This book is designed to describe the environmental, political, socioeconomic, and military life of the inhabitants that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea from the fourth through the second centuries BC. This story relates the complex dynamic interrelationships among the people and states of the Mediterranean basin. The book explores the greater Mediterranean world that stretched from India to Spain. It begins with a review of some of the geographical, environmental, and structural characteristics of the Mediterranean basin. The balance of the book then proceeds to trace the political, military, and economic development of this region. We review the rise of Macedon under Philip II through the conquests of Alexander the Great. In the eastern basin, the development and conflicts of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Antigonid dynasties are then traced. We then turn the page and discuss the rise of Carthage and Rome as republics in the western basin. Next, the conflict between these two powers is analyzed which leaves Rome supreme in the west. The next chapters narrate the struggle between Rome and the Hellenistic kingdoms for dominance in the east. The book concludes with Roman supremacy established throughout the Mediterranean by the end of the second century. From the apex conqueror of antiquity Alexander the Great, we conclude with the establishment of the apex empire that was Rome.

This book is designed to describe the environmental, political, socioeconomic, and military life of the inhabitants that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea from the fourth through the second centuries BC. This story relates the complex dynamic interrelationships among the people and states of the Mediterranean basin. The book explores the greater Mediterranean world that stretched from India to Spain. It begins with a review of some of the geographical, environmental, and structural characteristics of the Mediterranean basin. The balance of the book then proceeds to trace the political, military, and economic development of this region. We review the rise of Macedon under Philip II through the conquests of Alexander the Great. In the eastern basin, the development and conflicts of the Hellenistic kingdoms of the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Antigonid dynasties are then traced. We then turn the page and discuss the rise of Carthage and Rome as republics in the western basin. Next, the conflict between these two powers is analyzed which leaves Rome supreme in the west. The next chapters narrate the struggle between Rome and the Hellenistic kingdoms for dominance in the east. The book concludes with Roman supremacy established throughout the Mediterranean by the end of the second century. From the apex conqueror of antiquity Alexander the Great, we conclude with the establishment of the apex empire that was Rome.

The alienation of the people from the government and society itself can be seen as a result of the Hellenistic transformation. It can also be seen within the art of the period. Scholars, artists, and philosophers began rejecting the collective ideals, and instead, they focused on the cult of the individual.

"A major contribution to the study of Roman imperialism and ancient international relations."—John Rich, University of Nottingham

Books XXXI to XLV cover the years from 201 b.c. to 167 b.c., when Rome emerged as ruler of the Mediterranean.

Presents a history of the Roman Republic within the wider Mediterranean world, focusing on 330 to 30 BCE Broad in scope, this book uniquely considers the history of the Roman Republic in tandem with the rich histories of the Hellenistic kingdoms and city-states that endured after the death of Alexander the Great. It provides students with a full picture of life in the ancient Mediterranean world and its multitude of interconnections—not only between Rome and the Greek East, but also among other major players, such as Carthage, Judaea, and the Celts. Taking a mostly chronological approach, it incorporates cultural change alongside political developments so that readers get a well-balanced introduction to the era. The Roman Republic and the Hellenistic Mediterranean: From Alexander to Caesar offers great insight into a momentous era with chapters on Alexanders in Asia and Italy; Mediterranean Cosmopolitanism; The Path of Pyrrhus; The Three Corners of Sicily; The Expanding Roman Horizon; Hercules and the Muses; The Corinth-Carthage Coincidence; The Movements of the Gracchi; The New Men of Rome and Africa; The Conspiracies of Cicero and Catiline; The World According to Pompey; Roman Alexanders; and more. It also looks at the phenomenon of excessive violence, particularly in the cases of Marius, Sulla, and Mithridates. The final chapter covers the demise of Cleopatra and examines how the seeds planted by Octavian, Octavia, and Antony sprouted into full Hellenistic trappings of power for the centuries that followed. Situates the development of Rome, after the death of Alexander the Great, in the context of significant contemporaneous regimes in Asia Minor, the Levant, and Egypt Provides students with insight into how various societies respond to contact and how that contact can shape and create larger communities Highlights the interconnectedness of Mediterranean cultures Strikes a balance between political, geopolitical, and cultural inquiries Considers how modes of international diplomacy affect civilizations Includes helpful pedagogical features, such as sources in translation, illustrations, and further readings Roman Republic and the Hellenistic Mediterranean is an excellent book for undergraduate courses on the Roman Republic, the Hellenistic World, and the ancient Mediterranean.

By the third century BC, the once-modest settlement of Rome had conquered most of Italy and was poised to build an empire throughout the Mediterranean basin. What transformed a humble city into the preeminent power of the region? In The Rise of Rome, the historian and archaeologist Kathryn Lomas reconstructs the diplomatic ploys, political stratagems, and cultural exchanges whereby Rome established itself as a dominant player in a region already brimming with competitors. The Latin world, she argues, was not so much subjugated by Rome as unified by it. This new type of society that emerged from Rome’s conquest and unification of Italy would serve as a political model for centuries to come. Archaic Italy was home to a vast range of ethnic communities, each with its own language and customs. Some such as the Etruscans, and later the Samnites, were major rivals of Rome. From the late Iron Age onward, these groups interacted in increasingly dynamic ways within Italy and beyond, expanding trade and influencing religion, dress, architecture, weaponry, and government throughout the region. Rome manipulated preexisting social and political structures in the conquered territories with great care, extending strategic invitations to citizenship and thereby allowing a degree of local independence while also fostering a sense of imperial belonging. In the story of Rome’s rise, Lomas identifies nascent political structures that unified the empire’s diverse populations, and finds the beginnings of Italian peoplehood.