Ancient History Lives

King Lysimachus: The Life and Legacy of the Ancient Macedonian King Who Succeeded Alexander the Great looks at his tumultuous reign and how he affected the world in the wake of Alexander. You will learn about King Lysimachus like never before.

Caligula was one of the first rulers of the Roman Empire, and yet numbers among the most famous. His family history is mired in political scandals, tragedy, and murderous plots to forward the agendas of shadowy cabals that sought to oppose the nation in its early infancy. The full story of his life begins long before his birth, and his legacy continues long after his sensational murder at the hands of those closest to him.

One of the more hotly contested lives documented in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, the Life of Dion investigates the intense politics of the tyrant of Syracuse. Starting out in politics, he initially was one of Dionysus’ most trusted advisors. But after Dionysus expressed that he no longer wanted to be a tyrant, which went against the advisement of Dion, his most trusted advisor was banished.

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is a hotly debated Roman politician and statesman. His controversial warfare tactics, as described by Plutarch, are among the many influences for worldwide guerrilla warfare that can be seen today. From his brutal army tactics to his dictatorship to his ultimate demise, Fabius Maximus led a politically full and interesting life.

Any exploration of the lives of women in classical Athens has to take into consideration the legal framework which governed such matters as marriage, inheritance and basic rights within society, as well as the woman, herself, within the oikos. However, as a starting point, the simple issues relating to the day to day lives of the women in this period provide an initial understanding of how all of these other factors played a part in the overall pattern of life for an Athenian, upper class, woman.

“I came, I saw, I conquered,” Julius Caesar famously said. Yet his life of conquest ended with assassination at the hands of his former comrades. Roman biographer Suetonius details the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in this short biography, excerpted from The Twelve Caesars. This compelling account contains cinematic scenes from Caesar’s life, including his capture by pirates and the time he fell weeping before a statue of Alexander the Great.

The importance of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (or as he was known from birth, Gaius Octavius "Octavian" Thurinus) to the course of Western history is hard to overstate. His life, his rise to power, his political, social and military achievements, all laid the foundations for the creation of an Empire which would endure for almost five centuries, and whose traditions, laws, architecture and art continue to influence much of Europe and the world today.

The mere mention of his name, Tutankhamun, brings to mind visions of gold and splendor and thoughts of a majestic kingdom. The reality of this king is something quite different. His fame has less to do with his position in history and nearly everything to do with the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. There are many questions and mysteries still surrounding this famous king of Egypt. Who was Tutankhamun? Where did he come from? What was his kingdom like? How did he live and die?

I’m fascinated with ancient history because there are continuous new discoveries which push back the dawn of civilization by thousands of years. In the last couple of decades, the discoveries at Gobekli Tepe in eastern Turkey pushed back man-made structures to the time period of 9,000-11,000 BC, thousands of years before the next known civilizations existed.

During one of the most turbulent periods in the history of Rome, men like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian participated in two civil wars that would spell the end of the Roman Republic, and determine who would become the Roman emperor. In the middle of it all was history's most famous woman, the Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra (BC 69-30), who famously seduced both Caesar and Antony, and thereby positioned herself as one of the most influential people in a world of powerful men.

Over 2,300 years after their deaths, Plato and Aristotle remain the most influential ancient Greek philosophers and arguably the greatest icons of ancient thought. Their legacies expanded rapidly and extensively across the ancient world, helped in part by the fact Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great. Both philosophers were recognized as celebrated intellectual forces during all of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Cassander of Macedon: The Life and Legacy of the King Who Ruled Greece After the Death of Alexander the Great looks at his tumultuous reign and how he affected the world in the wake of Alexander. You will learn about Cassander like never before.

Possibly the most important man of antiquity, and even all of history, was Julius Caesar. Alexander Hamilton, the famous American patriot, once remarked that "the greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar". Such a tribute, coming from one of the Founding Fathers of the quintessential modern democracy in reference to a man who destroyed the Roman Republic, is testament to the enduring mark that Caesar left upon the world.

The world's flora and fauna have evolved to operate in the natural cycle of day and night. But constant illumination has made light pollution a major issue. From space, our planet glows brightly, 24/7. By extending our day, we have forced out the inhabitants of the night and disrupted the circadian rhythms necessary to sustain all living things. Our cities' streetlamps and neon signs are altering entire ecosystems. As a devoted friend of the night, Johan Eklöf encourages us to appreciate natural darkness, its creatures and its unique benefits.

Throughout the annals of history, there have been few men as reviled as Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger. To this day he is associated with murder, betrayal, violence, and infamy, so much so that in modern English his name provides the root for the words "brute" and "brutal", as it does in several other Romance languages. Indeed Brutus' reputation was so infamous that when Dante composed his timeless Divine Comedy, he relegated Brutus to the very nethermost depths of hell.

Plutarch set out to understand the lives of the political greats of his time when he wrote his famous Parallel Lives series, of which The Life of Artaxerxes is included. Artaxerxes was fairly unique among the mix of famous names listed here, as he was a Persian king. His influence upon the Persian War and the remainder of Parallel Lives biographies is irrefutable. Though arguably his inclusion was merely in relation to his influence on Greece and Rome, Artaxerxes is still one of the more interesting biographies you will hear in the series.

The life of Philopoemen is one of the many lives described in Plutarch’s famous Parallel Lives series. Philopoemen, whose father died when he was very young, was adopted by a notable Megalopolan figurehead and studied under the local Greek philosophers. Not only was he smart, but he went on to advise and help defend Greece from Cleomenes III and the many people attempting to gain control of the powerful empire. But as Sparta began to rise in his later years, his political actions became more and more risky - which ultimately lead to his demise.

For centuries, the idea that humans possess an immortal soul has shaped religious doctrine, philosophical thought, and cultural traditions. But where did this belief originate, and does it align with the Bible? Immortality of the Soul: The Birth of the Doctrine traces the historical development of this concept, revealing how it emerged from Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, and Greek philosophies and was later adopted by various religious movements—including mainstream Christianity. Through careful historical and biblical analysis, this book dismantles the notion that the soul is inherently ...

Over the last 2,000 years, ambitious men have dreamed of forging vast empires and attaining eternal glory in battle, but of all the conquerors who took steps toward such dreams, none were ever as successful as antiquity’s first great conqueror. History for Kids: The Illustrated Life of Alexander the Great provides an entertaining look at the facts and myths surrounding one of history’s most famous men and conquerors, while exploring the lasting legacy he left.

Hannibal Barca, one of Carthage’s most influential generals, lived a couple hundred years before Christ, and has led many Roman troops to victory to conquer the surrounding nations. Famous were his battles with elephants he employed during tactical moves of cavalry and infantry armies alike. His resistance against the Roman powers in the Punic Wars have been praised and lamented worldwide.