The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian 1st Edition

by Robin Lane Fox (Author)

33 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0465024964

ISBN-10: 0465024963

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The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics--these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Augustus. From the Peloponnesian War through the creation of Athenian democracy, from the turbulent empire of Alexander the Great to the creation of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Christianity, Robin Lane Fox serves as our witty and trenchant guide. He introduces us to extraordinary heroes and horrific villains, great thinkers and blood-thirsty tyrants. Throughout this vivid tour of two of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known, we remain in the hands of a great master.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Framing this history of the classical world as he imagines the second-century Emperor Hadrian (who traveled the classical world and had a "classicizing mind") would have done, this scintillating survey seeks to understand Greek and Roman civilizations on their own terms. Oxford historian Fox (Alexander the Great) structures his study around the ancient concepts of freedom, justice and luxury, as they evolved from Homeric literature onward. The story arranges itself around two poles: democratic Athens, of which, for all its flaws, Fox is an unabashed partisan, and Rome, whose fatally unequal republic declined into the grotesque tyranny of the early empire. This intellectual framework provides an interpretive skeleton for a loosely structured, well-paced narrative history. (One disappointment, a major one for an "epic history," is Fox's sketchy, montage-like treatment of military campaigns.) Into the story the author weaves insightful passages on art, religion, technology, marriage and the prominent role of homosexuality in classical culture, along with set-piece profiles of statesmen and thinkers from Pericles to Plato to Pliny. Fox is a fluent, perceptive color commentator on the pageant of ancient history, while giving readers some idea of where the parade was headed. 71 b&w illus.; 10 maps. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Fox, the author of numerous works on classical civilization, is a masterful writer whose elegant but highly readable prose offers an evolving portrait of Greek and Roman culture over a period of roughly 900 years. Although he utilizes a broadly chronological approach, Fox goes well beyond the usual, dreary narrative of battles, dynastic changes, and political conflicts that often characterize surveys of the period. Instead, Fox focuses on the gradual development and transformation of various cultural aspects of Greek and Roman societies, and he discusses in often fascinating detail topics that are normally given short shrift in general histories. For example, he provides an excellent analysis of the social and political conditions influencing the "overseas" Greek polities, in Sicily, southern Italy, and Ionia. He examines puzzling historical problems such as Hannibal's failure to win the support of Italian client peoples who unexpectedly remained loyal to Rome during the Second Punic War. This is an excellent work of scholarship and literature and will be a valuable addition to ancient-history collections. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product details

Hardcover: 672 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (October 9, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465024963
ISBN-13: 978-0465024964
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.5 x 9.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 33 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #505,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #801 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Ancient
- #1082 in Books > History > World > Civilization & Culture
- #3265 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations

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If You Were To Buy Just One Classical History...Well...

January 9, 2011

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Robin Lane Fox has gathered the ancient world, from Homer to Hadrian, and parlayed it into 600 pages of perfection. It is the story of ancient Greece and beyond forward to about 200 AD, the time of the greatest expansion of the Roman Empire. Within that timeframe are perfectly lucid, commonsense, descriptions of the wars of Alexander, the eruption of Vesuvius, gladiatorial games, the rise of Christianity, the fall of the Judio-Claudians and their mad emperors, and...well you get the picture.

What sets this book apart from the rest (aside from the most fantastic bibliography) is the completely accessible writing style which allows the reader to view the development of Western Civilization as a story that actually can be grasped as a whole. Each topic of each chapter can, and has, spawned a thousand books but the good professor never seems in a hurry when writing and never seems out to impress, but rather seems to want to make sure that he has patiently explained some rather convoluted ideas. If you have been a fan of Greek or Roman history or just like to real historical novels of this time period, you will find this book essential.

What could easily have been a book too complicated to enjoy becomes a dependable reference into the lives of the ancients. Refreshingly, Mr. Fox seems rather dispassionate about the subject matter. He leaves the joy of discovery to the reader and does not seem to insist on any particular interpretation of the historical facts. He lets the history speak for itself. Great read...couldn't put it down...and I'm much more educated for encountering it. Three thumbs up.

8 people found this helpful

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that is so easy to read

August 6, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I am reading it for the second time......hard to find a single volume on this subject, that is so easy to read, flows, and does not get bogged down in detail which nobody really remembers.....great read!

6 people found this helpful

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The Classical World is an excellent introduction to the ancient world for the general reader

May 21, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Rome was not built in a day. Neither was Athens or Alexandria or your knowledge of the ancient world! "The Classcial World" is a long book with

small print which will give you a good working understanding of the classical world from Homer (8th century BC) to Hadrian the Roman ruler of the second century AD.

Fox is an Oxford Scholar best known for his book on Alexander the Great used by Oliver Stone in his making of the movie "Alexander." In being forced to cover over 900 years of history it is impossible for Fox to cover, in detail, all the political, social, literary and scientific advances made in that near millenium. Rather, Fox gives us a political survey of the times with some social history included. The chapters are short and digestable. We learn of what is what like to live in the Athens of Pericles or the Rome of Julius Caesar. Fox teaches us about blood sports, sexual morality, literature and the complicated politics of the distant past over 40 generations ago. We meet such seminal figures in Western culture as Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Antony and Latin authors such as Tacitus, Virgil, Suetonius as well as Greek historians Herodotus & Thucydides. The philosophy of Plato and Aristotle is explored. We see empires rise and fall. We meet early Christians such as Paul and see the impact of Christianity on the Roman Empire.

This book is written in a plain easy to comprehend style. The book is well illustrated containing good maps. The most interesting section, to this reviewer, was the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of emperors in the first century BC. Emperors from the Julian-Claudian dynasty are fascinating. Caesar, Augusutus; Tiberius; Caligula; Claudius; Nero are well drawn.

Fox says three major themes are apparent in the way ancients looked at the world" Freedom-from Athenian republicanism to the tyranny of Roman emperors; justice issues were important to the ancients as were the role of luxury in life. The Spartan Greeks would have been appalled at the wanton luxury and sybratic lifestyle of the Roman aristocracy.

This book would do well as a basic textbook for Ancient History 101.

11 people found this helpful

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