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Topic: Reference Book on Greek & Roman Society Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 07:42 |
Hi,
I want to read a history book on Greek and Roman politics, science, and geography, but I can't find a good book that covers all of those aspects. I know next to nothing about the "history book market" so I don't know where to start looking.
Can you help me find a good book that accurately covers the aforementioned subjects?
Thank you.
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Tore The Dog
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Joined: 08-Feb-2008
Location: Sweden
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Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 08:59 |
Originally posted by Balfar
Hi,
I want to read a history book on Greek and Roman politics, science, and geography, but I can't find a good book that covers all of those aspects. I know next to nothing about the "history book market" so I don't know where to start looking.
Can you help me find a good book that accurately covers the aforementioned subjects?
Thank you.
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Well these 2 links will provied you whit names , so you can search on the subject you whant.
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Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 10:05 |
Actually, that makes a lot more sense than going out and buying books. Thanks for the links. :D
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dexippus
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Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 10:24 |
The encyclopedic Oxford Classical Dictionary is the gold standard. It covers just about everything under the sun: politics, people, places, technology, battles, literature, philosophy, etc. You can usually pick up a used one for about $50. Make sure you get the revised edition, edited by Hornblower, as it is much more up to date and reflect current scholarship.
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Tore The Dog
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Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 12:10 |
Originally posted by Balfar
Actually, that makes a lot more sense than going out and buying books. Thanks for the links. :D |
If you have a name and title ? go to a library and borrow ? i can do this in Gothenburg Chalmers Univercity , if they dont have ? they gett the book , and those E-Books ? is for you to choose good ? bad ?
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Parnell
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Posted: 09-Mar-2008 at 12:29 |
Originally posted by Tore The Dog
Originally posted by Balfar
Hi,
I want to read a history book on Greek and Roman politics, science, and geography, but I can't find a good book that covers all of those aspects. I know next to nothing about the "history book market" so I don't know where to start looking.
Can you help me find a good book that accurately covers the aforementioned subjects?
Thank you.
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Well these 2 links will provied you whit names , so you can search on the subject you whant.
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Thanks, they are very good sites
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Posted: 10-Mar-2008 at 01:47 |
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Roman World is good for Roman society.
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Aster Thrax Eupator
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Posted: 10-Mar-2008 at 10:02 |
H.H. Scullard - "a history of the Roman world", Routledge. It's divided up into two books - 753-164 BC and "From the Gracchi to Nero". It does speak about the Greeks and Diadochi, but from a Roman perspective. I found it fascinating all round. Then again there's Robin Lane Fox's "the classical world", which is an excellent read, the cambride companions to various areas of history and of course, the sources themselves - have a read of Herodotus 1-4 for a general "feel" for Greece, read some Greek tragedies for information about morals, read books V-VII of Plato's republic, Polybius's histories (any bits that take your fancy) and then read some Titus Livy. That will give you a good overview from primary sources. It's really very hard to answer this question - I think one just has to copiously read as much as they can to get the general idea - I have no classical education (well I've started a classics course recently at college) yet I've gained my (admittedly quite good) knowledge of the period through just reading as much as I can. My starter for 10 would be don't neglect primary sources in this endevour of yours.
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kilroy
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Posted: 16-Mar-2008 at 18:57 |
Moved to literary pursuits.
All of the books listed are excellent resources, i actually own many of them. I would like to mention again the Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD). However, even though it IS the best resource for this era, I wouldn't recommend purchasing it unless you plan on serious research. There are other good resources that cost much less than even a used OCD. Although i got lucky. I got my OCD off amazon new for 40 $ instead of the list price of 125.
A few i would recommend for someone starting out would be Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. By Lesley and Roy A. Adkins. Another book like this would be Daily Life in Ancient Rome. by Jerome Carcopino. These two books are good for getting your feet wet without spending to much.
Don't forget to check out the thread, "Ancient Greek/Roman Literature Sources." Has tons of great links to primary and secondary sources you can check out for free.
http://www.allempires.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=628
On that note, i'd like to back Aster up on one of his points. Don't forget the primary sources. They're easy to find for free on the net. Most are translated into English and they can be very entertaining.
-kilroy
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Kilroy was here.
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Aster Thrax Eupator
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Posted: 16-Mar-2008 at 21:17 |
Another book like this would be Daily Life in Ancient Rome. by Jerome Carcopino. |
That is a truly excellent book, although a little dated. However, this is probably the best you're going to get, and Carcopino was and still is one of the best authorities on this subject.
There's also...the...cambrige...ancient...history. Which is...huge....
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