The history of Egypt from the earliest times to the conquest by Alexander the Great, covering the development of Egyptian civilization: science, religion, art, language and literature. This book is written for the interested layperson, requiring no prior knowledge of Egypt, and in approachable everyday language.

A reader of this history, encountering the frequent references to “my author,” meaning the current source, will be reminded of DON QUIXOTE and of THE MORTE D'ARTHUR, for Milton employs a style that might be called dissertational rather than novelistic; he carefully identifies his sources and often quotes from them. However, much of the scholarly documentation has been omitted from the reading—all except footnotes indicating the years—to avoid cumbersome interruptions. What will be obvious to a listener, though, is that Milton uses earlier chronicles with discretion...

The Natural History of Pliny the Elder is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire. The full work consists of 37 books, covering more than 20.000 topics ranging from astronomy and mathematics to botany and precious stones. The book became a model for later encyclopaedias and gives a fascinating overview of the state of scientific knowledge almost 2000 years ago. This version of the Natural History has been adapted for a younger audience. This first volume contains Book I and Book II out of a total of 9 books.

De doctrina Christiana, On Christian Doctrine, is a famous treatise by Augustine of Hippo, consisting of four books that describe how to interpret and teach the Scriptures. The first three books, published in 397, set three tasks for Christian teachers and preachers: to discover the truth in the contents of the Scriptures, to teach the truth from the Scriptures, and to defend scriptural truth when it was attacked. It is believed that the last part of book three and the totality of book four were added much later, in 426. The fourth book is especially quoted for being the first treatment of the relation between Christianity and Ancient Rhetoric. Summary by Leni.

In this short scholarly work the German historian, Wilhelm Ihne, elucidates what is known or can be deduced about Rome's early history, from the time of its legendary founders and kings, through the establishment of the Republic, to the invasion of the Gauls in 390 B.C. Ihne writes that "No great state known to history can be traced to such a small beginning as Rome." This book shows how the slow evolution of Rome's political institutions, through class conflict and compromise, created a state which, despite few natural advantages, was destined to rule the world.

The Dialogues of the Gods are 26 miniature dialogues mocking the Homeric conception of the Greek gods written in Attic Greek by Syrian author Lucian of Samosata. Almost 1900 years old, these dialogues still retain a lot of their original humor and wit. The cast list for dialogues with 3 or more readers is given below: Dialogue 8: Zeus: Owen CookHephæstus: KevinSStage directions: Foon Dialogue 9: Poseidon: ToddHWHermes: Owen CookStage directions: Foon Dialogue 13: Zeus: ToddHWAsklepius: FoonHerakles: KevinS Dialogue 20: Zeus: alanmapstoneHermes: Owen CookHera: FoonAthena: SoniaAphrodite: Sandra SchmitParis: Aaron WhiteStage directions: ToddHW Editor: Campbell Schelp

Zeus, gloomy and in tragic distress, is implored by Hermes and Athena to divulge the cause of his melancholy condition; while Hera, true to her Homeric character, confidently attributes it to another earthly amour. The king of gods and men, thus adjured, announced the true reason of his anxiety--daring assaults upon the character of himself and the rest of the Olympian divinities, and, in fact, denial of their very existence by the skeptics. What would be the best course to pursue? Summary by FoonCast...

The Six books of Proclus, the Platonic successor, on The Theology of Plato to which a Seventh book is added by the translator, Thomas Taylor, in order to supply the deficiency of another book on this subject, which was written by Proclus, but since lost. According to the 1995 Prometheus Trust edition Book 3 Chapter 1 of this translation contains Chapters 1-4 from the original Greek, Chapter 2 contains the Greek chapters 5-6 and Chapter 3 contains the Greek Chapters 7-8. Thereafter, the translated and Greek chapters match beginning at Chapter 9...

This collection is first in a series of writings from the ante-Nicene Fathers' works. This first collection includes all the so-called Infancy narratives from the New Testament Apocrypha. - Summary by KevinS

Austen Henry Layard is best known as the excavator of Nimrud and of Nineveh, where he uncovered a large proportion of the Assyrian palace reliefs known, and in 1851 the library of Ashurbanipal. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of thousands of clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC. Among its holdings was the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.In this work, he describes his experiences upon his return to the region for a second expedition. - Summary by Soupy Proof-listened by Elijah Fisher and TriciaG.

"The purpose of this volume is to present in brief scope the evolution of Greek civilization a culture simple in its essential unity, although seemingly complex in its many and wide ramifications. In the conviction that the chief aim of history is to explain the present, the author has centered his attention on those phases of Greek life which have influenced to a marked degree the civilization of today." "In short this book represents an effort to combine political, economic, social and cultural history in one synthesis, centering attention on those factors which have contributed essentially to modern civilization...

Frontinus' Stratagems is a collection of examples of military stratagems from Greek and Roman history, which the author comments based on his own experience as a general in Germania. Many of the stories he tells can also be found in other Roman authors like Valerius Maximus and Livy. His most famous work however is De aquaeductu, The Aqueducts of Rome, an official report to the emperor on the state of the aqueducts of Rome, in two books. It presents a history and description of all the nine aqueducts that provided the water-supply of Rome in the first century, as well as information about the laws relating to its use and maintenance, and the quality of water delivered by each.

The purpose of The Junior Classics is to provide, in ten volumes containing about five thousand pages, a classified collection of tales, stories, and poems, both ancient and modern, suitable for boys and girls of from six to sixteen years of age. This collection consists of Volume 3, including many tales from Homer and Virgil among others. - Summary by William Patten

Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings. The surviving lives contain twenty-three pairs of biographies, each pair consisting of one Greek and one Roman, as well as four unpaired, single lives. Plutarch was not concerned with writing histories, as such, but in exploring the influence of character, good or bad, on the lives and destinies of famous men. The first pair of lives the Epaminondas-Scipio Africanus no longer exists, and many of the remaining lives are truncated, contain obvious lacunae and/or have been tampered with by later writers...

The Dialogues of the Sea-Gods are 15 miniature dialogues mocking the Homeric conception of the Greek gods, originally written in Attic Greek by Syrian author Lucian of Samosata. Almost 1900 years old, these dialogues still retain a lot of their original humor and wit. - Summary by Foon Cast: Alpheius/Menelaus: ZoinkMeister Patrick Amphitrite/Panope: alanmapstone Cyclops: Nemo Delphines/Amymone: Leanne Yau Doris: Foon Enipeus: Rob Marland Galateia: Anita Sloma-Martinez Galene/Xanthus: Jeanne Viray Iphianassa: Pseudonymous Nerd Iris: Availle Notus: Stefan Von Blon Poseidon: Larry Wilson Protheus/Triton: Adam Bielka Thalassa: B L Newman Thetis: K...

The story of Imperial Rome has been told frequently and impressively in our literature, and few chapters in the long chronicle of man’s deeds and failures have a more dramatic quality. The fresh aspect of this familiar story which I propose to consider is the study of the women who moulded or marred the succeeding Emperors. Woman had her part in the making, as well as the unmaking, of Rome. Long before the commencement of our era, the thought and the power of the Roman woman went out into the larger...

The Consolation of Philosophy was written about 524 A.D. and has been called one of the most popular and influential books ever written. The book is presented as a dialogue between Boethius, the author, and Lady Philosophy, his tutor. Through her teaching, Boethius learns the true nature of fortune, misfortune, wealth, good, and evil.This dramatic reading is an attempt to present this wonderful work in an audio format while maintaining the dialogic structure of the work. Cast ListBoethius, the Narrator: Larry WilsonPhilosophy: Devorah AllenHeadings and Footnotes: KevinS

A book for students of history to test their knowledge and to direct their studies. As the title tells us, this is a book of 1001 questions, with answers, regarding world history. - Summary by KevinS

Seneca the Younger’s letters to his friend, Lucilius Junior, appear to have been written with a broad audience in mind. These letters introduce major themes of Stoic philosophy and have been a source of inspiration and comfort for readers throughout the centuries. - Summary by jvanstan

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was of Spanish origin, being born about 35 A.D. at Calagurris. At Rome he met with great success as a teacher and was the first rhetorician to set up a genuine public school and to receive a salary from the State. He left behind him a treatise "On the causes of the decadence of Roman oratory" , some speeches and his magnum opus, the only one to survive to our days. His Institutio Oratoria, despite the fact that much of it is highly technical, has still much that is of interest to‑day, even for those who care little for the history of rhetoric. This second volume covers books 4 to 6.

About two dozen comedies of the Roman playwright Plautus have survived the years, with many of them ending up rewritten and recast by other playwrights such as Moliere. This one, Pseudolus, was part of the source for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. - Summary by ToddHW Cast list: Simo, an old gentleman of Athens: ToddHW Calidorus, his son, in love with Phoenicium: Tomas Peter Charinus, the friend of Calidorus: Adam Bielka Callipho, the friend of Simo: Alan Mapstone Pseudolus, the servant...

This ancient Roman dialogue plays out as a religious debate between the Christian lawyer Octavius, and his close friend, a skeptical pagan named Caecilius. Caecilius is relatively agnostic, expressing skepticism towards both aspects of traditional Roman paganism, as well as towards his friend's newfangled Christian religion. Octavius attempts to give the reasons he has for his own beliefs and answer Caecilius' critiques. The author- Marcus Minucius Felix - plays the role of referee and observer. This is one of the earliest Latin texts to talk about Christianity, and describe how the new religion fit in the wider social context of the Roman world...

Virgil's Georgics are the second of the three major poetic works ascribed to the poet. It was published probably around 29 BC and, as the name suggests, the subject of the poem is agriculture. Divided into four books, it is also the shortest of Virgil's main poetry, with only 2188 hexametric verses. The poem draws on a variety of prior sources and has influenced many later authors from antiquity to the present. - Summary by Leni

Naturalis Historia is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. The scheme of his great work is vast and comprehensive, being nothing short of an encyclopedia of learning and of art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature...

Buried treasure, reckless son, exile, young love, betrayal, detection - all as relevant today as when this comedy was written 2200 years ago. - Summary by ToddHW Cast list: Luxury: Sonia Poverty: Availle Charmides, an Athenian merchant: ToddHW Lesbonicus, the son of Charmides: Rémi Callicles, a friend of Charmides: Mike Manolakes Megaronides, a friend of Callicles: David Purdy Stasimus, the servant of Charmides and Lesbonicus: Adrian Stephens Philto, a wealthy Athenian: Algy Pug Lysiteles, the son of Philto, and a friend of Lesbonicus: VocalPenguin A Sharper: Alan Mapstone Stage Directions: Wayne Cooke Editing: ToddHW

This is classic book by scholar, educator, theologian and preacher George Frederick Maclear, headmaster of King's College School, London, and later warden of St. Augustine's Missionary College, Canterbury. Each short chapter is a nugget of events and persons of the Old Testament, giving a very accessible overview of history from the Earliest Times to those of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Daphnis and Chloe is an Ancient Greek prose work, probably written during the second century CE, by Longus. It tells the story of two young people, Daphnis and Chloe, both abandoned at birth along with some identifying tokens. A goatherd named Lamon raises the boy Daphnis as his son, and a shepherd called Dryas finds Chloe, and also decides to raise her. They both grow up as neighbors herding the flocks in the island of Lesbos. They fall in love with each other, but have to go through many adventures and hardships, including abduction and pirate attacks, until they find their happy ending.

Dialogues of the Dead are 30 miniature dialogues mocking the Homeric conception of the Greek gods, originally written in Attic Greek by Syrian author Lucian of Samosata. Almost 1900 years old, these dialogues still retain a lot of their original humor and wit. - Summary by Foon The cast list for dialogues with 3 or more readers is given below: Dialogue 2: Kroesus: Lynette Caulkins Pluto: Alan Mapstone Midas: David Purdy Sardanapalus: TriciaG Menippus: Adrian Stephens Dialogue 3: Menippus:...

Book I Grouping of animals and the parts of the human body. Book II Different parts of red-blooded animals. Book III Internal organs. Book IV Animals without blood . Books V & VI Animal reproduction. Book VII Human reproduction. Book VIII Habits . Book IX Social behavior. Book X Dealing with barrenness in women was excluded from the translation of D'Arcy Thompson for being spurious so the translation of the Clergyman Richard Cresswell is used instead. Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson was a biologist, mathematician and classicist who also wrote On Growth and Form which discusses the mathematical patterns and structures formed in plants and animals.

Twin sisters, separated at birth to different lands. Later, Mnesilochus falls in love with one of them, only to see his friend Pistoclerus apparently with her. Great complications abound. Eventually all is explained and everyone joins together to carouse. - Summary by ToddHW Cast list: Silenus, the Divinity, who speaks the Prologue: ToddHW Nicobulus, an aged citizen of Athens: Adrian Stephens Mnesilochus, his son: Greg Giordano Philoxenus, another aged citizen of Athens: Alan Mapstone Pistoclerus,...

Naturalis Historia is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. The scheme of his great work is vast and comprehensive, being nothing short of an encyclopedia of learning and of art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature...

Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England never fails to amaze and fascinate; and has been the subject of speculation, research and investigation for centuries. This is an early look at this enigmatic location. As the author says in the preface: "A few years ago I spent some time every summer in viewing, measuring, and considering the works of the ancient Druids in our Island; I mean those remarkable circles of Stones which we find all over the kingdom, many of which I have seen, but of many more I have had accounts...

Stories of the Wars of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus is a historical narrative spanning Jewish history from 586 B.C.E to 70 A.D. There is no history more fraught with interest, or conveying more important lessons than that of God’s chosen nation. There are no annals which display instances of more heroic courage, faith, and self-devotion and of darker apostasy and crime,—than those of the descendants of Abraham.

In this short volume, the British historian, Charles Merivale, describes the long conflict by which the rule of one man replaced the Roman Republic. Here we meet that ineffectual has-been Pompeius, the resourceful military and political genius, Julius Caesar, unbending Cato, brave, dissolute Marcus Antonius, grandiloquent, doomed Cicero, peerless Cleopatra and, almost the sole survivor, crafty, cold, and sagacious young Octavius

Philosophical discourses of Epictetus as recorded by his affectionate student, Arrian. One main precept expounded is that we do not fear events but rather our thoughts about those events.

In this paper, read before the Literary and Historical Society, Quebec, Fletcher demonstrates methodically what he perceives as evidence for the existence of the island of Atlantis. He begins by documenting the historical instances Atlantis is referred to in ancient texts, even if only as a myth , continues on to analyze linguistic elements that might indicate an Atlantean origin , and also presents a connection between the American and the European fossil flora and amber fauna, suggesting that Atlantis is the missing link ...

The history of Greek athletics as it pertains to the Olympics. Describes various activities such as boxing, wrestling, etc. and accounts from witnesses, the Iliad, etc. as they pertain to famous Greeks and events. He discusses Greek views of physical appearance and fitness as they pertain to the games and society and also how and why individual city-states chose to participate in the Olympics.

"Antipho, a wealthy and jovial old gentleman of Athens, has two daughters, Pilumena and Pamphila. They are married to two brothers, Epignomus and Pamphilus, who, having run through their property in the company of idlers and Parasites, have, with the view of retrieving their fortunes, taken to merchandize [overseas trade]." The brothers have, in fact, been gone so long trying to regain their riches that Antipho is getting ready to marry off the daughters again. Will the brothers arrive back in time...

This book provides such information as was known at the onset of the 20th Century about Egyptian queens in antiquity. Much has been learned in the ensuing 100+ years so this book needs to be considered in the context of the time in which it was written. Queens are covered from Princess Nefert of the 3rd Dynasty through the famous Cleopatra. Leigh North is the pseudonym of Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart Phelps.

During the last half of the second century B.C. Rome was undisputed mistress of the civilized western world. As the British historian, Augustus Henry Beesly writes, "a brilliant period of foreign conquest had succeeded the 300 years in which she had overcome her neighbors and made herself supreme in Italy. In 146 B.C. she had given the death-blow to her greatest rival, Carthage, and had annexed Greece." But Rome was on the brink of a one hundred year-long revolution. In this slim volume Beesley, recounts the careers of four of its first dynamic leaders: the idealistic Brothers Gracchi, who attempted land reforms, and the rough, resourceful soldier, Marius, who overhauled the army...

The History of Rome is a history of ancient Rome, written in Latin by Livy between 27 and 9 BC, covering the period from the supposed arrival of Aeneas and the Trojansall the way to the time of Augustus, finishing with the death of Drusus, contemporary to Livy himself. Only 35 of the 142 books written by the author arrived to our times. This translation, by the Rev Canon William Masfen Roberts, was published in six volumes as part of the Everyman's Library Collection. - Summary by Leni

"Dead men tell no tales" was a common adage before the days of forensic science. In this book, the well-known evangelist and scientist uses Egyptology and archaeology to counter the argument in the investigation of Bible lore.. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

Menaechimus was carried away as a child to Epidamnus. Years later his twin-brother arrives also in Epidamnus, where because of his resemblance to his brother, he is mistaken for him by everybody. "This play was the foundation of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors." - Summary by ToddHW and Translator Cast list: Menaechimus of Epidamnus: Greg Giordano Menaechimus Sosicles, his twin-brother: Wayne Cooke Peniculus, a Parasite: Alan Mapstone Messenio, the servant of Menaechimus Sosicles: Rémi Cylindrus,...

The fifth volume and the first of two in the fourth part of Frazer's seminal work on the evolution of belief deals with the semi mythological legends of the Mediterranean and the eastern civilizations. Many analogies are traced between the worship of Osiris and the worship of the dead, especially of dead kings. The conclusion to which these analogies appear to the point is that under the mythical pall of the glorified Osiris, the god who died and rose again from the dead, there once lay the body of a dead man...

The British historian, George W. Cox writes that the "whole duration of the Athenian empire extends over little more than two generations." This confederation of Greek city states with Athens at its head was an attempt to present a unified front to the Persian Empire. But ultimately, the strife between democratic and oligarchic factions within each polis, combined with the tangle of alliances between the various city states, led to the ruinous and protracted Peloponnesian War. In this short work, Cox describes the battles on land and sea, and such personalities as the Athenian general, Nikias, his Spartan counterpart, Agis, and, above all, unprincipled, charismatic Alcibiades.

Gildas was a well-informed and definitely opinionated 6th century commentator on the topic of the era of the Roman occupation of Britain beginning in AD 43, the subsequent desertion of Britain by the legions in AD 410, and then invasions by the Scots, Picts and Saxons. Gildas was critical of his fellow Britons, accusing them of unwarranted rebellion against the beneficial rule of Roman law, and of then pusillanimously calling upon Rome to help them defend against the invading Picts and Scots from the north...

This short book has the objective of showing how important it is to stamp out malaria as soon as possible. Unlike a plague that suddenly takes it victims and leaves its survivors, malaria is a debilitating infection. It seizes all, fit and unfit alike, gradually lessening the general vitality until, in some cases, it has exterminated the people among whom it has become endemic. Extensive evidence has been compiled and summarised from consultation with medical authorities, antique literature, and historical sources to show how this insidious disease has undermined the integrity of a pair of ancient empires, and ultimately became a factor in their downfall. - Summary by Leon Harvey

A short monograph devoted to the Babylonian flood myth and the Epic of Gilgamesh , dating from the 7th century BC, as found on the clay tablets of the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal at the ancient site of Nineveh, capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The book includes a description of the library and an account of its discovery. The narratives are conveyed through a combination of verbatim translation and paraphrase. The text contains eighteen illustrations. - Summary by Kazbek

This book is an attempt to correct and develop the theory proposed tentatively in the little work Malaria. Put briefly, this theory is as follows. In the struggle for existence man has competed, not only with his fellow-men, but also with wild animals and disease- parasites. The fight against beasts was decided long before the historic period, but parasites have always been, and still are, formidable opponents. Whole tribes have been wiped out by plague, kala-azar and measles; and even when the disease-parasite does not win such a decisive victory, it often weakens a nation so much that the latter falls an easy victim to its healthier neighbours...

The sixth volume in the Golden Bough. Frazer continues into the second part of the compilation of analogies dealing with the recurring theme of the dying god. the worship of the dead, and dead kings. Extensive evidence is presented from the history of Egypt and what had been learned from archaeology in North Africa and the Mediterranean. The Egyptian calendar and festivals, the identify and personality of Osiris, and the relationship of the mother goddess, are discussed in length. - Summary by Leon Harvey

It is certain, that from our Saviour's time to the present, there have ever been persons whose dispositions and lives have been formed by the rules of the New Testament; men who have been real, not merely nominal Christians, who believed the doctrines of the gospel, loved them because of their divine excellency, and suffered gladly the loss of all things, that they might win Christ, and be found in him. It is the history of these men which I propose to write. It is of no consequence with respect to my plan, nor of much importance I believe in its own nature, to what external church they belonged...

An Introduction to the History and Civilization of Greece from the Coming of the Greeks to the Conquest of Corinth by Rome in 146 B.C. The spirit of a nation is expressed and its history is recorded in three ways: in its political history, in its literature and in its art. The aim of this book has been to use such parts of the political history of the Greeks, of their literature and of their art as seem to have been the outward and visible signs of the spirit that inspired them. - Summary from...

This U.S. National Park Service historical handbook from 1962 introduces the reader to the history, geography, and archaeology of the Aztec Ruins and surrounding area. It explores what has been learned about the early people who settled there and discusses what the ruins were like at the time of publication. - Summary by Verla Viera