Author Description

From its earliest beginnings thousands of years ago, the course of man’s progress has been measured by his empires. Large, dynamic flows of power, people, and culture that merge, thrive, then break apart - the pieces only to merge again in a new configuration, the process to be repeated. Through pictures and words, "Empires: Their Rise and Fall" brings the reader face to face with many of the world’s greatest empires. Full-color photographs are combined with an absorbing narrative in a lively historical account of each empire and an examination of the period’s most enduring cultural achievements. This volume in the series focuses on Ancient Egypt, and Alexander and the World of Hellenism. In light of the barbarism that has existed over the history of civilized man, it is remarkable how much of ancient societies remains. For the earliest civilizations, our knowledge begins with scanty, often mythological, lists of kings. In the temples of ancient Egypt, the prowess of the king is dramatized in battle, in receiving tributes of the vanquished, and in other ennobling pursuits that glorify his reign. The greater part of the scenes and texts represented in the temples, however, illustrates and describes the rituals performed by the king for the gods. Although the Egyptian kings are identified by name, their personalities rarely rise above their activities. Yet beneath the impression of cold anonymity, glimpses of individuals do, on occasion, emerge. In contrast, the literature and documents of Hellenistic society reveal a more complex society. The polyglot atmosphere of the cosmopolis not only gave rise to many tensions, but also fostered an environment that must have been both lively and stimulating. So it was that the new Macedonian dynasties in Greece, Syria, and Mesopotamia by slow degrees transformed the Western world, creating the new order of Hellenism. The legacies of Greece, Palestine and the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Egypt were incorporated into this new order.