For the great Roman orator and statesman Cicero, 'the good life' was at once a life of contentment and one of moral virtue - and the two were inescapably intertwined. This volume brings together a wide range of his reflections upon the importance of moral integrity in the search for happiness. In essays that are articulate, meditative and inspirational, Cicero presents his views upon the significance of friendship and duty to state and family, and outlines a clear system of practical ethics that is at once simple and universal. These works offer a timeless reflection upon the human condition,...

"Whereas the place for prejudice is a public meeting, a court of law is the adobe of truth."
Cicero was still in his twenties when he got Sextus Roscius off a charge of murdering his father and nearly sixty when he defended King Deiotarus, accused of trying to murder Caesar. In between (with, among others, his speeches for Cluentius and Rabirius), he built a reputation as the greatest orator of his time.
Cicero defended his practice partly on moral or compassionate grounds of "human decency" - sentiments with which we today would agree. His clients generally went free. And in...

The Antonines - Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus - played a crucial part in the development of the Roman empire, controlling its huge machine for half a century of its most testing period. Edward Gibbon observed that the epoch of the Antonines, the 2nd century A.D., was the happiest period the world had ever known.
In this lucid, authoritative survey, Michael Grant re-examines Gibbon's statement, and gives his own magisterial account of how the lives of the emperors and the art, literature, architecture and overall social condition under the Antonines represented...

It is today widely accepted that we do not get the whole truth from any historian. Greek and Roman Historians considers the work of ancient historians such as Herotudus, Tacitus and Thucydides in the the light of this attitude. In an enlightening new study, Michael Grant argues that misinformation, even deliberate disinformation, is abundant in their writings.
Grant, one of the world's greatest writers of ancient history, suggests new ways of reading and interpreting the ancient historians which maximise their usefulness as source material. He demonstrates how the evidence they...

In this study, the author presents some of the manifestations of art from all over the territory that made up the Roman Empire. The text highlights selected items which particularly represent the achievements and functions of art in the Empire. Architecture and portraiture, at which the Romans excelled, are discussed in detail, the rediscovered paintings at Pompeii and Herculaneum; and the most significant examples of mosaic, jewellery and silverware. There is an assessment of Greek, Etruscan and purely Roman elements in the construction and style of the Empire's art. This survey encompasses...

This work analyzes the colourful decline of the Roman Empire during the reign of the Severans, the first non-Italian dynasty. It describes the foreign wars waged against the Alemanni and the Persians, and the remarkable personalities of the imperial family. The reader encounters Julia Domna's alleged literary circle, or Elagabalus' curious private life - which included dancing in the streets, marrying a vestal virgin and smothering his enemies with rose petals. With its plate section, maps and bibliography, this book should appeal to the student of ancient history as well as to the general...

The Antonines - Antonius, Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus and Commodus - played a crucial part in the development of the Roman Empire, controlling its huge machine for half a century of its most testing period.
Theirs was a period when art and literature were flourishing. It was also a time of social and political change, and there are still many unanswered questions: did the Antonines' rule contain the seeds of later decay? How did the Christians fare? Was Commodus as bad as he was made out to be? Michael Grant examines these issues with clarity and skill.
The importance of the...

The Byzantine Empire, founded by Constantine as the seat of power in the East, began to flourish in the fifth century A.D. after the fall of Rome. This work provides an insight into the nature of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth century, the prevalence of Christianity, the enormity and strangeness of the landscape of Asia Minor, and the history of invasion prior to the genesis of the empire.

The second volume of two covering the novelist T.S. Eliot whose writings include: Prufrock and other Observations, The Wasteland and Murder in the Cathedral.

Written by eminent classical scholar Michael Grant. The Ancient Mediterranean is a wonderfully revealing, unusually comprehensive history of all the peoples who lived around the Mediterranean from about 15,000 B.C. to the time of Constantine (306-337 A.D.). Many volumes, including Professor Grant's own previous works, trace the histories of the great civilizations of Greece and Rome. But this unique work looks at the influences and cultures of the entire region, including Egypt, Israel, Crete, Carthage, Ionia and the Eastern colonies. Syria, and the Etruscans, as well as the Greek and...