The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World

The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World PDF Author: Howard Hayes Scullard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers a full picture of the elephant in the Graeco-Roman world, featuring contemporary accounts of elephants performing on the battlefield. The author first traces the natural history of the elephant and then evaluates the references to elephants in the works of Ctesias, Aristotle, and other early writers. He shows the animal in action under Alexander the Great and his successors, under the Carthaginians, and under Hannibal, describing how they were captured and trained and how they were dealt with by opposing armies. He discusses what later writers such as Pliny, Aelian, and Ammianus knew about elephants, and he concludes with an account of the animals' roles in such peacetime activities as circuses and ceremonies.--From publisher's description.

The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World

The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World PDF Author: Howard Hayes Scullard
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers a full picture of the elephant in the Graeco-Roman world, featuring contemporary accounts of elephants performing on the battlefield. The author first traces the natural history of the elephant and then evaluates the references to elephants in the works of Ctesias, Aristotle, and other early writers. He shows the animal in action under Alexander the Great and his successors, under the Carthaginians, and under Hannibal, describing how they were captured and trained and how they were dealt with by opposing armies. He discusses what later writers such as Pliny, Aelian, and Ammianus knew about elephants, and he concludes with an account of the animals' roles in such peacetime activities as circuses and ceremonies.--From publisher's description.

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants PDF Author: Garrett Ryan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1633887030
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why didn't the ancient Greeks or Romans wear pants? How did they shave? How likely were they to drink fine wine, use birth control, or survive surgery? In a series of short and humorous essays, Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants explores some of the questions about the Greeks and Romans that ancient historian Garrett Ryan has answered in the classroom and online. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to: How tall were the ancient Greeks and Romans? How long did they live? What kind of pets did they have? How dangerous were their cities? Did they believe their myths? Did they believe in ghosts, monsters, and/or aliens? Did they jog or lift weights? How did they capture animals for the Colosseum? Were there secret police, spies, or assassins? What happened to the city of Rome after the Empire collapsed? Can any families trace their ancestry back to the Greeks or Romans?

Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome

Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome PDF Author: George Jennison
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN:
Category : Games
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome" is a complete and comprehensive investigation of the rise, function, and pageantry of wild and domesticated animals as household pets and as fodder for entertainment in the Roman world.

Egypt, Greece, and Rome

Egypt, Greece, and Rome PDF Author: Charles Freeman
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199263647
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 734

Get Book Here

Book Description
Publisher description

Blacks in Antiquity

Blacks in Antiquity PDF Author: Frank M. Snowden
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674076266
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

Get Book Here

Book Description
Investigates the participation of black Africans, usually referred to as "Ethiopians," by the Greek and Romans, in classical civilization, concluding that they were accepted by pagans and Christians without prejudice.

War Elephants

War Elephants PDF Author: John M. Kistler
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803260047
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
Elephants have fought in human armies for more than three thousand years. This is the largely forgotten tale of the credit they deserve and the sacrifices they endured.

The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins

The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins PDF Author: Karsten Dahmen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134159706
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Get Book Here

Book Description
This outstanding introductory survey collects, presents and examines, for the very first time, the portraits and representations of Alexander the Great on the ancient coins of the Greek and Roman period. From 320 BC to AD 400, Karsten Dahmen examines not only Alexander’s own coinage and the posthumous coinages of his successors, but also the re-use of his image by rulers from the Greek world and the Roman empire, to late antiquity. Also including numismatic material that exceeds all previous published works, and well-illustrated, this historical survey brings Alexander and his legacy to life.

Ancient Literacy

Ancient Literacy PDF Author: William V. HARRIS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674038371
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 406

Get Book Here

Book Description
How many people could read and write in the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans? No one has previously tried to give a systematic answer to this question. Most historians who have considered the problem at all have given optimistic assessments, since they have been impressed by large bodies of ancient written material such as the graffiti at Pompeii. They have also been influenced by a tendency to idealize the Greek and Roman world and its educational system. In Ancient Literacy W. V. Harris provides the first thorough exploration of the levels, types, and functions of literacy in the classical world, from the invention of the Greek alphabet about 800 B.C. down to the fifth century A.D. Investigations of other societies show that literacy ceases to be the accomplishment of a small elite only in specific circumstances. Harris argues that the social and technological conditions of the ancient world were such as to make mass literacy unthinkable. Noting that a society on the verge of mass literacy always possesses an elaborate school system, Harris stresses the limitations of Greek and Roman schooling, pointing out the meagerness of funding for elementary education. Neither the Greeks nor the Romans came anywhere near to completing the transition to a modern kind of written culture. They relied more heavily on oral communication than has generally been imagined. Harris examines the partial transition to written culture, taking into consideration the economic sphere and everyday life, as well as law, politics, administration, and religion. He has much to say also about the circulation of literary texts throughout classical antiquity. The limited spread of literacy in the classical world had diverse effects. It gave some stimulus to critical thought and assisted the accumulation of knowledge, and the minority that did learn to read and write was to some extent able to assert itself politically. The written word was also an instrument of power, and its use was indispensable for the construction and maintenance of empires. Most intriguing is the role of writing in the new religious culture of the late Roman Empire, in which it was more and more revered but less and less practiced. Harris explores these and related themes in this highly original work of social and cultural history. Ancient Literacy is important reading for anyone interested in the classical world, the problem of literacy, or the history of the written word.

Early Greece

Early Greece PDF Author: Oswyn Murray
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674221321
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book Here

Book Description
Murray traces the emergence of urbanisation and social and political structures from the Mycenean and legendary origins of Greece through to the Persian Wars.

The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest

The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest PDF Author: M. M. Austin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139455796
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 660

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Hellenistic period began with the considerable expansion of the Greek world through the Macedonian conquest of the Persian empire and ended with Rome becoming the predominant political force in that world. This new and enlarged edition of Michel Austin's seminal work provides a panoramic view of this world through the medium of ancient sources. It now comprises over three hundred texts from literary, epigraphic and papyrological sources which are presented in original translations and supported by introductory sections, detailed notes and references, chronological tables, maps, illustrations of coins, and a full analytical index. The first edition has won widespread admiration since its publication in 1981. Updated with reference to the most recent scholarship on the subject, this new edition will prove invaluable for the study of a period which has received increasing recognition.