, training, battles, history, and kings of the Spartan Empire. From the birth of their city to the end, the Spartans endured a history of violence and war. Similar to their stories, the traditional Spartan warrior also lived the daily life of a soldier. From the moment they were born and if they were allowed to live, they were trained and conditioned to be some of the most efficient and lethal killing machines. Dominating the land through some of the most famous battles of all time, the Spartans were a force to be reckoned with.

A riveting account of the five heated months in which King Charles I attempted to arrest five dissident Members of Parliament by bringing an armed force to the House of Commons—a shocking act of political terrorism that pushed England toward civil war and planted the seeds of the American...

Ten years after the eruption of Vesuvius, the surrounding countryside lies buried and barren. But the destroyed cities and luxury villas on the Bay of Naples are not utterly lost. Flavia Albia and her husband Tiberius Manlius are tasked with restoring one villa and identifying any surviving...

The very idea of empire was created in ancient Rome, and even today, traces of its monuments, literature, and institutions can be found across Europe, the Near East, and North Africa - and sometimes even further afield. Historian Greg Woolf expertly recounts how this mammoth empire was created, how it was sustained in crisis, and how it shaped the world of its rulers and subjects - a story spanning a millennium and a half of history.

It's AD 123, and the sun is shining on southern Gaul. Ex-military medic Ruso and his British wife, Tilla, are back after a long absence - but it's not the reunion anyone had hoped for. Ruso's brother has left him in charge of a farm he has no idea how to manage, a chronic debt problem, and a gaggle of accident-prone small children. Meanwhile his sister Flora has run away to rescue her boyfriend, who's accused of murdering a wealthy guest at a party.

The bubonic plague was the worst affliction ever visited upon Europe and the Mediterranean world. Within a few short years, a quarter of the population was taken after a short but torturous illness. Those who escaped faced famine and economic hardship. Crops were left unsown; the harvests spoiled for lack of harvesters; villages, towns, and great cities were depopulated. Markets were destroyed; and trade ground to a halt. It must have seemed like the end of the world to the terrified populace.

From classicist James Romm comes a “striking…fascinating” (Booklist) deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great’s destruction of Thebes—and the saga of the greatest military corps of the time, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of...

Hannibal was a great and skillful general who defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but took Rome.