The Oxford History of the Classical World

Book Overview

The history, achievements, and enduring legacies of Greek and Roman antiquity come to life in the pages of this comprehensive and beautifully illustrated volume. Following a format similar to that of The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, the book brings together the work of thirty outstanding authorities and organizes their contributions into three main sections. The first section covers Greece from the eighth to the fourth centuries B.C., a...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198721129
• ISBN13: 9780198721123
• Release Date: July 1986
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 892 Pages
• Weight: 4.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 7.4" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Expanding Classics

This work, contrary to the comments of other readers, is an invaluable introduction to and comment on ancient history. As an Oxford student I have first-hand knowledge of many of the contributors and I can tell you that they represent some of the architects of modern classical study. A criticism of this book is that it doesn't contain much information on the 'famous' incidents, and spends too much time on 'obscure' areas and peoples in Italy. This is like the opinion of a 1950s classicist who spends too much time reading Caesar and is ignorant of the fact the Classics and Ancient History are disciplines that extend beyond Catiline and the Gracchi. There are books about the fact that we don't know who Draco is (see below), but what we do know is on page 31 (and anyway he doesn't belong to the Classical world, rather the pre-Archaic Dark Ages). This book is an enormously helpful and balanced work, beneficial to the beginner and the advanced student (both of which I have been while in the this book's company).

The Best Single Volume Classical History Available

A fine book considered by many scholars to be the best single volume history of the classical world. The first twelve chapters provide a comprehensive overview of ancient Greece -- its history, literature, philosophy, religion, and art. The next nine chapters describe the Hellenistic Period and the emergence of the Roman Republic. The final eleven chapters concern the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Each chapter concludes with a detailed list of suggested books for further reading. An essential book for anyone interested in classical history and culture.