Virgil has been claimed as an ancestor by partisans of recent centuries: he has been seen as forerunner of Christianity, as a gentle `national poet' following World War II, as a kindred spirit for opponents of the Vietnam War, and recently as a critic of man's damage to the natural environment. However, most - except the young - feel that Virgil was not often concerned to express support for Octavian-Augustus. This near-consensus of literary critics rests on the tendency of political historians to skim the period between 44 and 31BC, and thus to ignore most aspects of Octavian's contemporary reputation. This book applies a historian's eye to the poetry of Virgil's work. It challenges the orthodoxy that Virgil was a faithful follower of inherited literary genre. It attends closely to his deviations from poetic tradition, and argues that - after the eclogues - those deviations form a pattern: Virgil has identified, addressed and sought to palliate, structurally and on a grand scale, the ugliest and most damaging aspects of Octavian's reputation. His Aeneas steals the clothes of Octavian's most powerful and popular opponent, a man - unlike Mark Antony - little noticed by modern historians. This study insists on the need to combine scholarly disciplines: to argue closely from Virgil's Latin, and from Greek literary genre - and to inform such arguments with a knowledge of ancient political writing and of contemporary coinage. The Virgil who emerges is a more purposive, bloodstained and courageous individual than most have wished to see. Powell's book aims to become a reference for all those who address - in whatever spirit - the question whether Virgil was deeply engaged in the politics of his time.

Nine contributions demonstrate that the appearance of simplicity in Julius Caesar's writings is achieved through subtle skill in the selection of style, language and content, which promotes Caesar and downplays Roman enemies. Contents: The publication of De Bello Gallico (T. P. Wiseman); Ratio and Romanitas in the Bellum Gallicum (L. G. H. Hall); The Logos of Caesar's Bellum Gallicum (Catherine Torigian); C. E. Stevens and the tradition on Caesar the propagandist (Barbara Levick_; Caesar and his officers in the Gallic War commentaries (Kathryn Welch); Caesar and the presentation of massacre (Anton Powell); Noble Gauls and their other in Caesar's propaganda (Jonathan Barlow); Caesar's portrayal of Gauls as warriors (Louis Rawlings) and 'Instinctive genius': The depiction of Caesar the general (Adrian Goldsworthy).

Crucial to the understanding of Athenian literature and the political history of numerous Greek states, the history of Sparta is, at last, receiving due attention. Here are fourteen original pieces of archaeological research from eminent scholars Han van Wees, Jean Ducat, H.W. Singor, Nicolas Richer, Ephraim David, Stephen Hodkinson, Nigel Kennell, Thomas Figueira, Massimo Nafissi, P-J Shaw, Paul Cartledge, Noreen Humble, Ellen Greenstein Millender and Anton Powell, first presented at a conference in Hay-on-Wye in September 1997.

Instructs readers not just about the geography and history of ancient peoples, but how geography and history influenced daily life, language and lore, and art and architecture for bygone civilizations.

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Depicts the civilization and culture of ancient Greece, including its art, literature, religion, and social and military life.

Presents a 'special edition' of a Greek newspaper which spans the years 1500 to 146 B.C. and contains articles about history, politics, feasts, fashions, theater, gods, and wars

Suggests five walking tours of London, describes historic sights, restaurants, and points of interest along each route, and includes advice on accommodations, entertainment, dining, and shopping

In the past twenty years the study of Sparta has come of age. Images prevalent earlier in the 20th century, of Spartans as hearty good fellows or scarlet-cloaked automata, have been superseded by more complex scholarly reactions. As interest has grown in the self-images projected by this most secretive of Greek cities, increasing attention has focused on how individual Greek writers from other states reacted to information, or disinformation about Sparta.The studies in this volume provide new insights into the traditional historians' question, "What actually happened at Sparta?". But the implications of the work go far beyond Laconia. They concern preoccupations of some of the most studied of Greek writers, and help towards an understanding of how Athenians defined the achievment, or the failure, of their own city.

Traces the history of ancient Greece and discusses the development of its culture

Traces the growth and spread of the Islamic civilization from the time of Muhammad's revelation in the seventh century A.D. through the sixteenth century

Traces the important developments that occurred during the Italian Renaissance and highlights achievements in trade and exploration, art, architecture, science, and medicine