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Roots of the Western Tradition: A Short History of the Ancient World
Roots of the Western Tradition is a brief chronological survey that covers the Ancient world in three parts: Prehistoric Europe & Ancient Near East, Ancient Greece & Ancient Rome. Succinct enough to be used with supplements, the coverage is carefully balanced between narrative & interpretation, highlighting historians varying viewpoints on certain issues.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionAncient
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
C. Warren Hollister
44 books9 followersA specialist in medieval English history, Charles Warren Hollister graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1951 and received his Ph.D. from UCLA in 1958. He was one of the founding members of the University of California Santa Barbara history department, where he taught until his retirement in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 1, 2019
Good introduction to classes that have likely disappeared
The Roots of the Western Tradition seems to have been named with the incredible foresight of inflaming 21st century political correctness despite being originally written in 1966 (6th edition 1996). The book reads as a textbook and general introduction to the three main roots of the West and is likewise divided into three parts:
1)Prehistoric Europe and the Ancient Near East
i From Stone Age to Civilization
ii Mesopotamia
iii Egypt
iv The Diffusion of Near Eastern Civilization
2) Greece
i Crete, Mycenae and the Dark Age
ii The Rise of Classical Greece
iii The Zenith and Transformation of Classical Greece
iv The Hellenic Mind
v The Culture of the Golden Age
vi The Hellenistic Age
3) Rome
i The Rise of Rome
ii The Principate
iii The Spiritual Metamorphosis
iv The Dominate
v The Waning of the Western Empire
It is a good general history that hits all the big names and provides a readable introduction. However, the thematic chapters results in some chronological oddities as the order bounces around. Professor Hollister balances the aspects of history, incoporating military, political, cultural, religious, literary, artistic and social history as far as is possible and he does not give an uncritical glowing presentation of the classical age. Frequent are his reminders of the plight of the poor, slaves and the status of women which brings the reader back to the harsh reality that produced such geniuses as Socrates, Plato, Aritstotle and Alexander, Cicero and Vergil or Ambrose and Augustine.
Pleasant biographical boxes give additional information on Spartacus and Attila the Hun amongst other and the maps are adequate for a first-year undergraduate entry-level course.
Despite covering such a vaste history, the book rarely feels rushed. The final chapter does however, as he concludes with a vrey brief discussion of Boethius and Cassiodorus, and the conclusion barely spans a page as history moves into the middle ages.
Perhaps as a sign of the times the introduction and conclusion need a more robust defense of the subject matter.
The Roots of the Western Tradition seems to have been named with the incredible foresight of inflaming 21st century political correctness despite being originally written in 1966 (6th edition 1996). The book reads as a textbook and general introduction to the three main roots of the West and is likewise divided into three parts:
1)Prehistoric Europe and the Ancient Near East
i From Stone Age to Civilization
ii Mesopotamia
iii Egypt
iv The Diffusion of Near Eastern Civilization
2) Greece
i Crete, Mycenae and the Dark Age
ii The Rise of Classical Greece
iii The Zenith and Transformation of Classical Greece
iv The Hellenic Mind
v The Culture of the Golden Age
vi The Hellenistic Age
3) Rome
i The Rise of Rome
ii The Principate
iii The Spiritual Metamorphosis
iv The Dominate
v The Waning of the Western Empire
It is a good general history that hits all the big names and provides a readable introduction. However, the thematic chapters results in some chronological oddities as the order bounces around. Professor Hollister balances the aspects of history, incoporating military, political, cultural, religious, literary, artistic and social history as far as is possible and he does not give an uncritical glowing presentation of the classical age. Frequent are his reminders of the plight of the poor, slaves and the status of women which brings the reader back to the harsh reality that produced such geniuses as Socrates, Plato, Aritstotle and Alexander, Cicero and Vergil or Ambrose and Augustine.
Pleasant biographical boxes give additional information on Spartacus and Attila the Hun amongst other and the maps are adequate for a first-year undergraduate entry-level course.
Despite covering such a vaste history, the book rarely feels rushed. The final chapter does however, as he concludes with a vrey brief discussion of Boethius and Cassiodorus, and the conclusion barely spans a page as history moves into the middle ages.
Perhaps as a sign of the times the introduction and conclusion need a more robust defense of the subject matter.
May 9, 2022
This book was amazing! I want to read more history books. It seems that civilizations are ever changing, yet have remained so very similar these past six thousand years or so.
“”The bewildering diversity and unpredictability of the human experience” — human nature vs. human condition—> the varieties in human conditions create a human condition--> human nature
“Astronomically speaking man is utterly insignificant, yet man is the astronomer”
“Common fear is a stronger cement than common hope”
“the gradual erosion of social morality by wealth and power”
“”The bewildering diversity and unpredictability of the human experience” — human nature vs. human condition—> the varieties in human conditions create a human condition--> human nature
“Astronomically speaking man is utterly insignificant, yet man is the astronomer”
“Common fear is a stronger cement than common hope”
“the gradual erosion of social morality by wealth and power”
March 31, 2026
Good prose, love the concise narrative from Mesopotamia to Constantinople. Perfect for a little ancient history detour from life. (Now I'm one of those men who think about Rome from time to time.)
September 30, 2014
Simply a wonderful introduction to Ancient near-east and Greek/Roman civilization. Hollister summarized quite a bit of history in under 300 pages, but he did so in a succint, clear, and unbiased way. Special kudos on his treatment of 1st century Christianity, which was written with a distance of good Scholorship (I couldn't tell if he was a Christian, in other words, by reading that controversial section of history, which is a good thing.) I highly recommend this work as an entry-level yet scholarly introduction to Ancient and Classical Civilization.
March 13, 2014
A fun, short survey of antiquity! I loved the balance of culture and political history. I think the suggested readings sections are going to be contributing to my 'to-read' shelf in the near future. Highly recommend for the casual historian, or someone who is looking for a good comprehensive intro to ancient history and western civilization.
September 10, 2014
simple with good overview.
April 20, 2015
Awesome book. Really interesting read about ancient civilizations.
May 11, 2016
Very very good and brief read on the history of early civilizations.
January 17, 2019
Entertaining and to-the-point description of history as we know it, as well as the significance of the history.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews