A lively and accessible guide to the rich literary, philosophical and artistic achievements of the notorious age of Nero.

When Maurice takes the last chocolate chip cookie at the table and his mother tells him to offer it to everyone else first, he travels around the world and into space to fulfill that requirement.

Gibbon offers an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell, a task made difficult by a lack of comprehensive written sources, though he was not the only historian to tackle the subject. Most of his ideas are directly taken from what few relevant records were available: those of the Roman moralists of the 4th and 5th centuries.

Vol. 4 covers the late Roman period to the rise of Islam. Focuses especially on the growth and development of rabbinic Judaism and of the major classical rabbinic sources such as the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, Babylonian Talmud and various Midrashic collections.

The Christians and the Roman Empire overturns the myth of an unrelenting persecution of the subversive, Christian "outlaw." Using contemporary sources and authentic documents --including imperial edicts and records of the deeds of non-legendary martyrs--Marta Sordi shows that the conflict was primarily religious and almost never political. The Christians actually continued to profess their loyalty to the Roman Empire during the periods of persecution, and the Empire, which almost never thought of the Christians as a threat to security, often found itself acting simply as the secular arm of religious authorities during these periods of social and cultural intolerance.

Questions. We all have them, rattling around in the back of our minds. How did the country get to be like this? We have a government thats repeatedly paralyzed by a Congress and president constantly at odds. We have a monster bureaucracy churning out an avalanche of new medical regulations. We have a shooting war thats been going on since 9/11 a war in which our terrorist enemies have struck at nations around the globe, and might eventually acquire nuclear weapons. And then theres the other war. In nearly every state, battles are being fought over issues which are central to the very fabric of life. Our societys basic building blocks marriage, family, the concept of morality itself have been turned into political footballs. This is a kind of war which has no end. More questions. How can all this be happening? We thought that two World Wars and a four-decade Cold War had settled everything. What is it, thats turning this world into a lunatic asylum? Is there any way to make sense out of it all? This book isnt about questions. The symbol on the front cover says just the opposite: Its about answers. And that includes answers to the biggest question of all. This book is about the war that never ends.

The transitory nature of the fourth century Roman Empire makes it a suitable candidate for at least four traditional categories: ancient, medieval, Byzantine, and early Christian history. This bibliography, containing 1,408 annotated entries, offers a comprehensive listing of twentieth century English language works on this subject. The book, divided into 11 chapters, covers works on the Roman Empire from A.D. 284 to 395. Topics covered include works of a general nature, politics and government, military matters, the sciences, society and art, foreign affairs and barbarians, religion and philosophy, Christianity, and church and state.