Preface
Chapter 1
Origins
ca. 400,000–1100 b.c.e.
1-1 A Mesopotamian Creation Myth
ca. 2000-1000 b.c.e.
1-2 The Code of Hammurabi
ca. 1780 b.c.e.
1-3 A Hymn to the Nile
ca. 1350-1100 b.c.e.
1-4 The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Declaration of Innocence
ca. 2100-1800 b.c.e.
Chapter 2
Small Kingdoms and Mighty Empires in the Near East
ca. 1100–513 b.c.e.
2-1 Book of Genesis: The Hebrews Explain Creation
ca. 950-450 b.c.e.
2-2 Book of Exodus: Moses Descends Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments
ca. 950-450 b.c.e.
2-3 Sennacherib, King of Assyria
Jerusalem Besieged
701 b.c.e.
2-4 Inscription Honoring Cyrus, King of Persia
ca. 550 b.c.e.
Chapter 3
Classical Greece
ca. 1650–338 b.c.e.
3-1 Homer
From Odyssey: Odysseus is Rescued
ca. 800 b.c.e.
3-2 Aristophanes
From The Clouds
ca. 410 b.c.e.
3-3 Thales, Anaximander, Empedocles, and Democritus
The Pre-Socratic Philosophers Seek Answers
ca. 500 b.c.e.- 250 c.e.
3-4 Plato
From The Republic: On the Equality of Women
ca. 380 b.c.e.
Chapter 4
The Hellenistic World
336–146 b.c.e.
4-1 On the Burial of Alexander and Hephaestion: Ephippus of Olynthus Remembers Alexander the Great
ca. 323 b.c.e.
4-2 Diogenes Laertes
On Hipparchia, A Woman of Intellectual Merit
ca. 300-200 b.c.e.
4-3 Epicurus
The Principal Doctrines of Epicureanism
ca. 306 b.c.e.
4-4 Cleomedes
Concerning the Circular Motion of the Heavenly Bodies: Eratosthenes Computes the Earth's Circumference
ca. 230 b.c.e.
Chapter 5
The Rise of Rome
ca. 750–44 b.c.e.
5-1 Livy
The Rape of Lucretia
ca. 27-25 b.c.e.
5-2 Manumissions of Hellenistic Slaves: The Process of Freedom
ca. 167-101 b.c.e.
5-3 Seneca
The Sounds of a Roman Bath
ca. 50 c.e.
5-4 Plutarch
On Julius Caesar, A Man of Unlimited Ambition
ca. 44 b.c.e.
5-5 Cicero
From Philippius: Faint Praise for Antony
44 b.c.e.
Chapter 6
The Pax Romana
31 b.c.e.–c.e. 450
6-1 Augustus Caesar
From Res Gestae: Propaganda in the First Century C.E.
ca. 13 c.e.
6-2 Suetonius
On the Reign of Augustus Caesar
ca. 31 b.c.e. -14 c.e.
6-3 The Gospel According to Matthew: The Sermon on the Mount
28 c.e.
6-4 Eusebius
The Conversion of Constantine
312 c.e.
Chapter 7
Late Antiquity
350–600
7-1Emperor Justinian
From Corpus Juris Civilis: The Problem of Adultery
529-533
7-2 St. Ambrose of Milan
Emperor Theodosius Brought to Heel
390
7-3 Saint Benedict of Nursia
The Rule of Saint Benedict
529
7-4 Saint Augustine
From City of God: A Denunciation of Paganism
413-426
7-5 Tacitus
From Germania: Rome Encounters the Noble Savages
ca. 100
Chapter 8
Europe in the Early Middle Ages
600–1000
8-1 Muhammad
From the Qu’ran: Call for Jihad
ca. 650
8-2 Willibald
St. Boniface Destroys the Oak of Thor
ca. 750
8-3 Einhard
From Life of Charlemagne
ca. 835
8-4 A Russian Chronicle of Religious Competition in Kievan Rus
ca. 1100
Chapter 9
State and Church in the High Middle Ages
1000–1300
9-1 William the Conqueror and the Domesday Book
1086
9-2 King John of England
From Magna Carta: The Great Charter of Liberties
1215
9-3 Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV
Mutual Recriminations: The Investiture Controversy Begins
1076
9-4 Robert the Monk of Rheims,
Urban II at the Council of Clermont: A Call for Crusade
ca. 1120
Chapter 10
The Changing Life of the People in the High Middle Ages
10-1 On Laborers: A Dialogue Between Teacher and Student
ca.1000
10-2 The Law of Brusthem
1175
10-3 William of St. Thierry
On the Life of Saint Bernard
ca. 1140
10-4 Duke William of Aquitaine
On the Foundation of Cluny
909
Chapter 11
The Creativity and Challenges of Medieval Cities
11-1 The Commune of Florence
A Sumptuary Law: Restrictions on Dress
1373
11-2 Abbess Heloise of the Paraclete
A Letter to Abelard
ca. 1135
11-3 St. Thomas Aquinas
From Summa Theologica: On Dispensing the Eucharist
1268
11-4 Chrétien de Troyes
The Temptation of Sir Lancelot
ca. 1181
Chapter 12
The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
1300–1450
12-1 Giovanni Boccaccio
From The Decameron: The Plague Hits Florence
ca. 1350
12-2 Jehan Froissart,
The Sack of Limoges: On Warfare Without Chivalry
ca. 1400
12-3 The Trial of Joan of Arc
1431
12-4 Thomas á Kempis
From The Following of Christ: On True Charity
1418
Chapter 13
European Society in the Age of the Renaissance
1350–1550
13-1 Niccolo Machiavelli
From The Prince: Power Politics During the Italian Renaissance
1513
13-2 Thomas More
From Utopia: On Diplomatic Advice
1516
13-3 Christine de Pizan
From The Book of the City of Ladies: Advice for a Wise Princess
1404
13-4 Account of an Italian Jew Expelled from Spain
1495
Chapter 14
Reformations and Religious Wars
1500–1600
14-1 Desiderius Erasmus
From The Praise of Folly: On Popular Religious Practice
1509
14-2 Martin Luther
Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
1519
14-3 Imperial Diet of Augsburg
On the Religious Peace of Augsburg
1555
14-4 Nicholas de la Fontaine
The Trial of Michael Servetus in Calvin’s Geneva
1553
Chapter 15
European Exploration and Conquest
1450–1650
15-1 Ducas
From Historia Turcobyzantia: The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans
ca. 1465
15-2 Hernando Cortés
Two Letters to Charles V: On the Conquest of the Aztecs
1521
15-3 Alvise da Ca' da Mosto
Description of Capo Bianco and the Islands Nearest to It: Fifteenth-Century Slave Trade in West Africa
1455-1456
15-4 Michel de Montaigne
From Essays: On the Fallibility of Human Understanding
1580
Chapter 16
Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe
ca. 1589–1715
16-1 Henry IV
From Edict of Nantes: Limited Toleration for the Huguenots
1598
16-2 Jean-Baptiste Colbert
The Advantages of Colonial Trade
1664
16-3 Molière
From Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
1671
16-4 John Locke
From Second Treatise of Government: Vindication for the Glorious Revolution
1690
Chapter 17
Absolutism in Central and Eastern Europe to 1740
17-1 Ludwig Fabritius
The Revolt of Stenka Razin
1670
17-2 Frederick II (the Great) and Frederick William I
Letters Between A Son and Father
1728
17-3 A Song to Lost Lands: Russia’s Conquest by the Mongols
ca. 1240-1300
17-4 Peter the Great
Edicts and Decrees: Imposing Western Style on the Russians
1699-1723