An "extraordinary" account of the wars conducted by and against the Maccabean family of rulers in Palestine in the second and first centuries BC ( Midwest Book Review ).By the early second century BC, Israel had long been under the rule of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. But the policy of deliberate Hellenization and suppression of Jewish religious practices by Antiochus IV, sparked a revolt in 167 BC which was led initia...

The Second part of this ground-breaking trilogy covers the reigns of Ptolemy III, Ptolemy IV, Ptolemy V and Ptolemy VI. The second volume of this ground-breaking trilogy covers the reigns of Ptolemy II, III, IV, V and VI, who between them reigned for a century. Ptolemy III's rule brought the acquisition of Cyrenaica (through marriage) and territorial gains in Syria, the Aegean, Asia Minor and Thrace due to unexpected military successes in the Third Syrian War. These victories over the Sele...

An account of a decade of upheaval across ancient India and the Mediterranean that would sway the political world order for the next seven-plus centuries.Between 152 and 138 BC a series of wars from Africa to India produced a radically new geopolitical situation. In 150 Rome was confined to the western Mediterranean, and the largest state was the Seleukid empire. By 140 Rome had spread to the borders of Asia Minor and the Seleukid empire was confined to Syria. The ...

The first of three books on the ancient Greek dynasty "reads with the pull of a novel and shows how the new Empire rose and fell."—FiretrenchThe Seleukid kingdom was the largest state in the world for a century and more between Alexander's death and the rise of Rome. The first king, Seleukos I, established a pattern of rule which was unusually friendly towards his subjects, and his policies promoted the steady growth of wealth and population in many areas which had...

Third in the trilogy of the ancient Greek dynasty. "In Grainger's account, the fall of the Seleukid is as enlightening as the rise."—Minerva MagazineThe concluding part of John D Grainger's history of the Seleukids traces the tumultuous last century of their empire. In this period, it was riven by dynastic disputes, secessions and rebellions, the religiously inspired insurrection of the Jewish Maccabees, civil war and external invasion from Egypt in the West and th...

Brings to life "a major figure in the Hellenistic World . . . in his own right, rather than as just another stepping stone during Rome's rise" (HistoryOfWar.org).The second volume in John Grainger's history of the Seleukid Empire is devoted to the reign of Antiochus III. Too often remembered only as the man who lost to the Romans at Magnesia, Antiochus is here revealed as one of the most powerful and capable rulers of the age. Having emerged from civil war in 223 as...

After the surrender of the French government in May 1940, the British were concerned that the resources of the French Empire, and particularly the powerful French fleet, would be put at the disposal of the Germans. The British, dependent upon their naval power and the resources of the Empire and Commonwealth to continue the war, sought to neutralize the threat of the French fleet and saw an opportunity to gobble up certain French colonies for themselves. Thus, even while Britain was locked...

Egypt was the last of the Macedonian Successor states to be swallowed up by Roman expansion. The Ptolemaic rulers had allied themselves to Rome while their rivals went down fighting. However, Cleopatra's famous love affair with Marc Antony ensured she was on the wrong side of the Roman civil war between him and Octavian (later to become Caesar Augustus). After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the naval battle of Actium, Octavian swiftly brought Egypt under direct Roman control, though...

A guide to the over 150 families that ruled the Classical world, from the 10th century BC to the 8th century AD, from western Europe to central Asia.Ancient Dynasties is a unique study of the ruling families of the ancient world known to the Greeks and Romans. The book is in two parts. The first offers analysis and discussion of various features of the ruling dynasties (including the leading families of republican Rome). It examines patterns, similarities ...

A historian of the ancient world examines the epic rise and fall of the Celtic tribes who invaded the Mediterranean and lands further east.The eastern Celtic tribes, known to the Greeks as Galatians, exploited the waning of Macedonian power after Alexander the Great's death to launch increasingly ambitious raids and expeditions into the Balkans. In 279 BC they launched a major invasion, defeating and beheading the Macedonian king, Ptolemy Keraunos, before sacking th...

A technological, strategic, and tactical history of ancient naval ships from Alexander to the battle of Actium.The period covered in this book is well known for its epic battles and grand campaigns of territorial conquest, but Hellenistic monarchies, Carthaginians, and the rapacious Roman Republic were scarcely less active at sea. Huge resources were poured into maintaining fleets not only as symbols of prestige but as means of projecting real military power across ...

How prehistoric humans coped with the end of the last Ice Age—and catastrophic global warming.Global warming is among the most urgent problems facing the world today. Yet many commentators, and even some scientists, discuss it with reference only to the changing climate of the last century or so. John Grainger takes a longer view and draws on the archaeological evidence to show how our ancestors faced up to the ending of the last Ice Age, arguably a more dramatic cl...