The phenomenon, known as "euergetism", is one of the most striking features of the ancient world. It can be seen as a form of altruism, civic pride or wealth redistribution, a means of buying honour, prestige or political power, yet one thing is clear: it was long regarded as a duty and privilege of the wealthy to benefit their fellow citizens. To understand why, suggests Professor Veyne, we need to forget about abstract theories and modern economics. Rather, we should examine what really happened before the Christian era in Hellenistic Greece and the Rome of the Republic and the Emperors.

Bread and Circuses: Historical Sociology and Political Pluralism

History

VEYNE, PAUL

Ancient Civilizations

Penguin??Books

Located northeast of Damascus, in an oasis surrounded by palms and two mountain ranges, the ancient city of Palmyra has the aura of myth. According to the Bible, the city was built by Solomon. Regardless of its actual origins, it was an influential city, serving for centuries as a caravan stop for those crossing the Syrian Desert. It became a Roman province under Tiberius and served as the most powerful commercial center in the Middle East between the first and the third centuries CE. But when the citizens of Palmyra tried to break away from Rome, they were defeated, marking the end of the city’s prosperity. The magnificent monuments from that earlier era of wealth, a resplendent blend of Greco-Roman architecture and local influences, stretched over miles and were among the most significant buildings of the ancient world—until the arrival of ISIS. In 2015, ISIS fought to gain control of the area because it was home to a prison where many members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood had been held, and ISIS went on to systematically destroy the city and murder many of its inhabitants, including the archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, the antiquities director of Palymra. In this concise and elegiac book, Paul Veyne, one of Palymra’s most important experts, offers a beautiful and moving look at the history of this significant lost city and why it was—and still is—important. Today, we can appreciate the majesty of Palmyra only through its pictures and stories, and this book offers a beautifully illustrated memorial that also serves as a lasting guide to a cultural treasure.

Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

University of Chicago Press

Located northeast of Damascus, in an oasis surrounded by palms and two mountain ranges, the ancient city of Palmyra has the aura of myth. According to the Bible, the city was built by Solomon. Regardless of its actual origins, it was an influential city, serving for centuries as a caravan stop for those crossing the Syrian Desert. It became a Roman province under Tiberius and served as the most powerful commercial center in the Middle East between the first and the third centuries CE. But when the citizens of Palmyra tried to break away from Rome, they were defeated, marking the end of the city’s prosperity. The magnificent monuments from that earlier era of wealth, a resplendent blend of Greco-Roman architecture and local influences, stretched over  miles and were among the most significant buildings of the ancient world—until the arrival of ISIS. In 2015, ISIS fought to gain control of the area because it was home to a prison where many members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood had been held, and ISIS went on to systematically destroy the city and murder many of its inhabitants, including the archaeologist Khaled al-Asaad, the antiquities director of Palymra. In this concise and elegiac book, Paul Veyne, one of Palymra’s most important experts, offers a beautiful and moving look at the history of this significant lost city and why it was—and still is—important. Today, we can appreciate the majesty of Palmyra only through its pictures and stories, and this book offers a beautifully illustrated memorial that also serves as a lasting guide to a cultural treasure.

Mapping Nature across the Americas

Roman Erotic Elegy: Love, Poetry and the West (English and French Edition)

Literature & Fiction

Univ of Chicago Pr

Paperback. Wrappers are edge worn and curled.

Roman Erotic Elegy: Love, Poetry, and the West (English and French Edition)

Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?: An Essay on the Constitutive Imagination

Religion & Spirituality

"[Veyne's] present book has some kinship with his sprightly theoretical work Comment on ecrit l'histoire; and he declares that its aim was to provoke reflection on the way our conception of truth is built up and changes over the centuries. . . . The style is brilliant and exhilarating."—Jasper Griffin, Times Literary Supplement

Seneca: The Life of a Stoic

First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &amp; Francis, an informa company.

Seneca

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Routledge

This compact book--which appeared earlier in the multivolume series A History of Private Life--is a history of the Roman Empire in pagan times. It is an interpretation setting forth in detail the universal civilization of the Romans―so much of it Hellenic―that later gave way to Christianity.

The Roman Empire

Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by VEYNE, PAUL. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by VEYNE, PAUL

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by VEYNE, PAUL. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bread and Circuses: Historical Sociology and Political Pluralism

Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure

Mapping Nature across the Americas

Roman Erotic Elegy: Love, Poetry and the West (English and French Edition)

Roman Erotic Elegy: Love, Poetry, and the West (English and French Edition)

Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?: An Essay on the Constitutive Imagination

Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths?: An Essay on the Constitutive Imagination

Seneca

Seneca: The Life of a Stoic

The Roman Empire