Ancient History

History is like a tree—the ancient parts are roots, and as the story progresses the trunk rises and branches expand to encompass every person and event since Adam and Eve. Because history is unified, every element of the story is interconnected, even if that connection is distant. Furthermore, the current parts are all directly the product of the parts that have come before, and to understand the current situation you'll need to understand the past.

Understanding the ancient history roots at the bottom of the tree is essential for a proper perspective of everything that comes after. Some people take this too far and assume that ancient history is all that matters, but those who disregard it or understand it on no more than a cursory level are just as mistaken. Just as a building must have a strong foundation, so a study of history must begin in the right place.

The ancient world was different from ours, and the same. It was different in primarily physical ways: technology was less advanced, there were fewer people, and the general standard of living was far below what we enjoy (at least in the industrialized world). However, human nature never changes, and the same universal conflict that exists today—between God's children and His enemies—raged then.

It's interesting to what extent the dominant theories and philosophies of the modern world reflect those of the ancients. There is truly nothing new under the sun, and the Enlightenment rationalism, faith in human progress, belief in man's innate goodness, evolutionary idealism, and even postmodernism against which Christians fight all have their roots in the ideas of the Babylonians, Greeks, Egyptians, and every other early civilization.

That doesn't mean there isn't a clear trajectory from the ancient world to the present. Ideas all run a distinct course, and some reach prominence at different times; while the seeds of every successive philosophy were sown in the ancient world, it took time to grow them into what we recognize how as humanism, modernism, postmodernism, and the ever-illusory post-postmodernism.

The same is true of events. The history of any period is simply the chronicle of man's attempts to thwart God's will and Yahweh's use of even the most outrageous rebellion to achieve His own ends. In some ways, this is more obvious in ancient history, as the nation of Israel fought the surrounding nations, and too often embraced their paganism.

That story, of God's work among His people and in the world, and of man's continual rebellion, is also our story. The Church fights the same battles our Israelite forefathers did, though on a more ideological rather than physical scale. When we realize how much the story of the ancients is our own story, the significance of studying their world becomes much clearer, and the urgency of such study is made plain.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
100 Items found Print
Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), Used Books & Materials
Adam and His Kin
by Ruth Beechick
from Mott Media
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus I: The Oresteia (old)
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.00 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Americans Before Columbus
by Elizabeth Baity, illustrated by C.B. Falls
from Viking Press
for 5th-10th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient City
by Hazel Dodge, Peter Connolly
First Thus from Oxford University
for 8th-Adult
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Ancient Greece
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
for 5th-12th grade
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$24.95 $17.50 (1 in stock)
Ancient Rome
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
in TruthQuest History (Location: HISCUR-TQ)
$17.50 (1 in stock)
Archko Volume
by Drs. McIntosh and Twyman, translators
Reprint Edition from Keats Publishing, Inc
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Authoress of the Odyssey
by Samuel Butler, introduction by David Grene
from University of Chicago
for 8th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beggar's King
by Howard C. Emmons
from Van Kampen Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Beyond the Desert Gate
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
2nd edition from Bethlehem Books
Historical Fiction for
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
British Museum Visitor's Guide
by John Reeve
from British Museum Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Burial at Thebes
by Sophocles, translated by Seamus Heaney
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament
by H. Wayne House
from Zondervan
Biblical Reference for 9th-Adult
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament
by John Walton
2nd edition from Zondervan
Biblical Reference for 9th-Adult
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Rome
by John D. Clare, ed.
from Harcourt Children's Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Colosseum
by Peter Quennell
from Newsweek Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Days of Joseph
by John Noble
from Unknown Publisher
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Discourses of Epictetus
Walter J. Black Classics Club
by Epictetus
from Walter J. Black, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Walter J. Black Classics Club (Location: VIN-LITWJB)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs
by Colleen Manassa, editor
from Yale University Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Euripides III
by Euripides
2nd edition from University of Chicago
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Five Dialogues of Plato
by Plato, translated by G.M.A. Grube, revised by John M. Cooper
2nd edition from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$15.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
For the Temple
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Forgotten Daughter
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from American Home-School Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
by John Foxe
from Bridge-Logos
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$18.99 $10.50 (1 in stock)
Gallic War
by Julius Caesar, translated by H. J. Edwards
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Genesis through Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt
by Sonya Shafer
3rd edition from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 1st-12th grade
in Charlotte Mason Education (Location: HSR-METCM)
$17.50 (1 in stock)
Gifts of the Jews
by Thomas Cahill
from Nan A. Talese
for 9th-Adult
in Church History (Location: XCH-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Gorgias
Oxford World's Classics
by Plato
from Oxford University
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$8.95 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Tragedies I
by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore
from University of Chicago
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Treasure
by Irving Stone
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Way
by Edith Hamilton
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Greek History for 7th-10th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$13.95 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Greek World
by Peter Levi
1st edition from Dutton Adult
for 8th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Robin Waterfield)
from Oxford University
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$10.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
History of Ancient Israel
by Michael Grant
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ides of April
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Mary Ray
from Bethlehem Books
for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.95 $8.00 (4 in stock)
In Search of the Trojan War
by Michael Wood
from Facts On File
for 10th-Adult
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great
by Michael Wood
First Printing from University of California Press
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Inspirational Women
for 8th-12th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Last Days of Socrates
by Plato
from Penguin Classics
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Libraries in the Ancient World
by Lionel Casson
from Yale University Press
for 10th-Adult
in History of Books & Language (Location: HISV-BOOK)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Lost Continent of Atlantis
by James Wyckoff, Illustrated by Robert Sargent
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$50.00 (1 in stock)
Martyr of the Catacombs
by Anonymous Christian
from Kregel Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Mummy
by Ernest A. Wallis Budge
New edition from Senate
for 8th-12th grade
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
North American Indian Burial Customs
by Dr. H. C. Yarrow
First Edition from Eagle's View Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Native American History (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Oedipus at Colonus
Dover Thrift Editions
by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young
from Dover Publications
Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$3.00 $2.00 (3 in stock)
Oedipus Cycle
by Sophocles (translation by Dudley Fitts & Robert Fitzgerald)
from Harcourt
Ancient Tragedy for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.99 $9.50 (1 in stock)
Oedipus Cycle
by Sophocles
from Harcourt
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Old Western Culture Year 4 Volume 1 - Reader
by Wesley Callihan
from Roman Roads Media
for 9th-Adult
in Old Western Culture (Location: LITCUR-OWC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Old Western Culture Year 4 Volume 2 - Video Lectures
by Wesley Callihan
from Roman Roads Media
for 9th-Adult
in Old Western Culture (Location: LITCUR-OWC)
$55.00 (1 in stock)
Pages of History Volume 1
by Bruce Etter, Alexia Detweiler
2nd edition from Veritas Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Veritas Press History (Location: HISCUR-VP)
$25.00 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Pearl Maiden
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides
from University of Chicago
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Peloponnesian War
by Thucydides, translated by Martin Hammond
from Oxford University
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations
by John Haywood
from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-12th grade
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece
by Robert Morkot
from Penguin Putnam
Atlas/Greek History Reference for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$18.00 $11.00 (2 in stock)
Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome
by Chris Scarre
from Penguin Putnam
Roman History Reference for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Plutarch's Lives Volume I
by Plutarch, translated by John Dryden
from Modern Library
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$20.00 $15.00 (1 in stock)
Pontius Pilate
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Primeval Saints
by James Jordan
from Canon Press
Biography for 10th-Adult
in Bible Commentaries (Location: XBI-COMM)
$14.00 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Professor and the Prophets DVD
from Moody Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Moody Science DVDs (Location: SCI-MOODY)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Punic Wars 264-146 B.C.
by Nigel Bagnall
from Osprey Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Puzzle of Ancient Man: Advanced Technology in Past Civilizations?
by Donald E. Chittick
2nd edition
for 7th-10th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Pyramid
by David Macaulay
First Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-10th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.50 (2 in stock)
Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt
by Betsy Morrell Bryan, Erik Hornung, National Gallery of Art (U. S.), United Exhibits Group (Denmark)
First Edition from National Gallery of Art
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Republic
by Plato
from Oxford University
Classic Literature for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$9.95 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle
by Aristotle
from McGraw-Hill
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.00 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Roman Lives
by Plutarch, translated by Robin Waterfield
Reissue from Oxford University
Biography for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$14.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Roman Provence
by Marc Guitteny, photos by Marc and Denis Guitteny, translated by Lorenzo Prieto
English Edition from Unknown Publisher
for 5th-Adult
in France (Location: HISMC-FRA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Romans
by Anthony Marks & Graham Tingay
from Usborne
for 5th-12th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Son of Heaven: Imperial Arts of China
by Robert L. Thorpe
First Edition from Son of Heaven Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Stories of Rome
Translations from Greek and Roman Authors
by Titus Livius Livy
from Cambridge University
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Symposium and Phaedrus
by Plato
First Edition from Everyman's Library
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
The Robe
by Lloyd Douglas
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
The Robe
by Lloyd C. Douglas, illustrated by Dean Cornwell
from Houghton Mifflin
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Theban Plays
by Sophocles (translation by E. F. Watling)
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
These Were the Greeks
by H.D. Amos, A.G.P. Lang
1989 Reprint from Dufour Editions, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
These Were the Romans
by Graham Tingay and J. Badcock
2nd edition from Dufour Editions, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Timechart of Biblical History
by James Ussher
from Book Sales Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Timeline Resources (Location: HISRF-TIM)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #03: Age of God-Kings
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
TimeFrame #04: Barbarian Tides
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #05: A Soaring Spirit
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #06: Empires Ascendant
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #07: Empires Besieged
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
TimeFrame #08: March of Islam
from Time-Life Books
for 10th grade-adult
in Time-Life TimeFrame (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Tomb of Tutankhamen
by Howard Carter
1972 edition from Excalibur Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Treasures of Ancient Greece
by John S. Bowman
1995 edition from Crescent Books
for 8th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Treasures of Tutankhamun
from Metropolitan Museum of Art
for 7th-Adult
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Treasury of Classical Mythology
by A. R. H. Moncrieff
from Barnes & Noble
for 7th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Trial and Death of Socrates
Dover Thrift Editions
by Plato
from Dover Publications
Ancient Philosophy for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$4.00 $2.00 (1 in stock)
Unwrapping the Pharaohs
by John Ashton & David Down
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$27.99 $16.00 (3 in stock)
Usborne Book of the Ancient World
by Jane Chisholm & Anne Millard
from Usborne
for 5th-12th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Way of the Gladiator
by Dan Mannix
from ibooks
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Way to Eternity
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Time-Life Myth & Mankind Series (Location: FIC-MYTH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
What in the World's Going On Here? Part 1 - CD
by Diana Waring
from Diana Waring History Alive!
History Curriculum for 1st-10th grade
in Diana Waring History Revealed (Location: OHIS-DWHR)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Young Carthaginian
by G. A. Henty
from Preston Speed
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Young People's Story of the Ancient World (No. 2)
by Virgil M. Hillyer & E. G. Huey
from Meredith Press
for 4th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)