Ecology in ancient civilizations

by J. Donald Hughes

From The Preface: This book is intended to serve as an introduction to the environmental history of the ancient world, and is written for the general reader and student rather than the specialist. I... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826303676
• ISBN13: 9780826303677
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 181 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Dated, but a good start

This book was written in the late 1970's when conciousness of the potential for human caused environmental disasters was still penetrating the general public. It is an accessable scholarly work on the tremendous impact of classical (Greek and Roman) civilizations had on the fragile ecology of the Mediterranean. The Greeks and Romans caused tremendous erosion on hillsides throughout their territory from which the Mediterranean and nearby arid regions still has not recovered. They irrigated large areas that became waterlogged and salinized. They changed the Mediterranean ecosystems from what must have appeared as a wonderful primitive garden of Eden into something much less appealing. We would do well to take heed and take warning.