UNIT 1. The Earliest Civilizations

1. 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.

2. Hatshepsut: The Female Pharaoh, John Ray, History Today, May 1994

Ancient Egypt, like most societies, was patriarchal. But Egyptian women enjoyed more freedoms and legal rights than did their counterparts in the classical world of Greece and Rome. Under some circumstances, albeit rare ones, a woman could rule the land of the Nile. This article details how a female pharaoh came to power.

3. Past, Present, Future: Perceptions of Time Through the Ages, Dan Falk, Archaeology, March/April 2004

Awareness of time has been a part of human experience. Early cultures were interested in the cycles of the heavens and developed calendars calculating the motion of the sun, the waxing and waning of the moon, and the seasons. However, it was the Western world, which described history as a unique series of events from Creation to a Day of Judgment—a linear sense of time.

4. The Coming of the Sea Peoples, Neil Asher Silberman, Military History Quarterly, Winter 1998

Around 1200 B.C. a new military force swept southward across the Aegean Sea and into Asia Minor, Cyprus, and Canaan—and even reached the borders of Egypt. Who were these “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 Tradition

7. Olympic Self-Sacrifice, Paul Cartledge, History Today, October 2000

The modern Olympic games began in 1896 with the belief that they were a direct imitation of the ancient games. Paul Cartledge examines how the games were part of the Greek religion, and how their nakedness, prizes, and armistices were all intertwined in their religious ideas.

8. To Die For?, Paul Cartledge, History Today, August 2002

Competition was the basic fact of life in Sparta from birth, athletics and in war. Paul Cartledge sees ancient Spartan society and its fierce code of honor as something relevant to today.

9. Love and Death in Ancient Greece, Kenneth Cavander, Horizon, Spring 1974

This discussion of an ancient murder case involving an Athenian who murdered his wife’s lover sheds light on ancient Greek society. Specifically, it considers justice and the place of women in Hellenic society.

10. Cleopatra: What Kind of a Woman Was She, Anyway?, Barbara Holland, Smithsonian, February 1997

Was Cleopatra a sex kitten, a scheming adventuress who came to a bad end, or was she a beautiful, intelligent queen who could have ruled the eastern Mediterranean if only she had not become entwined in Roman politics? Barbara Holland investigates differing views of Cleopatra’s reputation.

11. The Year One, Lewis Lord, U.S. News & World Report, January 8, 2001

Although life was nasty, brutish and short, Emperor Augustus’ reign influenced much of the world for the next 2,000 years. Lewis Lord explains that the Age of Augustus—its laws, institutions, language, and its eventual religion—would transform Western Europe and America.

12. Old Age in Ancient Rome, Mary Harlow and Ray Laurence, History Today, April 2003

The authors explain what life was like for rich and poor in Rome. If one were rich, he could retire and be considered a wise mentor; however, if one were poor, there were no social welfare programs for care.

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 A.D. 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 Heritage

15. 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?

16. The Other Jesus, Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek, March 27, 2000

Kenneth Woodward describes how the major world religions each view Jesus as different from the traditional Christian interpretation as the son of God. Jews see Jesus as an admirable Jew; Buddhists see him as an enlightened being who helped others; Hindus are drawn to his compassion, not his singularity; and Muslims see Jesus as a human prophet, the precursor of Muhammad.

17. Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner, David Van Biema, Time, August 11, 2003

Why did the Church come to consider Mary Magdalene a fallen women or harlot and not an important female follower of Jesus? Was it a simple mistake or male misogyny? David Van Biema examines new theories about Mary Magdalene which claims she was a rich patron, an Apostle, and mother of the Messiah’s child.

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 Byzantines

19. The Emperor’s State of Grace, Charles Freeman, History Today, January 2001

Constantine the Great defeated his rival Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge to rule the Western Roman Empire and later, in 324, he became the sole Roman emperor. He presided over the First Christian Council, constructed several Christian churches, and founded Constantinople. Charles Freeman wonders if Constantine used Christianity to dominate it and the empire.

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 fifth-century emperors evolved rules of imperial succession, control of top army commands, opposition to federated settlements, and a centralized pool of administrative, fiscal, and diplomatic experience, which enabled the East to avoid the destruction that happened to the Western Roman Empire.

21. In the Beginning, There Were the Holy Books, Kenneth L. Woodward, Newsweek, February 11, 2002

In this essay Kenneth Woodward traces the history of Islam from the first revelations to Muhammad to the present and asks how the Qur’an is to be seen in light of the tragic events of September 2001. Woodward sees the major problem as the lack of a major Islamic authority.

UNIT 5. The Medieval Period

22. The Ideal of Unity, Russell Chamberlin, History Today, November 2003

Although the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III on December 25, 800 A.D. 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.

23. 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 English monarchs as well as men such as Thomas Jefferson associated themselves with Alfred’s Anglo-Saxon heritage.

24. 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.

25. The Capture of Jerusalem, John France, History Today, April 1997

In 1095 Pope Urban II called on Western Europeans to march in the First Crusade in order to free Jerusalem from the infidels. John France relates the 1099 fierce attack and savage capture of the holiest place in Christendom.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Lackland: The Loss of Normandy in 1204, Nick Barratt, History Today, March 2004

Although King Henry II of England 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.

29. Hero of the Neva and Lake Peipus, Donald O’Reilly, Military History, April 2004

The thirteenth century saw Russia beset by the Golden Horde of Mongols, Swedes and Teutonic Knights. They were opposed by Alksandr Nevsky, Prince of Kiev and Novgorod, who never lost a battle and managed to keep his lands from being overrun and devastated by the Mongol armies. Donald O’Reilly examines the life of this great Russian hero.

30. Spreading the Gospel in the Middle Ages, Bernard Hamilton, History Today, January 2003

Bernard Hamilton describes the institutions by which the Western Church and the Greek Orthodox helped spread the Christian faith. Along the way, many serious religious divisions arose between the East and West as well as in their relations with the Arabs, Africans, Persians and Mongols.

31. 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.

32. How a Mysterious Disease Laid Low Europe’s Masses, Charles L. Mee Jr., Smithsonian, February 1990

The great 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 Reformation

33. 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.

34. Machiavelli, Vincent Cronin, Horizon, Autumn 1972

Despite his acknowledged brilliance, Machiavelli, political theorist and historian, is often associated with the worst traits of Renaissance statecraft—manipulation, murder, mendacity, and massacre. Biographer Vincent Cronin questions that view and portrays the famous Florentine as a patriot and defender of civilization.

35. Virtue and Beauty: The Renaissance Image of the Ideal Woman, Mary O’Neill, Smithsonian, September 2001

No artist was more preoccupied with expressing intangible attributes than Leonardo da Vinci. Mary O’Neill explains that Leonardo broke a long tradition by boldly painting his subject, Ginevra de’Benci in a three-quarter view, which symbolized her rectitude, moral strength and hinted at her psyche.

36. 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.

37. 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 his 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.

38. The Development of Protestantism in 16th Century France, Graham Noble, History Today, September 2002

Although the Calvinist Protestant movement in France had some 2 million Huguenots and seemed to be growing; why did it not eventually triumph as Protestantism had in Germany? This is the question that Graham Noble answers in his rise and fall of French Protestantism.

39. Siege of the Moles, John Godwin, Military History, October 2001

The sixteenth century witnessed some of the greatest European leaders as well as the greatest Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman II the Magnificent. All Europe knew of Suleiman’s victories at Belgrade, Rhodes, Hungary and it was to learn of the sultan’s great plan to capture Vienna, center of the Hapsburg Empire in 1529. John Godwin examines the Turkish tactics as they tried to undermine Vienna’s wall and the subsequent failure.

40. 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.

41. 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.