The Byzantine Empire, founded by Constantine as the core of power in the East, began to flourish in the fifth century AD, yet its culture and history are still not as well-known as that of the Western and Roman Empire. InFrom Rome to ByzantiumMichael Grant provides a fresh insight into the nature of the Byzantine Empire in the fifth century, and the history of invasion prior to the genesis of the Empire. In this lavishly illustrated book, Grant examines a comparatively unexplored area and constructs the history of an empire which rivals the former richness and diversity of ancient Rome.
A Perfect Red - Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire
Pirates! Kings! Beautiful ladies! Daring spies! Elements essential for a page-turning action/adventure thriller, yes, but who would think they'd turn up in a scholarly examination of a little-known substance called cochineal? It is responsible for producing that elusive shade of red deemed vital for dyeing royalty's robes, and the quest for this coveted resource involved some of history's most infamous episodes and ignoble scoundrels.
At its peak in the early 20th century, Britain's empire was the largest in the history of the world, greater even than that of ancient Rome. It embraced more than a fourth of the world's population and affected the course of Western civilization in ways almost too numerous to imagine.
Even today, with the advantages of historical perspective and hindsight, it is still nearly impossible to overstate the scope and importance of its stunning legacy.
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire will give you a refreshing new understanding of what made the British Empire both great in its achievements and vulnerable to its eventual downfall.
In 300 C.E. the Roman Empire stretched from Britain to Mesopotamia, from the North Sea to the Sahara Desert. A mere three hundred years later the Roman imperial structure was gone, replaced by a series of barbarian kingdoms that became the basis of Europe's eventual medieval and modern states. In this anthology Thomas F.X. Noble presents a collection of key articles, written by leading scholars over the last twenty years, that examine how and why the dominance of the Roman Empire ended and how new forms of government and society were established.
Over hundreds of years, the Romans built an empire. As they occupied the countries around them, they took with them their skills as builders and their language, laws and lifestyle. They changed the western world. But who were the Romans? How did they live? How were they ruled? How did they build their empire – and how did they lose it?
