ANNUAL EDITIONS: Western Civilization, Volume 1, Fourteenth Edition
UNIT 1. The Earliest Civilizations1. Deciphering History, Andrew Robinson, History Today, August 2002
Andrew Robinson looks at some of the mysterious scripts, which have defied translation. We want to know what the Minoans, Etruscans, and Indus Valley people thought and wrote about. New! 2. The Pharaoh Returns! King Tut, Richard Covington, Smithsonian, June 2005
A new traveling exhibition of the treasures of the boy-pharaoh, Tutankhamen, is examined as to the history of this fascinating period of the New Kingdom Egypt. From the time of Howard Carter’s first discovery of Tut’s tomb, a number of questions arose: Was his father Akhenaten?, How did he die? and What happened to his sister-wife, Ankhesenamun? Richard Covington discusses all the possibilities. New! 3. Journey to the Seven Wonders, Tony Perrottet, Smithsonian, June 2004
Though only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still stands, they still intrigue our imagination. Author Tony Perrottet details the Pyramids, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Why do these monuments still capture our thoughts after 2,000 years? 4. The Coming of the Sea Peoples, Neil Asher Silberman, Military History Quarterly, Winter 1998
About 1200 BC a new military force swept southward across the Aegean Sea and into Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Canaan—and even reached the borders of Egypt. Where were the “sea peoples,” and how did their weapons and tactics launch a military revolution in the ancient world? 5. Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death, Erika Bleibtreu, Biblical Archaeology Review, January/February 1991
Can an empire be maintained by violence? The Assyrians relied on destruction and devastation to conquer and control their subjects. Erika Bleibtreu chronicles the bloody policies of the Assyrian kings. 6. Fact or Fiction?, Stephen Goode, Insight, December 25, 2000
Some archaeologists are challenging the truth of the Old Testament history as to the truth and importance of Kings David and Solomon. Stephen Goode presents the case for and against the historicity of the Bible. UNIT 2. Greece and Rome: The Classical TraditionNew! 7. Was There a Trojan War?, Manfred Korfmann, Archaeology, May/June 2004
The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that Homer’s Iliad was accurate in its description of the ten-year war between the Greeks and Trojans. Manfred Korfmann, principal modern excavator of the site of Ilios or Troy, says that recent discoveries may change views about the most famous battle. New! 8. Xerxes’ Greek Campaign, Barry Porter, Military History, July 2005
Barry Porter recounts the dramatic encounter of King Xerxes and the Greeks in 480 BC. It was the efforts of the Athenian Themistocles that changed the course of history at the battle of Salamis. New! 9. Of the People, By the People, Simon Goldhill, U.S. News and World Report Special Edition, September 2004
Democracy was the most respected aspect of Athens in which every male citizen was able to hold any public office and attend meetings. Yet, as Simon Goldhill points out, the philosopher Plato had harsh criticisms of the system. What can we learn today from the past? New! 10. Mighty Macedonian: Alexander the Great, Richard Covington, Smithsonian, November 2004
His victories on the battlefield earned him the title Alexander the Great, but what were his motives? Were they to surpass his father, Philip II, or to win his mother, Olympias’ love that enabled him to conquer the Persian Empire? New! 11. Etruscan Women: Dignified, Charming, Literate, and Free, Ingrid D. Rowland, Odyssey, May/June 2004
The author tells us that the Etruscan Women’s freedom of action, appetite for wine, and their loose morals were scandalous to the Greeks and later, to the Romans. They were powerful, dignified, elegant, and aristocratic—and seemed to be the equals of men. New! 12. Childhood in the Roman Empire, Ray Laurence, History Today, October 2005
Ray Laurence explains how children were seen in ancient Rome and looks at some of the harsher aspects of childhood—sickness, violence, and endless work. Modern youth have much in common with Rome’s young men. 13. Celtic War Queen Who Challenged Rome, Margaret Donsbach, Military History, April 2004
Margaret Donsbach explains that Emperor Nero seriously miscalculated Boudica, Queen of the Iceni tribe. In 60 AD, when the emperor’s representative ordered Boudica flogged and her daughters raped, she took up arms. Her revolt saw the destruction of Colechester, London, and St. Albans, with the deaths of about 70,000 people before the Romans were able to defeat and kill Boudica. 14. The Great Jewish Revolt Against Rome, 66-73 CE, Neil Faulkner, History Today, October 2002
Neil Faulkner sees the origins of the Jewish War in the thoughts of a small, radical group of revolutionaries linked with a peasant majority’s hopes for land redistribution and less taxation. When a Roman procurator demanded Temple monies, a popular revolt broke out. UNIT 3. The Judeo-Christian Heritage15. The Legacy of Abraham, David Van Biema, Time, September 30, 2002
David Van Biema explains the reasons why the Jews and Muslims each claim Abraham as their father, as well as Christian reverence for him. The question is, can these people ever live in peace? New! 16. The Lost Goddess of Israel, Sandra Scham, Archaeology, March/April 2005
Sandra Scham discusses recent archaeological finds and a new book that says that early Hebrew religion may have been polytheistic in which Yahweh may have had a consort/wife, Asherah. New! 17. Behind the First Noel, David Van Biema, Time, December 13, 2004
David Biema considers many of the questions surrounding the birth of Jesus and how the story of Christ’s birth originated. He considers: Who were the wise men?, What about the star?, And is it possible Jesus was born in Nazareth? 18. Who the Devil Is the Devil?, Robert Wernick, Smithsonian, October 1999
The first development of evil in personal form was Ahriman, who fought for control of the world with Ahura Mazda, the Principle of Light, as described by the sixth-century B.C.E. Persian prophet Zoroaster. Later the Jews incorporated him as Satan, Christians as the Devil, and Muslims as Iblis. The question of why God created the Devil and his role in the medieval and present world are investigated by Robert Wernick. UNIT 4. Muslims and ByzantinesNew! 19. Adrianople: Last Great Battle of Antiquity, Joe Zentner, Military History, October 2005
Joe Zentner describes how Emperor Valens’ bad tactics resulted in his death and the triumph of cavalry over infantry at the Battle of Adrianople in 378 AD. This would permit an influx of Germanic peoples to the West, while the East did survive. 20. The Survival of the Eastern Roman Empire, Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell, History Today, November 1998
The Eastern Roman Empire had long-term advantages over the West: a strategically located capital, shorter frontiers, and a wealthier economic base. The first-century emperors evolved rules of imperial succession; control of top army commands; opposition to federate settlements; and a centralized pool of administrative, fiscal, and diplomatic experience. This enabled the East to avoid the destruction that happened in the Western Roman Empire. New! 21. The True Caliph of the Arabian Nights, Hugh Kennedy, History Today, September 2004
Hugh Kennedy examines the life and times of one of the most powerful men in the world, the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid. The vast and wealthy empire was the source of the later Arabian Nights tales. 22. Doctor, Philosopher, Renaissance Man, Caroline Stone, Saudi Aramco World, May/June 2003
Is it possible for one man to be adopted by a civilization other than his own and still be something very important to his own culture? Caroline Stone says that Ibn Rushd (Averroes) achieved that status as a famous medical pioneer, while in the West he was a philosopher and called the greatest transmitter of Plato and Aristotle to the West. UNIT 5. The Medieval Period23. The Ideal of Unity, Russell Chamberlin, History Today, November 2003
Although the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III on December 25, 800 AD was seen as illegal by the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman empire filled a void in Western Europe. Russell Chamberlin examines the origins and development of Europe’s persistent vision of unity from its birth to its fall. 24. The Most Perfect Man in History?, Barbara Yorke, History Today, October 1999
King Alfred of Wessex (871-899) is credited with protecting his lands from the Danes, promoting education, and creating a law code. His reputation remained so great that the English monarchs as well as men such as Thomas Jefferson associated themselves with Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon heritage. 25. An Iberian Chemistry, Fouad Ajami, U.S. News & World Report, August 16–23, 1999
Andalusia was a polyglot society in which Jews did particularly well. Fouad Ajami says that the tenth century was a golden age for Spain. 26. The Emergence of the Christian Witch, P. G. Maxwell-Stuart, History Today, November 2000
As Christianity rose it faced two problems—heresies and magic. The author traces the history whereby daimones—those who had fallen from grace—coupled with humans and produced the female witches of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 27. Lackland: The Loss of Normandy in 1204, Nick Barratt, History Today, March 2004
Although King Henry II of England and his son Richard I the Lionhearted are considered good rulers, Henry’s second son, John, truly does merit his bad reputation in history. Nick Barratt says it was John’s loss of Normandy in 1204 and his defeat at the Battle of Bovines in 1214 that brought about the creation of the Magna Carta. New! 28. The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, Jonathan Phillips, History Today, May 2004
What caused the knights of the Fourth Crusade to sack Constantinople and establish a Latin Empire that lasted from 1204 to 1261? Jonathan Phillips says that it was a clash of cultures—the Byzantines saw themselves as superior to the West and the Westerners saw the Byzantines as effeminate and duplicitous. 29. Saints or Sinners? The Knights Templar in Medieval Europe, Helen Nicholson, History Today, December 1994
The Order of the Temple (Knights Templar) was created to protect pilgrims traveling in the Holy Land. Over the years, the Order grew wealthy and powerful. Then, early in the fourteenth century, the king of France and the pope turned against the Knights Templar, alleging that they engaged in all manner of fraudulent financial schemes and religious malpractices. Helen Nicholson weighs the charges against the order. 30. How a Mysterious Disease Laid Low Europe’s Masses, Charles L. Mee Jr., Smithsonian, February 1990
The great Bubonic plague of the fourteenth century destroyed a third of Europe’s population and had profound psychological, social, religious, economic, and even artistic consequences. Charles Mee spells out the causes, symptoms, and effects of the epidemic that altered medieval life. UNIT 6. Renaissance and Reformation31. The Fall of Constantinople, Judith Herrin, History Today, June 2003
Although the Byzantine Empire in 1453 was a mere shadow of its former glory, it has survived for over a hundred years as the Ottoman Turks captured all the lands outside its walls. Judith Herrin describes how Sultan, Mechmet II was able to conquer Constantinople using new military techniques and strategies. 32. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, Michael Mullett, History Today, September 2003
Martin Luther became the founder of the Protestant Reformation with his posting of his Ninety-Fives Theses on the church door in Wittenburg in 1517. Michael Mullett recounts the evolution of Luther’s thought in the document, which was to challenge the Catholic Church. 33. Explaining John Calvin, William J. Bouwsma, The Wilson Quarterly, New Year’s 1989 Edition
John Calvin’s image in history is well established. The religious reformer has been credited with—or blamed for—promoting the capitalist work ethic, individualism, and Puritanism. But this biographer, William Bouwsma, says our image of Calvin as a cold, inflexible moralist is mistaken. According to the author, Calvin’s life and work were full of “the ambiguities, contradictions, and agonies” of a troubled time. New! 34. The Spanish Inquisition, Simon Lemieux, History Review, December 2002
Simon Lemieux reports that the Inquisition can be seen in several ways: as a method of imposing religious uniformity and eradicating any traces of heresy; as a method of increasing royal power as an educational tool for Spanish Catholics; or as a factor for cultural decay. New! 35. The Third Way, Phillip E.L. Greene, History Magazine, October/November 2004
Phillip Greene recounts the history of the Anabaptist movement in Europe. It began with the ideas of the Swiss theologian, Ulrich Zwingli, who rejected infant baptism in favor of adult baptism. However, Zwingli broke with his own followers and they went on to form the Moravian Brethern, Hutterites, Mennonites, and Amish. New! 36. Vlad Dracula’s War on the Turks, Will Romano, Military History, October 2003
Will Romano recounts the military exploits of one of the most famous anti-Turkish crusaders in history, Vlad Tepes. Ruling the area of Wallachia (Romania), Vlad tried to secure his land from the Turks as well as the Holy Roman Empire. In so doing, he gained one of the most famous reputations for vicious cruelty—unparalleled until modern times. 37. The Muslim Expulsion from Spain, Roger Boase, History Today, April 2002
Although much has been written about the expulsion in 1492 of the Jews from Spain, little has been said of the fate of Muslims. Roger Boase looks at an example of religious and ethnic cleansing in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and its long-term effects on Spain. 38. Reign On!, Doug Stewart, Smithsonian, June 2003
In 2003 the English celebrated the 400th anniversary of one of the most popular monarchs of all time, Elizabeth I. Born to King Henry VII and his second wife, Ann Boleyn, Elizabeth was twice in danger of execution before she became the last Tudor monarch. Her reign gave England a long period of peace and is referred to as Merrie Old England. She tried to keep England out of the continental religious wars and only reluctantly had Mary Stuart, her cousin, executed for treason.
