Matyszak Philip strana 2 z 3

Discover the lives of the ancient Romans, pieced together from inscriptions, discarded letters, biographies and myth over two thousand years of history. The Roman empire witnessed a huge diversity of human experience over its history. At its pinnacle, it exerted its rule across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, from Britannia to the Black Sea. In this collection of 100 lives, Philip Matyszak and Joanne Berry give voice not only to famed rulers and generals whose names and deeds have been enshrined in classical texts but also to the ordinary citizens - centurions, scholars, Christian martyrs and civil servants - who made up the fabric of Roman society. The biographies of these individuals, whose stories range from the happy and uneventful to the tragic and dramatic, are pieced together from ancient art, artefacts and myths. Matyszak and Berry illuminate the sometimes surprising exploits of Rome's women, such as Amazonia, a sword-swinging gladiator, and Metila, a priestess of the cult of Cymbele. Romans of every class and creed are represented, from Faustulus, a shepherd said to have adopted the infant Romulus and Remus, to the poet Virgil, whose words still echo down the ages. Each of these lives forms part of a larger picture, together making up a rich mosaic that gives us a glimpse of what it meant to be a Roman.

An overview of the lost peoples and cultures who flourished and fought for survival alongside the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Beyond the Greeks, Romans and Hebrews of the Classical and Biblical eras, a rich diversity of peoples helped lay the foundations of the modern world. Philip Matyszak brings to life these cultures and individuals that made up the busy, brawling multicultural mass of humanity that emerged from the ancient Middle East and spread across the Mediterranean and Europe. He explores the origins of forty forgotten peoples, their great triumphs and defeats, and considers the legacy they have left to us today, whether it be in fine art or everyday language. This carefully researched and illuminating history is the perfect introduction for the modern reader, packed with surprising facts and fascinating stories, detailed maps and beautiful illustrations of artefacts and sites of interest. Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World offers a new understanding of these important civilizations that have been obscured by the passage of time.

The ancient world saw the birth and collapse of great civilizations. In mainstream history the Classical world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and the Biblical world is centred on the Hebrews. Yet the roughly four-and-a-half thousand years (4000 bc-ad 550) covered in this book saw many peoples come and go within the brawling, multi-cultural mass of humanity that occupied the ancient Middle East, Mediterranean and beyond. While a handful of ancient cultures have garnered much of the credit, these forgotten peoples also helped to lay the foundations of our modern world. This guide brings these lost peoples out of the shadows to highlight their influence and achievements. Forty-five entries span the birth of civilization in Mesopotamia to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, offering an alternative history focusing on the names we aren't familiar with, from the Hurrians to the Hephthalites, as well as the peoples whose names we know, such as the Philistines and the Vandals, but whose real significance has been obscured. Each entry charts the rise and fall of a lost people, and how their culture echoes through history into the present. Important ancient artefacts are illustrated throughout and fifty specially drawn maps help orientate the reader within this tumultuous period of history. Philip Matyszak brings to life the rich diversity of the peoples founding cities, inventing alphabets and battling each other in the ancient world, and explores how and why they came to be forgotten.

Magic was everywhere in the ancient world. The supernatural abounded, turning flowers into fruit and caterpillars into butterflies. Magic packed a cloud of water vapour with energy enough to destroy a house with one well-aimed thunderbolt. It was everyday magic, but it was still magical. Philip Matyszak takes readers into that world. He shows us how to make a love potion or cast a curse, how to talk to the dead and how to identify and protect oneself from evil spirits. He takes us to a world where gods, like humans, were creatures of space and time; where people could not just talk to spirits and deities, but could even themselves become divine; and where divine beings could fall from - or be promoted to - full godhood. Ancient Magic offers us a new way of understanding the role of magic, looking at its history in all of its classical forms. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from Greek dramas to curse tablets, and lavishly illustrated throughout, and packed with information, surprises, lore and learning, this book will offer an engaging and accessible way into the supernatural for all.

This is ancient Greece - but not as we know it. Few people today appreciate that Greek civilization was spread across the Middle East, and that there were Greek cities in the foothills of the Himalayas. This book tells the story of the Greeks outside Greece, such as Sappho, the poet from Lesbos; Archimedes, a native of Syracuse; and Herodotus, who was born in Asia Minor as a subject of the Persian Empire. From the earliest times of prehistoric Greek colonies around the Black Sea, through settlements in Spain and Italy, to the conquests of Alexander and the glories of the Hellenistic era, Philip Matyszak illuminates the Greek soldiers, statesmen, scientists and philosophers who, though they seldom - if ever - set foot on the Greek mainland, nevertheless laid the foundations of what we call 'Greek culture' today. Instead of following the well-worn path of describing Athenian democracy and Spartan militarism, this book offers a fresh look at what it meant to be Greek by telling the story of the Greeks abroad, from India to Spain.

Philip Matyszak szórakoztató útikönyvéből minden hasznos információt megtudhatunk, ami egy időutazáshoz szükséges az ókori Rómába. Készüljünk fel a kalandokra: a Kr. u. 200 körüli évekbe utazunk! Csupán a képzelőerőnkre és egy fogkefére lesz szükségünk. A szerző tanácsokat ad arra nézve, hogyan szervezzük meg a tengeri utazást Itáliába, melyik utat válasszuk Rómába, és mit érdemes megnéznünk a város híres hét dombján. Megtudhatjuk, mit kell magunkkal vinnünk egy előkelő lakomára (étkező köpenyt, saját szalvétát és házicipőt), hol találhatók a legjobb piacok, nyilvános fürdők... no és a bordélyházak. Sétáink során megismerhetjük a belváros összes nevezetességét a Palatinus-dombon magasodó császári palotáktól kezdve a Forum Romanum nyüzsgő forgatagán keresztül a Pantheon pompájáig. Az antik világ legnagyobb és legnépesebb városa rengeteg érdekes látnivalót tartogat, többek közt izgalmas harcikocsi-versenyeket a Circus Maximusba és véres gladiátorküzdelmeket a Colosseumban. E szellemes és olvasmányos útikönyvet a történelem és az utazás kedvelőinek ajánljuk, valamint mindazoknak, akik valaha elgondolkoztak azon, milyen is lenne ellátogatni az ókori világ legnagyobb városába. A kötet közel ötven illusztrációja között 11 színes ábrázolás található.

S tímto jedinečným průvodcem Římem roku 200 našeho letopočtu sepsaným špičkovým odborníkem na antickou historii v duchu moderních turistických příruček vám k úžasnému výletu proti proudu času postačí jen trocha představivosti a kartáček na zuby!