Ancient

Publisher's Summary The creator of the massively popular, award-winning podcast series The History of Rome brings to life the story of the tumultuous years that set the stage for the fall of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. After its founding in 509 BCE, the Romans refused to allow a single leader to seize control of the state and grab absolute power. The Roman commitment to cooperative government and peaceful transfers of power was unmatched in the history of the ancient world. But by the year 133 BCE, the republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome now ruled. Almost as soon as they had conquered the Mediterranean, Rome became engulfed in violent political conflicts and civil wars that would destroy the Republic less than a century later. Chronicling the years 133-80 BCE, The Storm Before the Storm is a rollicking deep dive into the bloody battles, political machinations, and human drama that defined a dangerous new political environment - a stark warning for modern listeners about what happens to a civilization driven by increasing economic inequality, political polarization, and ruthless ambition. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio. ©2017 Mike Duncan (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Publisher's Summary Graham Hancock's multimillion best seller Fingerprints of the Gods remains an astonishing, deeply controversial, wide-ranging investigation of the mysteries of our past and the evidence for Earth's lost civilization. Twenty years on, Hancock returns with the sequel to his seminal work, filled with completely new scientific and archaeological evidence, which has only recently come to light.... Near the end of the last ice age, 12,800 years ago, a giant comet that had entered the solar system from deep space thousands of years earlier broke into multiple fragments. Some of these struck the Earth, causing a global cataclysm on a scale unseen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. At least eight of the fragments hit the North American ice cap while further fragments hit the Northern European ice cap. The impacts, from comet fragments a mile wide approaching at more than 60,000 miles an hour, generated huge amounts of heat that instantly liquidized millions of square kilometers of ice, destabilizing the Earth's crust and causing the global deluge that is remembered in myths all around the world. A second series of impacts, equally devastating, causing further cataclysmic flooding, occurred 11,600 years ago - the exact date that Plato gave for the destruction and submergence of Atlantis. The evidence revealed in this book shows beyond reasonable doubt that an advanced civilization that flourished during the Ice Age was destroyed in the global cataclysms between 12,800 and 11,600 years ago. But there were survivors - known to later cultures by names such as "the Sages", "the Magicians", "the Shining Ones", and "the Mystery Teachers of Heaven". They travelled the world in their great ships, doing all in their power to keep the spark of civilization burning. They settled at key locations - Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, Baalbek in the Lebanon, Giza in Egypt, ancient Sumer, Mexico, Peru, and across the Pacific, where a huge pyramid has recently been discovered in

Publisher's Summary A lively and engaging narrative history showing the common threads in the cultures that gave birth to our own. This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled. The result is an engrossing tapestry of human behavior from which we may draw conclusions about the direction of world events and the causes behind them. Download the accompanying reference guide. ©2007 Susan Wise Bauer (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Publisher's Summary Language, in its seemingly infinite varieties, tells us who we are and where we come from. Many linguists believe that all of the world’s languages - over 7,000 currently - emerged from a single prehistoric source. While experts have not yet been able to reproduce this proto-language, most of the world’s current languages can be traced to various language families that have branched and divided, spreading across the globe with migrating humans and evolving over time. The ability to communicate with the spoken word is so prevelant that we have yet to discover a civilization that does not speak. The fitful preservation of human remains throughout history has made tracing the ultimate origin of sophisticated human cultures difficult, but it is assumed that language is at least 300,000 years old. With so much time comes immense change - including the development of the written word. There’s no doubt that over centuries, numerous languages have been born, thrived, and died. So how did we get here, and how do we trace the many language branches back to the root? In Language Families of the World , Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University takes you back through time and around the world, following the linguistic trails left by generations of humans that lead back to the beginnings of language. Utilizing historical theories and cutting-edge research, these 34 astonishing lectures will introduce you to the major language families of the world and their many offspring, including a variety of languages that are no longer spoken but provide vital links between past and present. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. ©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLC

Publisher's Summary The second volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize - winning series The Story of Civilization. Volume 2 chronicles the history of ancient Greek civilization. Here Durant tells the whole story of Greece from the days of Crete's vast Aegean empire to the final extirpation of the last remnants of Greek liberty, crushed under the heel of an implacably forward-marching Rome. The dry minutiae of battles and sieges, of tortuous statecraft of tyrant and king, get minor emphasis in what is preeminently a vivid recreation of Greek culture, brought to the listener through the medium of supple, vigorous prose. In this masterful work, listeners will learn about: The siege of Troy The great city-states of Athens and Sparta The heroes of Homer's epics The gods and lesser deities of Mount Olympus The teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle The empire of Alexander the Great ©1966 Will Durant (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Publisher's Summary From the schism between Rome and Constantinople to the rise of the T'ang Dynasty, from the birth of Muhammad to the crowning of Charlemagne, this erudite book tells the fascinating, often violent story of kings, generals, and the peoples they ruled. In her earlier work, The History of the Ancient World , Susan Wise Bauer wrote of the rise of kingship based on might. But in the years between the fourth and the 12th centuries, rulers had to find new justification for their power, and they turned to divine truth or grace to justify political and military action. Right thus replaces might as the engine of empire. Not just Christianity and Islam but the religions of the Persians and the Germans, and even Buddhism, are pressed into the service of the state. This phenomenon---stretching from the Americas all the way to Japan---changes religion, but it also changes the state. ©2010 Susan Wise Bauer (P)2010 Tantor

Publisher's Summary Here is the much-anticipated new translation of Virgil's epic poem from the award-winning translator Robert Fagles.   The publication of a new translation by Fagles is a literary event. His translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and have become the standard translations of our era. Now, with this stunning modern verse translation, Fagles has reintroduced Virgil's Aeneid to a whole new generation, and completed the classical triptych at the heart of Western civilization. The Aeneid is a sweeping epic of arms and heroism and a searching portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and the force of his own destiny. Here, Fagles brings to life the timeless journey of Aeneas as he flees the ashes of Troy to found Roman society and change forever the course of the Western world. Fagles' translation retains all of the gravitas and humanity of the original as well as its powerful blend of poetry and myth.   PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.    ©2006 Robert Fagles (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.

Publisher's Summary The third volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Caesar and Christ chronicles the history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325. In this masterful work, listeners will learn about: The Etruscan civilization of ancient Italy The birth of the Roman Republic and the beginnings of Roman law The great reigns of Caesar and Antony The people of Rome - the artisans, tradesmen, and scientists The places of Rome's great empire The beginnings of Christianity and its growth The rise of Constantine and the fall of the empire ©2011 Will Durant (P)2014 Blackstone Audio