Which are the best ancient history books? For a greater understanding of that long ago time, we've turned to some of the leading experts of the era to recommend the best books ever written on ancient history. Historians, including Peter Brown, Robin Lane Fox and Mary Beard, have all been kind enough to recommend books. Our interview with Oxford's emeritus professor Chris Pelling, on Ancient Greece, is a perennial favourite on the site and his book co-authored with Marina Wyke, Twelve Voices, highly recommended as a way of getting into the literature of the Latin and Greek worlds.
(If you want to read either literature or primary sources in the original, we have books recommendations for learning both Latin and Ancient Greek filed under 'Classical Studies'.)
The best books on Ancient Greece, recommended by Christopher Pelling
Ancient Greece’s legacy can be seen all around us, including in our political system — but many of us don’t know that much about it. Fortunately, we have someone who has devoted his life to studying this remote time and place to give us a reading list. Chris Pelling, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford, recommends his top five books on Ancient Greece.
The Best Classics Books for Teenagers, recommended by Olly Murphy (Wycombe Abbey)
Caesar, Cicero, Achilles, Socrates, Plato: millennia later, we still talk about them. Olly Murphy, classics teacher at Wycombe Abbey, one of England’s top girls’ schools, recommends books and explains why classics remains one of the most exciting subjects for teenagers to study.
The Best Augustine Books, recommended by Catherine Conybeare
Christianity has been profoundly influenced by Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), but the fifth-century North African bishop has impacted almost every area of western thought: philosophy, theology, political theory, linguistics, and rhetoric. His Confessions is one of the most recommended titles on Five Books, but is it really the first autobiography? Professor Catherine Conybeare introduces us to the life, thought, and personality of this controversial yet brilliant figure. She picks the best books to learn more about St. Augustine and explores how he has been unfairly maligned.
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Hieroglyphs: A Very Short Introduction
by Penelope Wilson -
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Hieroglyphics: The Writings of Ancient Egypt
by Maria Betro -
3
The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition
by Erik Iversen -
4
Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts
by Andrew Robinson -
5
The Dawning Moon of the Mind: Unlocking the Pyramid Texts
by Susan Brind Morrow
The best books on Hieroglyphics, recommended by Diane Greco Josefowicz
The best books on Hieroglyphics, recommended by Diane Greco Josefowicz
Reading the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt reveals much about the worldview of a civilisation that rose to prominence 5000 years ago and flourished for thousands of years. Here, intellectual historian Diane Greco Josefowicz—whose book, The Riddle of the Rosetta, co-written with Jed Buchwald, tells the story of how the meaning of the hieroglyphs was deciphered in 19th century France—recommends the best books to learn more about hieroglyphics.
The best books on Sparta, recommended by Andrew Bayliss
Their reputation for self-discipline and self-denial made their way into the English language, but what the ancient Spartans were really like remains a source of debate among scholars, not least because they wrote little themselves. Andrew Bayliss, Senior Lecturer in Greek History at the University of Birmingham and author of an excellent, short book on The Spartans, talks us through what we know about the heroes of Thermopylae, including the darker sides of their culture and society.
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Et Tu, Brute? The Murder of Caesar and Political Assassination
by Greg Woolf -
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American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964
by William Manchester -
3
Caesar and Cleopatra
by George Bernard Shaw -
4
The Complete Works of Julius Caesar
by Julius Caesar -
5
Imperial Projections in Modern Popular Culture
by Sandra R. Joshel (Ed)
The best books on Julius Caesar, recommended by Peter Stothard
The best books on Julius Caesar, recommended by Peter Stothard
Julius Caesar was a populist politician and general of the late Roman Republic who immortalized himself not only by his beautiful writing about his military exploits, but also by the manner of his death. Here, British journalist and critic Peter Stothard, author of The Last Assassin, chooses five books to help you understand both the man and what motivated him and some of the people who have been inspired by him in the 2,000 years since he died.
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The Persian Empire
by J M Cook -
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Discovering Cyrus: a Persian Conqueror Astride the Ancient World
by Reza Zaghamee -
3
The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
by Amélie Kuhrt -
4
The Palace of Darius at Susa: The Great Royal Residence of Achaemenid Persia
by Jean Perrot -
5
Creation
by Gore Vidal
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
The best books on The Achaemenid Persian Empire, recommended by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
At the height of its greatness, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire the world had ever known. Too often it is given merely a villainous walk-on part in the heroic history of classical Greece. Here, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explains why that needs correcting, looks at its cultural achievements and discusses why the first Persian empire is worth studying in its own right and on its own terms.
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Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica
by Arrian -
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The History of Alexander
by Quintus Curtius Rufus -
3
The First European: A History of Alexander in the Age of Empire
by Pierre Briant -
4
The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period
by Amélie Kuhrt -
5
Fire from Heaven: A Novel of Alexander the Great
by Mary Renault
The best books on Alexander the Great, recommended by Hugh Bowden
The best books on Alexander the Great, recommended by Hugh Bowden
Alexander the Great never lost a battle and established an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the Indian subcontinent. From the earliest times, historians have argued about the nature of his achievements and what his failings were, both as a man and as a political leader. Here, Hugh Bowden, professor of ancient history at King’s College London, chooses five books to help you understand the controversies, the man behind the legends, and why the legends have taken the forms they have.
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The Social And Economic History Of Roman Empire
by Michael Rostovtzeff -
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A History of Education in Antiquity
by Henri-Irénée Marrou -
3
Philosophy as a Way of Life
by Pierre Hadot -
4
Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam
by GW Bowersock -
5
Pauvreté économique et pauvreté sociale à Byzance
by Evelyne Patlagean
The best books on Late Antiquity, recommended by Peter Brown
The best books on Religious and Social History in the Ancient World, recommended by Robin Lane Fox
Cultural and philosophical changes that occurred in late antiquity are essential to our understanding of the world today, but few us know much about that period. Historian Robin Lane Fox recommends the best books to read to get a good sense of late antiquity.
The best books on Socrates, recommended by M M McCabe
The classical Greek philosopher is credited with laying the foundation of Western philosophy – without ever having written a word. Here, the eminent scholar M M McCabe recommends the best books to read to understand Socrates and engage with the eternal question: How best to live?
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The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives
by Ian Scott-Kilvert & Plutarch -
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The Greek Alexander Romance
by Richard Stoneman -
3
Atticus
by Cornelius Nepos & Nicholas Horsfall -
4
Agricola
by Harold Mattingly, James Rives & Tacitus -
5
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
Diogenes Laertius (ed. James Miller, trans. Pamela Mensch)
The best books on Leadership (from Ancient Greece and Rome), recommended by Jeffrey Beneker
The best books on Leadership (from Ancient Greece and Rome), recommended by Jeffrey Beneker
Whatever modern leadership books may say about what’s required to be a good leader, for the ancients there was only one vital requirement: studying philosophy. Jeffrey Beneker, Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, talks us through what ancient biographies reveal about how to be a leader.
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Catiline’s War, The Jugurthine War, Histories
Sallust (trans. AJ Woodman) -
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Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Text, Translation, and Commentary
by Alison Cooley (editor) & Augustus -
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Rome's Cultural Revolution
by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill -
4
The Neighborhoods of Augustan Rome
by J. Bert Lott -
5
Augustan Culture
by Karl Galinsky
The best books on Augustus, recommended by Peter Wiseman
The best books on Augustus, recommended by Peter Wiseman
Is it possible that Augustus was not the first Roman emperor, but the last of Rome’s great populist champions? That’s what classicist Peter Wiseman argues in his book, The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story. Drawing on a lifetime of research and writing on this period, the emeritus professor of classics and ancient history gives a brilliant overview of the Augustan age, and recommends what to read to better understand the adopted son of Julius Caesar, who found Rome in brick and left it in marble.
The best books on Thucydides, recommended by Johanna Hanink
The Greek historian and general Thucydides wanted his History of the Peloponnesian War “to be a possession for all time.” In that, he’s been remarkably successful, with his name still echoing in the corridors of power. But what lessons should we take away from his great work? Translator and classicist Johanna Hanink talks us through books to better understand Thucydides and the mythical Athens he lived in and wrote about.
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Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt
by Jan Assmann -
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Visual and written culture in ancient Egypt
by John Baines -
3
The Chapel of Ptahhotep
by Paolo J. Scremin & Yvonne M. Harpur -
4
Village Life in Ancient Egypt
by Andrea McDowell -
5
The Tale of Sinuhe and other ancient Egyptian poems
by Richard Parkinson