Avail Yourself The Classical World: The Foundations Of The West And The Enduring Legacy Of Antiquity Conceived By Nigel Spivey Readily Available As Audiobook

received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways,

A very good overview of the Classical civilizations of the Mediterranean and the key leaders amp thinkers of the time it should be said that the subtitle is a bit misleading, as the focus is solely on that period and not any connection to modern Western culture.
It's very much a broad strokes sort of book, and people who are already well versed on ancient history will probably find it much too limited in detail, but it'd make for a solid resource for somebody taking a college class that references the civilizations covered therein or simply has a general curiosity about that era.
Nigel Spivey provides an informed perspective on the influence of classical history and thought upon the West, but as other GR reviewers have noted, there is little new here.
The The Classical World's thematic organization is odd, It is broken down into chapters named for the important cities of the ancient world Troy, Athens, Sparta, Rome, Alexandria, Ephesus and others, but the ties of the chapters' material to those cities are often tenuous and, in some cases, farfetched.
The Classical World: The Foundations of the West and the Enduring Legacy of Antiquity is worth reading, but rates only a firm Three Stars in my library.
A good, readable overview of Classical Civilizations with an interesting hook by examining a different ancient city in each chapter.
Solid and engaging account of the whole sweep of ancient classical history, Of necessity touching on the high points, the framework of focusing on a different city including one imaginary one to advance the timeline was creative and effective overall as a hook, if unsurprisingly less so in later periods than earlier ones.
Using Ephesus as a jumping off point for Scotland is a reach both figurative and literal.
I received this as a first read, This book is a great look at history in the Mediterranean, Definitely very well research. There is not a lot of detail however that is to be excepted with such a broad span of time.
A very interesting book that got me interested in different cultures featured here, One of my goto reference volumes on antiquity, Rather dry and surfacelevel to be frank, but it provides a wealth of essential information within a relatively compact package.
One could do far worse for background reading to accompany a study of the classics, The book offers this writeup as an explanation of what it sets out to be: "an authoritative and accessible study of the foundations, development, and enduring legacy of the cultures of Greece and Rome".
Does it succeed It's a mixed bag, to be sure, . . the concise nature of the book IS accessible, but it travels by at such a pace that it picks and chooses what to focus upon with dispassionate brutality.
The focus is variable: for every fantastic analysis of Socrates, there is an annoying dismissal of several JulioClaudian emperors.
In the end, this is the most warpspeed presentation of the classical world you are likely to find.
There is much to enjoy here, and much that is useful, . . but I can't shake the feeling the author is attempting to be Edward Gibbon on speed.
Very well presented. Already knew most of the content, but this was extremely readable and fun If youre looking for a brief overview of the classical world of Greece and Rome then you could do much worse than Nigel Spiveys effort.
Broken into chapters primarily by location Spivey sweeps you through the Greeks, their philosophy and colonies, their legacy and then only Rome and its.
There isnt anything new encountered here but if you want a broad idea of how the classical world fit together or a quick sweep of your cobwebbed memory then this is a good one.
I enjoyed reading the book, However I feel that it leaves out too many details,

Maybe it is a good book for someone that has never studied the subject and does not have time to actually study it or does not want to.
Meander with me. Manages to squeeze a lot intop, in terms of time and theme, and still remain pleasently readable.
If it had been just a little tighter and shorter would've beenstar for sure, An easygoing style in a historical narrative is always a pleasure, The 'classical' world is GrecoRoman, As noted, it drew on Egyptian sources for geometry and pharaonic administration, Athens and Sparta are

my favorite chapters, O ruină mai degrabă dezamăgitoare de pe țărmul Asiei Mici o fortăreață preistorică asociată cu conflictele și cu distrugerile.
De ce săncepem cu Troia
Este tentant să răspundem la această întrebare prin clișeul melodramatic un om.
. . “ urmat de un nume pronunțat cu o tunătoare voce hollywoodiană: Homer“, Ispita e primejdioasă nu doar pentru că știm atât de puține despre existența acestui individ.
Dar Troia se bizuie pe el, iar această cetate, așa cum șia închipuito, este locul din care pornește civilizația clasică.

Pe la jumătatea secolului al VIIIlea î, Hr. acum vreode ani se pare că un anumit poet profesionist, cunoscut posterității drept Homer“, a devenit faimos prin recitarea unor povești în chip de versuri epice.
Nu erau poezii cu rimă, dar aveau o măsură sau un ritm apăsat, iar subiectul lor era și el intens.
Epic“ indică o narațiune ce se desfășoară întro epocă a eroilor personaje zdravene și inimoase ale căror isprăvi, prin comparație, fac viețile muritorilor de rând să pară neînsemnate.
Numele lui Homer este legat de două epopei ce constituie operele fundamentale ale literaturii occidentale, Una este Iliada, care descrie anumite evenimente din vremea îndelungatului asediu al Troiei de către un contingent de războinici greci conduși de Agamemnon cealaltă este Odiseea, o prezentare a felului în care unul dintre acei luptători eleni, Ulise, șia croit aventurosul drum spre casă după ce Troia fusese în cele din urmă cucerită.

Homer nu era originar din Troia, Afirmația sună bizar, deoarece, chiar dacă epopeile lui nu relatează direct distrugerea cetății, era cât se poate de conștient că Troia arsese din temelii.
Dar probabil că Homer sa născut nu foarte departe de situl Troiei pe insula Chios, poate, sau în coloniaport Smirna Izmirul modern.
Este posibil să fi trecut prin locul unde se găsise cetatea în vremea lui, era năruită întro oarecare măsură, dar nicidecum părăsită în totalitate.
Troia“ nu a fost decât una dintre denumirile felurite pe care lea purtat acel loc.

La un moment dat a fost menționată pe teritoriul anticului Imperiu Hitit drept Wilusa.
Grecii cunoșteau cetatea sub numele de Ilios, Ilion sau Troia: câteodată și Homer o numea Pergamos, care nu înseamnă altceva decât citadela“.
Însă, dărăpănată cum era, Troia rămânea semeață în memoria colectivă, Cetatea, prin agonia sfârșitului ei, a fost un simbol al tuturor orașelor, iar fâșia de pământ dintre așezare și mare câmpia troiană“ pe care sau desfășurat cele mai multe bătălii a devenit o prețioasă bucată de pe suprafața planetei pe care muritorii sau transfigurat, prin violență brută și rafinată, în semizei.
A masterly investigation into the Classical roots of Western civilization, taking the reader on an illuminating journey from Troy, Athens, and Sparta to Utopia, Alexandria, and Rome.


An authoritative and accessible study of the foundations, development, and enduring legacy of the cultures of Greece and Rome, centered on ten locations of seminal importance in the development of Classical civilization.


Starting with Troy, where history, myth and cosmology fuse to form the origins of Classical civilization, Nigel Spivey explores the contrasting politics of Athens and Sparta, the diffusion of classical ideals across the Mediterranean world, Classical science and philosophy, the eastward export of Greek culture with the conquests of Alexander the Great, the power and spread of the Roman imperium, and the long Byzantine twilight of Antiquity.
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