Challenging the stereotypes and myths that typically characterize students' understanding of antiquity, Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations: From Prehistory to 640 CE, Third Edition, focuses on continuity and connections, along with cultural diffusion and cultural diversity, to show how history is a cumulative process and that numerous similar themes recur in different times and places. The text also explores sensitive issues and debates including attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and tolerance; gender issues and roles; slavery; social mobility; religion; political evolution; the nature of government; and imperialism.

Ralph W. Mathisen is Professor of History, Classics, and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has authored, edited, or coedited thirteen books and has published 100 scholarly articles. He is a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society, founding editor of the Journal of Late Antiquity, and Director of the Biographical Database for Late Antiquity Project.

Special Features
Preface
Note on Spelling and Pronunciation
About the Author
PART I. THE ORIGINS OF HISTORY
1. Civilization Before Civilization (2,000,000-3000 BCE)
PART II. THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
2. Mesopotamia and the Bronze Age (6000-1200 BCE)
3. Egypt and the Bronze Age (5000-1200 BCE)
4. Coastal Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean (2500-800 BCE)
5. Iron Age Empires: Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia (850-500 BCE)
PART III. THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD
6. Greece in the Dark and Archaic Ages (1100-500 BCE)
7. Sparta, Athens, and the Classical Age (500-387 BCE)
8. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (387-31 BCE)
9. Civilization beyond the Near East, Greece, and Rome (2300-31 BCE)
PART IV. THE ANCIENT ROMAN WORLD
10. The Rise of Rome and the Roman Republic (753-120 BCE)
11. Crisis, Recovery, and the Creation of the Principate (150-21 BCE)
12. The Roman Peace (27 BCE-192 CE)
PART V. THE WORLD OF LATE ANTIQUITY
13. Crisis, Recovery, and the Creation of the Late Roman Empire (192-337)
14. The Christian Empire and the Late Roman World (337-476)
15. The End of Antiquity (476-640)
Credits
Glossary
Index