Were the Romans who watched brutal gladiatorial games all that different from us? This book argues they were not.

Finalist • PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing “An inventive, fast-paced look at what have become our modern shrines in a sports-obsessed society.” —Tom Verducci In this “addictive” (Publishers Weekly) romp, intrepid sportswriter Rafi Kohan finagles access to our most beloved fields to find out just what makes them tick: from old-timer Wrigley, creakily adjusting to the twenty-first century, to the oversized monstrosity of Jerry’s World in Dallas. Investigating harrowing logistics and deeply ingrained traditions, Kohan employs his infectious “wit and style” (Christian Science Monitor) to expose the realities of building and maintaining these commercial cathedrals of sports worship. “Highly compelling” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), The Arena is a must-read for superfans, shameless bandwagoners, athletes, groundskeepers, culture junkies, and anyone who’s ever headed off eagerly to the ballpark to catch a game.

People and Institutions in the Roman Empire examines the lived experience of individuals withinRoman state and social institutions including army, law, religion, arena, and baths. In so doingit contextualizes Garrett Fagan’s contributions to our understanding of Roman history.

About the sting operation used by the Dept. of Justice to catch Russian hackers who were gaining control of computers and stealing private data from victims in the United States.

In 2016 two surprising explosions of popular contempt for the existing order drove Britain into Brexit and paved the way for Trump’s presidency of the United States. On both sides of the Atlantic, proud regimes with global pretensions were levelled by justifiable revolts. But in the name of self-government, Brexit and Trump will intensify the authoritarian traditions of their outdated political systems. The Lure of Greatness is a blistering account of how and why this happened. The shadow of Iraq, the great financial crash, campaigns of poison and intrigue, the filleting of David Cameron with the cold fury of a Remain voter... these are just the start. At the book’s heart is the story of the institutional and constitutional implosion of the United Kingdom, the farce of ‘the sovereignty of parliament’, a passionate account of English nationalism and the absurdity of the ever-increasing and insidious influence of the Daily Mail. What emerges is a compelling summary of an EU in crisis, the fateful absence of a viable left alternative, the normality of immigration – all of which frame the reasons for the triumph of Leave. Anthony Barnett, co-founder of openDemocracy, applies a lifetime of observing, reporting and sedition in this searing analysis of the two great democratic disasters of our time.

Ten leading scholars of ancient warfare offer new insights on several aspects of military activity from the Later Bronze Age to the Roman Empire. They make significant contributions to understanding warfare on land and sea, to the social and economic aspects of war, and to battlefield experience. The studies illustrate the ways in which technology, innovation, cultural exchange and tactical developments transformed ancient warfare. Papers survey the armies of Assyria and Persia, the important role of navies and money in transforming Greek warfare, and how Romans learned to fight as soldiers and generals. New Perspectives on Ancient Warfare will inspire debate for years to come about the military systems of the ancient world. Contributors are Garrett Fagan, Matthew Trundle, Fernando Rey, Robin Archer, Chris Tuplin, Hans Van Wees, Louis Rawlings, Peter Krentz, Nathan Rosenstein and David Potter

In this book, the author draws on two original sources, on a Greek biographer, historian, and rhetorician, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, as well as on Pompeian domestic art and architecture. Generally, NT scholars read texts, but Greeks and ancient Romans loved beauty. The walls and floors of their houses were decorated with thousands of colorful frescoes and mosaics, art that two millennia later is still on display in Pompeii. Christians lived and worshipped in those typical houses; relating the art to NT texts generates many intriguing new questions! What stories/myths did Greeks and Romans see every day? What were their sports, and how violent were they? Many NT scholars know as much or more Latin than they do Greek, and they therefore cite the Latin historian Livy rather than the Greek Dionysius, who wrote a century before the first Christian historian, Luke. Dionysius’ rhetoric expressed values shared across cultures, by Greeks, Romans, and Jews (e.g., by the historian—and rhetorician—Josephus), some values that Luke also shares. Dionysius makes clear that cities and ethnic groups had to praise how they treated emigrant foreigners, questions handled differently by Josephus and by Luke. This enables new interpretations of Jesus’ inaugural speech in Luke 4 and of Peter’s second Pentecost speech in Acts 10.