Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean [Paperback]

Charles Freeman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0199263647 | ISBN-13: 978-0199263646 | Publication Date: April 29, 2004 | Edition: 2

Egypt, Greece, and Rome is a unique and comprehensive introduction to the ancient world's three major civilizations. The book draws a fascinating picture of the deep links between the cultures across the Mediterranean and explores the ways in which these civilizations continue to be influential to this day. Beginning with the emergence of the earliest Egyptian civilization around 3500 BC, Charles Freeman follows the history of the Mediterranean over a span of four millennia to AD 600, beyond the fall of the Roman empire in the West to the emergence of the Byzantine empire in the East. The author examines the art, architecture, philosophy, literature, and religious practices of each culture, set against its social, political, and economic background. Especially striking are the readable and stimulating profiles of key individuals throughout the ancient world, covering persons like Homer, Horace, the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and Alexander the Great. The second edition incorporates new chapters on the ancient Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East, as well as extended coverage of Egypt. Egypt, Greece and Rome is a superb introduction for anyone seeking a better understanding of the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean and their legacy to the West.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the second edition of what was an excellent book in its first edition, and is now stronger and even more useful ... If you did not add the first edition to your school or college library, I recommend that you do so. If you did, the second edition should still beckon you to include it. The Journal of Classics Teaching When Deborah James reviewed the first edition of this book for JACT in 1997 she said "it beats with the pulse of modern scholarship on the ancient Mediterranean" and drew attention among other merits to the way in which the presentation of the great civilizations in this book enabled the reader to view events in context. This remains one of the great strengths of the book, and with this strength there goes the author's ability to write with skill, precision and vividness for a wide audience. The Journal of Classics Teaching

About the Author

Charles Freeman has taught ancient history in Cambridge's Adult Education program and leads study tours of Italy for the Historical Association. He is the author of The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason.

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (April 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199263647
• ISBN-13: 978-0199263646
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > History > Ancient > Africa
  • #23 in Books > History > Ancient > Egypt
  • #37 in Books > History > Ancient > Greece

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Egypt, Greece, Rome, February 23, 2006

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean (Paperback)

This book was one of the required texts for a course I took on ancient history. Egypt, Greece and Rome was the perfect text, because the book reads as a narrative; nothing in Charles Freeman's book is boring or dry. It covers Mesopotamia from 5000 BC up through the emergence of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth century AD. This book is the key to understanding ancient history, and I highly reccomend it.

Plus, there are a number of black and white and full-color plates, plus some in-text drawings and maps.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gateway to the Ancient World, September 12, 2005

By 

W. Koehnsen Berry "aspiring polymath" (Northeast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean (Paperback)

Charles Freeman's work, Egypt, Greece and Rome, is a long and ambitious work, intended as an undergraduate introductory text as well as a text for the layman. Works of this size and scope (over 600 pages of text and illustrations covering the Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Persian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman civilizations as well as some others) tend to leave the reader breathless as they jump from one important topic and time period to another. This is not the case with Freeman's work. He wisely juxtaposes the overviews of civilizations with interludes that highlight a small part of the civilization in greater detail.

For example, between Chapter 14 ("Religion in the Greek World") and Chapter 15 ("Athens: Democracy and Empire") is an interlude titled "The Classical Age in Art." This short section discusses the golden age of art in ancient Greece, and brings us to the modern age briefly as the art historian Johann Winckelmann is discussed in relation to his views on the age. ("Winckelmann claimed that the `sublimity' of Classical art was the result of the atmosphere of liberty and exuberance which followed the Persian Wars" 244.)

The text is very accessible, and has a generous bibliography at the end of each chapter in case one wants more. Recommended highly as an introduction to the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent read in ancient history, October 8, 2007

By 

M. Pyra (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean (Paperback)

This is a great intro book on ancient civilizations around the mediterranean. While the subtitle is Egypt, Greece & Rome, the author goes into other, older and more distant cultures as well. The chapters are short and leisurely - you get a good feel for each section without being buried in details.