The Roman Republic: The History and Legacy of Ancient Rome’s Rise to Power

History

Charles RIver Editors

Ancient Civilizations

Independently published

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Rome was a poem pressed into service as a city." In that short line, Anatole Broyard, a 20th century American writer, compactly captures the timeless and enchanting beauty that resides within the Eternal City of Rome. This tourist destination is often one of the highest ranked on bucket lists, for how could one not want to experience its marvelous ruins, mirror-like rivers, and spectacular stretches of aqueducts firsthand? As one sips on fine Italian wine on a terrace overlooking the grand remnants of the Colosseum, one can practically hear the roars of the battling gladiators and the raucous applause of the spectators. And as one strolls through the coarse, yet quaint cobblestone streets, one can almost hear the galloping horses and screeching wheels of chariots in the distance, and even feel the brush of the breeze as they charge past. It is difficult not to fall in love with a city so effortlessly nostalgic it verges on utopian. The ambitious and fearless emperors that built the legendary Roman Empire from scratch, the broad-shouldered and bronzed gladiators with their iconic plume helmets and glinting swords, and elaborate parties attended by toga-wearing Romans fueled by alcohol, violence, orgies, and other godless acts all paint a picture of Roman life. Indeed, many people are well-versed with these unique scenes of Roman history, but few are familiar with the equally riveting years preceding the dawn of the Roman Republic, and even less people are acquainted with the fabled Seven Hills sitting east of the Tiber River - the core geographical components of Rome, and the very foundations that the Eternal City was built on. The study of Roman history is usually divided into three distinct phases: the time of the Kings, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. Roman tradition dated the foundation of Rome to 753 BCE, and this first period of its history ended with the overthrow of King Tarquinius Superbus in 510 BCE. There is very little remaining historical evidence pertaining to this period, so much of what is known is at best legend, possibly based on varying degrees of historical fact. Archaeology has uncovered some details that do tie in with the myths and stories from the era, but by and large it is a period about which little is definitively known. The period of the Roman Republic, generally dated from 509-27 BCE, is an entirely different matter. There is significant documentation that enables historians to analyze how Rome cemented its position within the Italian peninsula before pushing ever outward to create the new provinces that formed the core of the vast Roman Empire in the third phase that came to dominate all of Europe for so long. The period of the Republic saw those with the emerging powers having to grapple with new political situations, the administration of a diverse domain while contending with political disorder at home, commercial and financial expansion, and complex issues of land distribution, the role of the military, new ideas in religion, and the emergence of new class systems. These years were certainly vibrant and laid the foundations of such characteristics as Roman discipline and the ability to adapt, as well as witnessing the formation of its political structure. The unique farmer-soldier society evolved to the extent that a few Roman citizens were able to dominate their world and time. It was not a tranquil era, but it was one in which those interested in new ideas and philosophies could thrive, and in which the conflicts between the aspirations of the great Roman philosophers and the pragmatically minded senior political and military figures drove the formation of the Roman state and provided the bedrock for its success.

Nueva Ámsterdam y Nueva York británica: la historia de la ciudad de Nueva York como una posesión colonial antes de la guerra revolucionaria (Spanish Edition)

Americas

The Incense Trade Route: The History of the Rise and Fall of an Ancient Global Economy

Asia

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "The trade with Arabia and India in incense and spices became increasingly important, and Greeks for the first time began to trade directly with India. The discovery, or rediscovery, of the sea-route to India is attributed to a certain Eudoxos, who was sent out for this purpose towards the end of the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes II (died 116 BC). Eudoxos made two voyages to India, and subsequently, having quarrelled with his Ptolemaic employers, perished in an unsuccessful attempt to open up an alternative sea route to India, free of Ptolemaic control, by sailing around Africa. The establishment of direct contacts between Egypt and India was probably made possible by a weakening of Arab power at this period, for the Sabaean kingdom of South-western Arabia collapsed and was replaced by Himyarite Kingdom around 115 BC. Imports into Egypt of cinnamon and other eastern spices, such as pepper, increased substantially, though the Indian Ocean trade remained for the moment on quite a small scale, no more than twenty Egyptian ships venturing outside the Red Sea each year." - John Donnelly Fage The history of the ancient incense trade routes often falls victim to the excitement of the stories of important men and women, as well as the conquest and empire building that constantly changed the organization of the ancient world. Yet the importance of these interlocking trade networks and the economies built around them cannot be denied. Ancient sources clearly delineate the immense demand for frankincense and myrrh, and later other spices and exotic products, that spanned for over a millennium, peaking between the 4th century BCE and the 2nd century CE Even the Christian Bible indicates the importance of these commodities. It tells that the three men who came to visit Christ from the East brought their most valuable gifts; frankincense, myrrh, and gold. Trade ports and international emporiums developed, which would not be rivaled again until the modern era, and ancient civilizations rose and fell on the interconnected economy that was built around the trade. The most obvious of these is the great Roman Republic and Empire, which used customs taxes on luxury products along the incense route to subsidize its expensive costs of maintenance. It was a system that allowed Rome to reach the very heights of prosperity and extravagance, but also one that ultimately contributed to the decline and fall of one of the strongest kingdoms in history. An investigation into the history of the incense trade is of particular interest considering the parallels that exist between the past and the world economy of the present day. The Incense Trade Route: The History of the Rise and Fall of an Ancient Global Economy looks at the development of this crucial trade, and its impact on antiquity. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the incense trade like never before.

World

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading “I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more...I swear by God, in Whose power I am, that all I have written is the truth.” – Francisco Álvares In the Lasta Mountains of northern Ethiopia, high on an arid plateau in the foothills, the settlement of Lalibela slumbered for centuries as little more than a pilgrimage site at the end of a long and weary footpath. The ancient trade routes between the Eritrean coast and the central highland redoubts that would later coalesce as the imperial capital of Addis Ababa passed fifty miles to the east of Lalibela, and from the early thirteenth century, after the passing of Gebre Mesqel Lalibela himself, the site slipped into decline. The focus of imperial government shifted south, under the influence of successive emperors, as the holy sites of Roha faded from the popular consciousness. Only the occasional band of pilgrims made the journey over the rugged mountain passes, and across the waterless high valleys to repose at the mythical site, now known only to a handful of faithful acolytes. The site first came to European attention when it was visited in the early 16th century by the Portuguese explorer Pêro da Covilhã, who struck inland from Zeila on the Somali coast in a quest for the legendary Kingdom of Prester John. He was received by the Emperor Eskender, but he was effectively held a prisoner in Ethiopia for 30 years. During that time, he visited and briefly recorded his impressions of Lalibela. Also in search of the Kingdom of Prester John was the Portuguese missionary Francisco Álvares, who arrived in Ethiopia in 1515 as part of an ambassadorial mission authorized by the Portuguese King Manuel I. There, in the court of the Emperor Dawit II, he met numerous sundry Europeans, including Pêro da Covilhã, and Nicolò Brancaleon, the Venetian painter who settled in Ethiopia in 1480 and whose artistic influence remains visible in ecclesiastical imagery all over the country. It was Alvarez who described in detail the monuments of Lalibela in his exhaustive travelogue, A True Relation of the Lands of Prester John of the Indies. The explorer wrote, “At a day's journey from this church of Imbra Christo are edifices, the like of which and so many, cannot, as it appears to me, be found in the world. They are churches entirely excavated in the rock, very well hewn. The names of these churches are these: Emanuel, St. Saviour, St. Mary, Holy Cross, St. George, Golgotha, Bethlehem, Marcoreos, the Martyrs. The principal one is Lalibela. This Lalibela, they say, was a King in this same country for eighty years, and he was King before the one before mentioned who was named Abraham. This King ordered these edifices to be made. He does not lie in the church which bears his name, he lies in the church of Golgotha, which is the church of the fewest buildings here.” By the dawn of the 17th century, Portuguese influence in Africa fell into decline, and the occasions of European contact with Ethiopia became very few and far between. It would be another three centuries before another European would venture into the holy precincts of Lalibela as part of a British military expedition mounted in 1867. Thus, the “rediscovery” of the remarkable churches and the story of Christianity in Ethiopia would only be recently written. The Lalibela Churches: The History and Legacy of the Medieval Cave Churches in Ethiopia chronicles the remarkable construction and history of the churches. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the Lalibela Churches like never before.

The Lalibela Churches: The History and Legacy of the Medieval Cave Churches in Ethiopia

Religion & Spirituality

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "Mr President, I wish to tell you something personal - not about me, but about my generation. What you have just heard about the Jewish people's inherent rights to the Land of Israel may seem academic to you, theoretical, even moot. But not to my generation. To my generation of Jews, these eternal bonds are indisputable and incontrovertible truths, as old as recorded time." - Menachem Begin "We don't need legitimacy. We exist. Therefore we are legitimate." - Menachem Begin The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is over 70 years old and counting but has its roots in over 2,000 years of history. With so much time and history, the Middle East peace process has become laden with unique, politically sensitive concepts like the right of return, contiguous borders, secure borders, demilitarized zones, and security requirements, with players like the Quartet, Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Hamas, the Arab League and Israel. Over time, it has become exceedingly difficult for even sophisticated political pundits and followers to keep track of it all. Israel has rarely reached agreements with its neighbors, and when it did so at the end of the 1970s, it was accomplished by a prime minister who was one of the nation's most famous military officers. After the Yom Kippur War, President Jimmy Carter's administration sought to establish a peace process that would settle the conflict in the Middle East, while also reducing Soviet influence in the region. On September 17, 1978, after secret negotiations at the presidential retreat Camp David, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty between the two nations, in which Israel ceded the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for a normalization of relations, making Egypt the first Arab adversary to officially recognize Israel. Carter also tried to create a peace process that would settle the rest of the conflict vis-à-vis the Israelis and Palestinians, but it never got off the ground. For the Camp David Accords, Begin and Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize. Begin had once been a leader of the paramilitary group Irgun, while Sadat had succeeded Nasser. Ultimately, the peace treaty may have cost Sadat his life: he was assassinated in 1981 by fundamentalist military officers during a victory parade. Menachem Begin: The Life and Legacy of the Irgun Leader Who Became Israel's Prime Minister looks at how Begin rose the ranks through militias and governments to become one of the Jewish State's most consequential leaders. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Begin like never before.

Menachem Begin: The Life and Legacy of the Irgun Leader Who Became Israel’s Prime Minister

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Europe

Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat: The Lives and Careers of the Leaders Who Made Peace Between Israel and Egypt

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