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.
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald
from Vintage Classics
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult
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Aeneid
by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles
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Aeneid Of Virgil
by Virgil, translated by Allan Mandelbaum
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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
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Aeschylus II: The Oresteia
The Complete Greek Tragedies
by Aeschylus (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
3rd edition from University of Chicago
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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$14.00
Aeschylus' Oresteia
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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Aeschylus' Oresteia
by Aeschylus, translated by Peter Meineck
from Hackett Publishing Company
Ancient Greek Tragedy for 10th-Adult
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$13.50
Aeschylus' Oresteian Trilogy
Penguin Classics
by Aeschylus, translated by Phillip Vellacott
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Aesop's Fables
by Aesop
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$5.95
All Through the Ages
by Christine Miller
3rd edition from Nothing New Press
World History Reference for All grades
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Great Ages of Man
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Ancient City
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Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors
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Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Rome
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$11.95
Ancient Rome
by Michelle Miller
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History Curriculum for 5th-12th grade
Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks
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Annals of Imperial Rome
Penguin Classics
by Tacitus
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$19.00
Annals of Tacitus
by Cornelius Tacitus
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Antigone
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by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young
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Antigone
by Sophocles
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Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
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Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by John Davies)
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Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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$12.00
Bacchae and Other Plays
Penguin Classics
by Euripides (translation by Phillip Vellacott)
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Tragedy for 11th-Adult
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$13.00
Basic Works of Aristotle
by Aristotle
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$24.00
Ben-Hur
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Lew Wallace
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Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
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Ben-Hur
by Lew Wallace
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Biblical Antiquity: Old & New Testament in One Volume
by Evan B. Wilson
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Biblical Reference for 9th-12th grade
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BiblioPlan Companion, Year One
by Julia Nalle, Rob Nalle
from BiblioPlan for Families
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Bluestocking Guide - Ancient Rome
by Jane Williams
from Bluestocking Press
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$9.95
British Museum Visitor's Guide
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Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology
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$6.00
Burial at Thebes
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Caesar and Christ
Story of Civilization III
by Will Durant
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Chang Cheng
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Historical Strategy Game for Ages 10 and Up
$29.00
Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament
by H. Wayne House
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Civil War
Penguin Classics
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Colosseum
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Conquest of Gaul
Penguin Classics
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Consolation of Philosophy
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Consolation of Philosophy
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Constantine the Great
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Cradle of Civilization
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Darius, Artaxerxes, and Ahasuerus in the Bible
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Dear and Glorious Pysician
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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
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Defending Constantine
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Dialogues on Love and Friendship
by Plato
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Dictionary of the Roman Empire
by Matthew Bunson
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Discourses of Epictetus
by Epictetus
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Walter J. Black Classics Club
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Early Church
by George Hodges
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Early History of Rome
by Livy
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Echo of Greece
by Edith Hamilton
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Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs
by Colleen Manassa, editor
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eclogues and Georgics
Dover Thrift Editions
by Virgil
from Dover Publications
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Egypt: Gods, Myths and Religion
by Lucia Gahlin
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Egyptian Religion
by Sir Wallis Budge
from G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.
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Euclid's Elements
by Euclid & Sir Thomas Heath (translator)
2nd edition from Green Lion Press
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$29.95
Euripides I
by Euripides
from University of Chicago
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Euripides III
by Euripides
2nd edition from University of Chicago
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Euripides: The Trojan Women and Hippolytus
by Euripides
from Dover Publications
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$2.50
First Houses: Native American Homes and Sacred Structures
by Jean Guard Monroe, Ray A. Williamson, illustrated by Susan Johnston Carlson
from Houghton Mifflin
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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
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$4.00 (2 in stock)
Five Great Dialogues of Plato
by Plato
2nd edition from Walter J. Black, Inc.
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
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Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
2nd edition from Kregel Publications
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Flames of Rome
by Paul L. Maier
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Flowers of Adonis
by Rosemary Sutcliff
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Foxe's Book of Martyrs
by John Foxe
from Bridge-Logos
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$18.99
Gallic War
by Julius Caesar, translated by H. J. Edwards
from Dover Publications
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Gorgias
Penguin Classics
by Plato
from Penguin Classics
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$10.00
Gorgias
Oxford World's Classics
by Plato
from Oxford University
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
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Great Dialogues of Plato
Signet Classics
by Plato
from Signet Classics
Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
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Great Lion of God
by Taylor Caldwell
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Greek Lives
by Plutarch, translated by Robin Waterfield
1st Reissue from Oxford University
Biography for 11th-Adult
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Greek Tragedies I
by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore
from University of Chicago
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Greek Treasure
by Irving Stone
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
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Greek World
by Peter Levi
1st edition from Dutton Adult
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Hannibal
Makers of History Series
by Jacob Abbott
from Yesterday's Classics
for 7th-12th grade
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$12.95
Heroes of the City of Man
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$25.00
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Aubrey De Sélincourt)
from Penguin Classics
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$13.00
Histories
Everyman's Library
by Herodotus (translation by George Rawlinson)
from Everyman's Library
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by Robin Waterfield)
from Oxford University
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Histories
Penguin Classics
by Herodotus (translation by David Grene)
from University of Chicago
Historical Non-Fiction for 10th-Adult
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$16.00
History of the Ancient World - Study & Teaching Guide
by Julia Kaziewicz
1st edition from Well-Trained Mind Press
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History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Penguin Classics
by Edward Gibbon
from Penguin Putnam
Historical Non-Fiction for 11th-Adult
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History of the Medieval World - Study & Teaching Guide
by Julia Kaziewicz
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I, Claudius
by Robert Graves
from International Collectors Library
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Iliad
Everyman's Library
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
$23.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
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$20.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Ancient Literature for 11th-Adult
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$17.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fagles)
from Penguin Putnam
for 11th-Adult
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$18.00
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Stanley F. Lombardo)
from Hackett Publishing Company
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Iliad
by Homer (translation by Robert Fitzgerald)
from Franklin Library
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
Iliad
by Homer (translation by Caroline Alexander)
from Ecco Press
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$19.99
Iliad
Signet Classics
by Homer (translation by W.H.D. Rouse), Afterword by Adam Nicolson
from Signet Classics
Ancient Literature for 9th-Adult
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$6.95
Iliad of Homer
by Homer (translation by Richmond Lattimore)
from University of Chicago
Ancient Literature/Epic Poetry for 9th-Adult
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$15.00
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