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Os Grandes Impérios da Antiguidade
Do Mediterrâneo à China, esta obra analisa dez grandes impérios, abarcando o Império Novo do Egito; o Império Hitita; os impérios da Assíria e da Babilónia; o Primeiro Império Persa; o Império Ateniense; o império de Alexandre e sucessores; os impérios Parta e Primitivo Sassânida; o Império Romano; e os impérios primitivos do Sul da Ásia e da China. A relação entre eles, geográfica e cronologicamente, é uma ligação complexa de rivalidade, sucessão e assimilação.
A obra explora a origem, a ascensão e o declínio de cada império e o seu impacto na sociedade da época e posteriores. Os autores abordam ainda os governantes que ajudaram a moldar esta história, como os faraós guerreiros Tutemés e Ramsés II, no Egito, o primeiro imperador da China, que tentou desesperadamente enganar a morte, ou o brilhante imperador romano Augusto, que criou o império mais poderoso do mundo.
A importância destas sociedades e das suas figuras de proa não terminou com o seu desaparecimento físico, tendo-se perpetuado ao longo dos séculos, e ainda hoje a sua noção de imperialismo e de poder, por exemplo, tem influência na política de muitas nações.
A obra explora a origem, a ascensão e o declínio de cada império e o seu impacto na sociedade da época e posteriores. Os autores abordam ainda os governantes que ajudaram a moldar esta história, como os faraós guerreiros Tutemés e Ramsés II, no Egito, o primeiro imperador da China, que tentou desesperadamente enganar a morte, ou o brilhante imperador romano Augusto, que criou o império mais poderoso do mundo.
A importância destas sociedades e das suas figuras de proa não terminou com o seu desaparecimento físico, tendo-se perpetuado ao longo dos séculos, e ainda hoje a sua noção de imperialismo e de poder, por exemplo, tem influência na política de muitas nações.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 20, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 28, 2023
A very good introductory book although the chapters do vary in accessibility - as a complete beginner to the topic I did find some hard to follow. However, the chapters on the Assyrians and Rome were particularly good.
December 31, 2024
very informative but also very dense - since I wasn't applying the info for any assignments, etc., it was easy to forget words as soon as I read them lol
October 3, 2021
This is a pretty nifty book. It deals with the various empires that most of us have heard of and know something about, but not necessarily a lot about. It's great to be able to broaden your knowledge.
As each chapter is written by a different expert and they are all relatively short, none of them feels overly long, or even as if it has outstayed its welcome. I found that I learned quite a bit from this and it's nice to see the Indian and Chinese empires included, too.
A few more maps wouldn't have hurt, but that's a minor quibble.
This book gives you a nice foundation of knowledge of these empires and would probably make a pleasant Christmas present for history fans.
As each chapter is written by a different expert and they are all relatively short, none of them feels overly long, or even as if it has outstayed its welcome. I found that I learned quite a bit from this and it's nice to see the Indian and Chinese empires included, too.
A few more maps wouldn't have hurt, but that's a minor quibble.
This book gives you a nice foundation of knowledge of these empires and would probably make a pleasant Christmas present for history fans.
November 23, 2021
A fascinating look into the past. Though each chapter is written by a different author, the quality of both readability and information is consistent throughout. Obviously, it's a broad brush: a quick survey over thousands of years. But as an introduction to these Ancient Empires, or a starting point for further reading, it's excellent. Well illustrated, though I did think that some more detailed maps might have been useful.
December 14, 2010
First of all I liked it because it is rather objective. It is a rich soruce of information, representative pics, excellent written. A cold analysis of the great empires, how did they come to exist, how can you trace their impact on modern world...how things are not so different... and were really those empires as we understood this word today? Fascinating!
July 19, 2025
Written in different sections/chapters by different scholars of the field, it presents a nice overview of the empires that appeared in the ancient world. This will be a particularly long review as I feel like it's worth dedicating a short bit of it to each chapter.
The new kingdom section of Egypt was written well, and gave a good overview of the new kingdom, it's start, peak and fall. Mentioning the influences of other nations in the new kingdoms power.
The Hittite empire section was interesting, I have only had them mentioned in a Egypt central way as a side character, so seeing how it actually operated a bit more was good. It's set out in a nice overview to start with in chronological order, then it dives into more detail on how it worked. It does a good job to give a brief introduction to the Hittite Kingdom and deals with whether it can be called and empire really.
The section on the empires of Assyria and Babylonia is well written and very captivating. With the little sources on them a good job has been done. Sometimes it gets a little confusing on which empire we are talking about. Maybe doing a chapter on each would have been better, but it still does a good job on these two empires.
The Chapter on the first Persian empire is good, does well showing how it rose, and the leaders. The culture and religious side is picked on. Definitely mentions how Darius III is misrepresented due to the glory of Alexander. Creates a picture on how we look and have viewed the Persians.
The Athenian empire was an interesting read, showing how the Persian wars helped form the Delian league and then how Athens slowly turned the league into an empire. It then goes on to talk about it's conflict with Sparta, Persia, Thebes, and Macedonian. It does a good job on showing how Athens kept the cities in line and put down revolts, and used it to increase her own size.
Alexander and his successors was a longer section, but it was needed. Starting with a brief bit about Phillip II, then onto Alexander and his conquests, then his death and the wars of the diadochi, finally ending with the successor kingdoms. It shows us how the Hellenistic world developed and progressed, the way that the kingdom were established and how they ruled. It went on about the Macedonians and their effects in the local regions they took over and how that all worked in the wider world.
The section on the Parthian and Early Sasanian empires is enjoyable. Showing how parthia rose and fell, how it interacted with Rome. The early sasanian bit contrasts with how the parthians acted in Rome and puts the events in the context of its interactions with Rome. It also makes a mention on the Palmyrene empire at the end of the section.
In the 20ish or so pages on the Roman Empire, it does a good job for a quick summary. Starting from the republic, to the late republic and its change into the principate, into the crisis of the third century, Tetrarchy and then fall of the west. It covers a long period of time and does well, providing a Base introduction with some more detail in few parts.
The chapter on the early empires of south Asia covers the Mauryan, Kushan and Gupta empires. I have never read about these before, except the start of the Mauryan empire. It gave me a nice overview and has left me wanting to read more.
The early empires of China covered the Qin, Western and Easter Han dynasties. These were again something I knew very little if nothing about them, so it made for an intriguing read, and has piqued my interest slightly in the area.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was like reading a collection of essays and papers that were overviews of ancient empires. I think it did an amazing job of staying away from the typical euro centric view of things, and as much as I love Rome and Greece, I really enjoyed learning and reading about the Parthians, Persians, Indian and Chinese empires. I would 100% recommend this book as a read.
5/5
The new kingdom section of Egypt was written well, and gave a good overview of the new kingdom, it's start, peak and fall. Mentioning the influences of other nations in the new kingdoms power.
The Hittite empire section was interesting, I have only had them mentioned in a Egypt central way as a side character, so seeing how it actually operated a bit more was good. It's set out in a nice overview to start with in chronological order, then it dives into more detail on how it worked. It does a good job to give a brief introduction to the Hittite Kingdom and deals with whether it can be called and empire really.
The section on the empires of Assyria and Babylonia is well written and very captivating. With the little sources on them a good job has been done. Sometimes it gets a little confusing on which empire we are talking about. Maybe doing a chapter on each would have been better, but it still does a good job on these two empires.
The Chapter on the first Persian empire is good, does well showing how it rose, and the leaders. The culture and religious side is picked on. Definitely mentions how Darius III is misrepresented due to the glory of Alexander. Creates a picture on how we look and have viewed the Persians.
The Athenian empire was an interesting read, showing how the Persian wars helped form the Delian league and then how Athens slowly turned the league into an empire. It then goes on to talk about it's conflict with Sparta, Persia, Thebes, and Macedonian. It does a good job on showing how Athens kept the cities in line and put down revolts, and used it to increase her own size.
Alexander and his successors was a longer section, but it was needed. Starting with a brief bit about Phillip II, then onto Alexander and his conquests, then his death and the wars of the diadochi, finally ending with the successor kingdoms. It shows us how the Hellenistic world developed and progressed, the way that the kingdom were established and how they ruled. It went on about the Macedonians and their effects in the local regions they took over and how that all worked in the wider world.
The section on the Parthian and Early Sasanian empires is enjoyable. Showing how parthia rose and fell, how it interacted with Rome. The early sasanian bit contrasts with how the parthians acted in Rome and puts the events in the context of its interactions with Rome. It also makes a mention on the Palmyrene empire at the end of the section.
In the 20ish or so pages on the Roman Empire, it does a good job for a quick summary. Starting from the republic, to the late republic and its change into the principate, into the crisis of the third century, Tetrarchy and then fall of the west. It covers a long period of time and does well, providing a Base introduction with some more detail in few parts.
The chapter on the early empires of south Asia covers the Mauryan, Kushan and Gupta empires. I have never read about these before, except the start of the Mauryan empire. It gave me a nice overview and has left me wanting to read more.
The early empires of China covered the Qin, Western and Easter Han dynasties. These were again something I knew very little if nothing about them, so it made for an intriguing read, and has piqued my interest slightly in the area.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was like reading a collection of essays and papers that were overviews of ancient empires. I think it did an amazing job of staying away from the typical euro centric view of things, and as much as I love Rome and Greece, I really enjoyed learning and reading about the Parthians, Persians, Indian and Chinese empires. I would 100% recommend this book as a read.
5/5
May 28, 2023
Some chapters are pretty good, for instance the one on the Maurya, Kushan and Gupta empires in India (and it is great to see that these are included!). Others however are flimsy and seem hastily written. The chapter about the Parthian and Sasanian empires is written entirely from a western, that is, Roman perspective. All authors are men and only few of them actually work in the field of empire studies. There are no recurring questions to give the volume cohesion.
Several authors say that their respective empires are probably not empires by any "modern definition of empire" because they are not unified and centralized. But no definition of "empire" is ever given, not even in the introduction. They probably mean "a definition of modern empire"; they seem unware of the fact that virtually all definitions of premodern, non-western empires would emphasize their diversity, forms of indirect rule, and lack of unity and centralization. And most empires in world history ARE premodern and non-western.
The authors who were given the chapter on the Hellenistic period are so in awe of Alexander "the Great" that they forget to give sufficient attention to the three long-lasting successor polities, the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Antigonid empires. The Caliphate/Umayyad Empire is conspicuously absent even from the chapter that deals with the Sasanians.
Several authors say that their respective empires are probably not empires by any "modern definition of empire" because they are not unified and centralized. But no definition of "empire" is ever given, not even in the introduction. They probably mean "a definition of modern empire"; they seem unware of the fact that virtually all definitions of premodern, non-western empires would emphasize their diversity, forms of indirect rule, and lack of unity and centralization. And most empires in world history ARE premodern and non-western.
The authors who were given the chapter on the Hellenistic period are so in awe of Alexander "the Great" that they forget to give sufficient attention to the three long-lasting successor polities, the Seleucid, Ptolemaic, and Antigonid empires. The Caliphate/Umayyad Empire is conspicuously absent even from the chapter that deals with the Sasanians.
September 16, 2024
My enjoyment (and ability to retain the information) varied from chapter to chapter. None of them are meant to go in-depth on their subject, just presenting an overview that an interested reader can use as a jumping-off point to dive further into the topic. With that in mind, I judged each section more on the author's ability to make me want to do that than anything else. I do believe that when you're an academic writing for a non-academic audience, a key part of the job is presenting the material in an interesting way, rather than just, well, presenting it. I'd say about half of the authors here succeeded in that, and half wrote sections about as dry as a Wikipedia page.
That said, one of the reasons I picked up this book was to feel a little more grounded in my knowledge of the major players and moments in the ancient world—things like knowing who were contemporaries with each other, being able to draw a rough timeline of these empires and events, and understanding the evolution of empire and how they built on the ideas and regimes that came before them—and I do feel like I have a good sense of that now.
That said, one of the reasons I picked up this book was to feel a little more grounded in my knowledge of the major players and moments in the ancient world—things like knowing who were contemporaries with each other, being able to draw a rough timeline of these empires and events, and understanding the evolution of empire and how they built on the ideas and regimes that came before them—and I do feel like I have a good sense of that now.
September 22, 2024
"Great Empires of the Ancient World holds a special place in my heart as a history enthusiast. This visually striking documentary series takes viewers on an immersive journey through the triumphs and tribulations of some of the most influential civilizations in history.
While my experience with the series was overwhelmingly positive, I did notice some pacing issues that occasionally disrupted the flow of the narrative. The rapid shifts between empires left me craving more in-depth exploration of certain cultures and time periods, making me wish for a more balanced and consistent pacing throughout.
However, these pacing hiccups did not overshadow the sheer brilliance of the storytelling and the breathtaking visuals that brought ancient history to life before my eyes. The series succeeded in sparking my curiosity and deepening my appreciation for the complexities of ancient civilizations.
Despite its flaws, Great Empires of the Ancient World remains a gem for history lovers, offering a compelling glimpse into the past that is both educational and visually stunning. It's a series that I would recommend to anyone looking to embark on a thrilling historical adventure."
While my experience with the series was overwhelmingly positive, I did notice some pacing issues that occasionally disrupted the flow of the narrative. The rapid shifts between empires left me craving more in-depth exploration of certain cultures and time periods, making me wish for a more balanced and consistent pacing throughout.
However, these pacing hiccups did not overshadow the sheer brilliance of the storytelling and the breathtaking visuals that brought ancient history to life before my eyes. The series succeeded in sparking my curiosity and deepening my appreciation for the complexities of ancient civilizations.
Despite its flaws, Great Empires of the Ancient World remains a gem for history lovers, offering a compelling glimpse into the past that is both educational and visually stunning. It's a series that I would recommend to anyone looking to embark on a thrilling historical adventure."
March 30, 2023
Concise history. We get some Egypt, Hittite, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Athenian, Alexander and his successors, Parthian, Sassanian, Roman, early South Asia and early China in the form of essays by different jargon and politics free academic’s writing for a general audience. The section regarding Rome actually seems to be positive. Something about a civilizing influence. No, that can’t be right. I’ll have to reread that and report back.
May 19, 2025
Some of the chapters were definitely better than others. A good general overview of different empires and their strategies for ruling / what made them fail and succeed. I definitely liked the chapters about the Greek & Roman stuff more solely because I could mentally pronounce the names of rulers and locations. I fear this is a gateway drug into Roman history and fulfilling that trope. This was probably inevitable though.
August 28, 2023
I really thought this book was going to be more about the cultural aspects of each empire versus the heavy political run through of each. There are some very interesting tidbits but the heavy handed dynasty/reign recaps are pretty boring unless political history and warfare is your thing. Glad it’s a short book.
September 10, 2025
A good introduction to Ancient Empires; however, it can be overwhelming due to the numerous names of rulers and places. Each Empire is devoted to its own author, so writing styles differ, which is tiering. The chapters on the Athenian, Persian, and Alexandrian Empires were particularly well written and interesting, while I didn’t really enjoy the chapter on the Egyptians.
September 4, 2017
A nicely compiled examination and comparison of most of the ancient worlds most enduring empires. Somewhat superficial in depth, but great for an overview to prompt further research. There are intriguing insights and details about empires that you've never even heard of.
January 6, 2023
A succinct and engaging introduction to 10 ancient empires, some better known than others. I found the introductions to the (South) East Asian empires (ancient India and China, roughly) to be lacking relative to the descriptions of the western empires, but still interesting nonetheless.
July 23, 2022
"When we focus on this ideological aspect of empires, their ability to recreate themselves endlessly, the differences between ancient and modern empires strip away."
August 17, 2022
A fair read. Some contributers were more engaging than others, unfortunately
April 25, 2023
This book is well written but I did overestimate my interest in the topic so it took forever to read.
January 30, 2024
Mooie overview van in hoeverre de oude rijken ook wereldrijken waren
October 5, 2024
Nice refresher, nothing special
December 27, 2022
3.5 ⭐️
June 3, 2025
Short chapters that should each be a book. So far, mediocre. 1.5 stars?
I’m two chapters in and won’t change this unless something changes.
Nothing changed. I enjoyed the chapter on Alexander, the first part at least.
—
After a visit to the British museum, I’ve upgraded this to 3 stars given the wealth of things I apparently learned by reading it. It’s good to think of it as a teaser trailer and not a knowledge quenching piece.
I’m two chapters in and won’t change this unless something changes.
Nothing changed. I enjoyed the chapter on Alexander, the first part at least.
—
After a visit to the British museum, I’ve upgraded this to 3 stars given the wealth of things I apparently learned by reading it. It’s good to think of it as a teaser trailer and not a knowledge quenching piece.
November 15, 2023
The book consists of a selection of ancient empires that are dealt with by their specific experts respectively, offering a rough impression of their origins, rises and falls. It's a nice introduction book for those who don't know much about the subject.
Some of the writers had a tendency to go into detail including names of many specific rulers, which might not have been necessary considering the grand scope and miniature size of their pieces.
All in all a pretty good read if you're new to the subject matter.
Some of the writers had a tendency to go into detail including names of many specific rulers, which might not have been necessary considering the grand scope and miniature size of their pieces.
All in all a pretty good read if you're new to the subject matter.
June 13, 2024
Good brief overview of early empires from many authors. Disappointed in the Indian empires section since this is a Weak Spot For Me but ah well the Bronze Age stuff was great Jack you’d like this
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews