List of maps; List of figures; List of boxes; Preface to the Third Edition; Chronology; Introduction; PART I: THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST; 1 THE ORIGINS OF THE CIVILISATIONS OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA; 2 THE THIRD MILLENNIUM; 3 THE SECOND MILLENNIUM; 4 THE FIRST MILLENNIUM; 5 RELIGION; 6 ECONOMY AND SOCIETY; 7 GOVERNMENT; PART II: THE GREEK WORLD; 8 THE EARLY IRON AGE (c. 1200 – c. 750 BC): ‘THE DARK AGES’; 9 THE ARCHAIC PERIOD, c. 750 – c. 500 BC; 10 THE CLASSICAL PERIOD, c. 500 – c. 330 BC; 11 THE HELLENISTIC WORLD, c. 330 – c. 30 BC; PART III: ROME; 12 EARLY ROMAN HISTORY (753–265 BC); 13 FURTHER EXPANSION AND NEW SOCIAL TENSIONS, 264–133 BC; 14 THE CENTURY OF THE CIVIL WARS, 133–30 BC; 15 THE EARLY IMPERIAL AGE, 27 BC–AD 193; 16 THE CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY AD AND LATE ANTIQUITY; 17 EPILOGUE; PART IV: APPENDICES; Select bibliography; Index