Ancient History

This book introduces students to the chief disciplines, methods and sources employed in 'doing' ancient history, as opposed to 'reading' it. The book:

• Encourages readers to engage with historical sources, rather than to be passive recipients of historical tales
  
• Gives readers a sense of the nature of evidence and its use in the reconstruction of the past
  
• Helps them to read a historical narrative with more critical appreciation
  
• Encourages them to consider the differences between their own experience of ancient sources, and the use of these objects within the everyday life of ancient society
  
• A concise bibliographical essay at the end of each chapter refers to introductions, indices, research tools and interpretations, and explains scholarly jargon
  
• Written clearly, concisely and concretely, invoking ancient illustrations and modern parallels as appropriate.

Preface.

1. Monuments and Documents.

2. Geography.

3. Chronology.

4. Literary Texts.

5. Records.

6. Public Writing.

7. Coins.

8. Material Culture.

Index.

"Detailed but lively, this book offers an introduction to the sources of evidence about ancient history. Hedrick has a keen sense of irony for the varying ways in which ancient and modern people read the same documents and he is an ideal guide to help us bridge the gap." Barry Strauss, Cornell University Charles W. Hedrick Jr is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of History and Silence (2000) and the Decrees of the Demotionidai (1990), and the co-editor of Demokratia (1996) and The Birth of Democracy (1993). If students are to “do” history, as opposed to “reading” it, they must learn how to engage with historical sources.

Ancient Hostory: Monuments and Documents introduces students to the chief disciplines, methods, and sources employed in “doing” ancient history. It gives them a sense of the nature of evidence and its use in the reconstruction of the past, helping them to read a historical narrative with more critical appreciation; and it encourages them to consider the differences between their own academic experience of ancient sources – books, inscriptions, coins, and the like – and the use of these same objects within the everyday life of ancient society.

Charles W. Hedrick, Jr. writes clearly, concisely, and concretely, invoking ancient illustrations and modern parallels as appropriate.