The Wisdom of the Ancients

"In today's global civilization, the ancient Mediterranean world is just one part of a large and ever-changing kaleidoscope of information that educated readers need to absorb. This book focuses on four ideas from that world that, against all odds, are now essential components of modern life. From the ancient Near East, the idea emerged that there is one God, not many. After several notable failures, monotheism took hold among the ancient Hebrews and is now the cornerstone of Judeo-Christian-Muslim thought. Developments in Greece led thinkers to question the assumption that the state is just one big family, and resulted in the idea of what today we would call "inalienable rights." Romans for their own reasons came up with the third idea. They divorced citizenship from birthright altogether, effectively creating the category of naturalized citizenship. The final idea from the ancient Mediterranean also comes from Rome, but in an unexpected way. Its empire was anything but perfect, yet the centuries under Roman rule remain the longest period of peace and prosperity the Mediterranean region has ever known. It helps explain why the world remains fascinated by the question of the fall of Rome, and makes the prospect of a durable polyethnic and multifaceted world state the final idea to come out of the ancient Mediterranean world"-- Provided by publisher.