Ancient Cultures

Ancient Romans liked money. But how did they make a living and sometimes even become rich? The Roman economy was dominated by agriculture, but it was surprisingly modern in many ways: the Romans had companies with CEOs, shareholders, and detailed contracts regulated by meticulous laws; systems of banking and taxation; and a wide range of occupations, from merchant and doctor to architect and teacher. How to Make Money gathers a wide variety of ancient writings that show how Romans thought about, made, invested, spent, lost, and gave away money.

The first time Dieter Schmidt meets Mad Maggie is at a blockade on a logging road. He’s there to threaten the local First Nations band with court action if they don’t allow his client’s heavy equipment access to Deadman’s Island. Maggie emerges from the forest, but rather than chastise the lawyer for his part in trying to replace this unique ecosystem of magnificent old-growth trees with a housing development, she gives him an ultimatum. She will cure his yet-to-be-diagnosed terminal cancer if he saves the trees. Dieter dismisses Maggie's prediction as the delusions of someone ...

The forest is dark and deep and hides its secrets. But to Zack Tolliver, FBI, facts are facts, and myths are not. Sent to investigate a seemingly unrelated series of incidents across a wide swathe of backcountry, he meets Louis, a Tule River Indian tribal member who presents a radical theory: the crimes were all committed by a single perpetrator––a large, hairy hominid.

"The Actual Route of the Gods" is your hilarious, irreverent, and genuinely useful guide to exploring the ancient heartland of Mexico. Inspired this book ditches the glossy platitudes and dives headfirst into the glorious, chaotic, and delicious reality of traveling through Mexico City, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. Join us on a journey from the bustling streets of CDMX, where Aztec ruins peek out from beneath colonial cathedrals, to the pyramid-studded plains of Teotihuacan. We'll help you conquer the magnificent National Anthropology Museum without losing your mind, and guide ...

This history will be of interest to people who know nothing about Japan, but also full of insights for those who do. Lesley Downer takes the listener through the great sweep of Japanese history, focusing on the dramatic stories of larger-than-life individuals—from emperors descended from the Sun Goddess to warlords, samurai, merchants, court ladies, women warriors, geisha, and businessmen who shaped this extraordinary modern society.

In this book in praise of wait times, award-winning author Jason Farman passionately argues that the delay between call and answer has always been an important part of the message. Traveling backward from our current era of Twitter and texts, Farman describes how societies have worked to eliminate waiting in communication and how they have interpreted those times' meanings. And in a rebuttal to the demand for instant communication, Farman makes a powerful case for why good things can come to those who wait.

Step into the world where philosophy wasn’t just a subject—it was a way of life. Where the greatest minds of antiquity collided, and from that clash of ideas, the foundations of Western thought were forged. Philodemus and Sextus: A Dual Exploration of Ancient Thought offers you a front-row seat to the intellectual revolution that bridged Greek wisdom and Roman power. Uncover the timeless teachings of Philodemus, the philosopher who seamlessly wove the intricate tapestry of Greek philosophy into the heart of Roman culture. His Epicurean insights—centered on the pursuit of happiness, ...

Kalidasa: The Great Poet and Playwright of Ancient India is a concise non-fiction book that explores the life and work of one of the most celebrated poets and playwrights in Indian history. Kalidasa's work is known for its beauty, insight, and enduring relevance. His plays and poems are still performed and studied today, and his influence can be seen in a wide range of fields, from literature and art to philosophy and religion. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Kalidasa's body of work, including his famous plays Abhijnanashakuntalam and Vikramōrvaśīyam, as well as his epic ...

Long before books were mass produced, those made of reeds from along the Nile were worth fighting and dying for. Journeying along the battlefields of Alexander the Great, beneath the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, at Cleopatra's palaces and the scene of Hypatia's murder, award-winning author Irene Vallejo chronicles the excitement of literary culture in the ancient world, and the heroic efforts that ensured this impressive tradition would continue.

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Wrath and the Dawn comes a sweeping, action-packed YA adventure set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, where Mulan meets Tamora Pierce.

In popular media and culture, the Paleolithic era is often depicted as a time when humans were completely savage, spoke with little more than grunts, hit women over their heads with clubs and kidnapped them, and of course, everyone lived in caves. The reality is that the Paleolithic era was a time of great change when humans coalesced into groups and developed different technologies that helped them survive and ultimately thrive in harsh environments.

For all of human history, we have made permanent marks on our skin—for multifarious, fascinating, reasons. The oldest preserved tattooed skin that survives is European: Ötzi, the famous ‘Iceman’ mummy, whose body is covered in small tattoo marks, allows us a brief glimpse into the pre-history of the practice. Since then, people in every corner of the world have decided to tattoo themselves, and countless cultures have performed this ancient artistic practice. But for the most part, these fascinating histories remain stubbornly untold.

Peter Frankopan, number one best-selling author and historian, explores the connections made by people, trade, disease, war, religion, adventure, science and technology in this extraordinary book about how the East married the West with a remarkable voyage at its heart - the journey along the Silk Roads.

In a corner of time, long before our own days began, there exists a land of myths and marvels, of heroes and philosophers, a peculiar place known as Ancient Greece. If you're picturing solemn philosophers debating the meaning of life, warriors with abs that could grate cheese and mythical gods with too much time on their hands, you're not entirely wrong. But A.C. Dunne's "Ancient Greece: Those Old Greek Guys Knew a Thing or Two" isn't about to serve you the same reheated tales from your school days. Instead, imagine a world where events often take peculiar turns and facts occasionally wear ...

Of all the peoples of the ancient Near East, the Phoenicians are among the most recognizable but also perhaps the least understood. The Phoenicians never built an empire like the Egyptians and Assyrians; in fact, the Phoenicians never created a unified Phoenician state. Instead, they existed as independent city-state kingdoms scattered throughout the Mediterranean region.

Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. This Who Was...? explains the life and times of this ancient Egyptian ruler, covering the story of the tomb’s discovery, as well as myths and so-called mummy curses.

History of Israel Israel is a unique country, and its history is a mere testament to that. This book’s aim is to track the history of Israel back to ancient times, the patriarchs, the exodus, the most influential Kings, as well as other critical events that inevitably marked its development. This is the story of a nation that fought hard to establish a country. It is the story of a nation that went through a rebirth process after living in diaspora for centuries. We are confident that you will find this book appealing if you want to expand your understanding of Israel and its history! Buy...

New marine archaeological evidence has revealed the remains of a large land mass to the north of Britain that hosted an advanced civilization 1,000 years before the recognized “first” civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, or India. Remembered in Celtic legends as Tu-lay, and referred to by geologists as Doggerland or Fairland, this civilization began at least as early as 4000 BC but was ultimately destroyed by rising sea levels, huge tsunamis, and a terrible viral epidemic released from melting permafrost during a cataclysmic period of global warming.

While a a midwife wasn’t mentioned in the Biblical version of The Christmas story—but then again, neither was morning sickness or labor pains, which Mary undoubtedly experienced. As such, because of the extreme young age of the mother (some experts figure she was between 14 and 18 years old), their harsh surroundings (A stable carved in a rock), and the lack of older female relatives available to assist, Joseph fetching the services of a midwife is not so difficult to imagine.

DARKNESS AND MAGIC PLAGUE EGYPT AS DESPAIR CREEPS ACROSS THE KNOWN WORLD... Maddie, the woman Gavin loves, was abducted while they searched for ancient Egypt's legendary Hall of Records. Now Gavin has to convince his friends to join him on an obscure path to find her—a path that has been hidden for reasons buried long ago. As Gavin struggles to find answers, the body of a young woman is discovered ... Deadly obstacles spring up as Gavin and his friends are tracked by mysterious men. Uncovering the true objectives of these men is Gavin's only hope, but it could cost him his life. Thousands...