The Far Edges Of The Known World (a New History Of The Ancient Past)

By (author) Rees, Owen
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What was it like to live on the edges of ancient empires, at the boundaries of the known world? In this bold revisionist history of the ancient world, Owen Rees shifts our focus from the centres of Greece and Rome to the lively, long-ignored societies on the borders.
Description:

‘A tour of those far-flung places where Romans rarely dared to venture’ The Times
‘A strikingly original take . . . uncovering forgotten stories of life on the periphery’ Spectator
''This is the book for expanding your ancient history horizon'' Tristan Hughes, host of ''The Ancients'' podcast

What was it like to live on the edges of ancient empires, at the boundaries of the known world?

In this bold revisionist history, Owen Rees shifts our focus from the centres of Greece and Rome to the long-ignored societies on the borders.

Thanks to archaeological excavations, we now know that these border societies were thriving cultures – just not ones we might expect. Taking us along the caravan routes of Morocco to the freezing winters of the northern Black Sea, from Co Loa in the Red River valley of Vietnam to the rain-lashed forts south of Hadrian’s Wall, Rees offers us a new, brilliantly rich lens through which to understand the ancient world.

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This is the book for expanding your ancient history horizon. Owen Rees skilfully brings little known places filled with amazing ancient history away from the periphery and into the spotlight
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A wide-ranging tour of the fringes of the ancient world
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A notable recent trend in popular history is the revival of interest in the ancient world … Now Owen Rees joins the merry band with a strikingly original take on the subject … Rees relies significantly on archaeological evidence that has emerged only recently. His exploration of the outer fringes of empire, beneath the notice of what he calls ‘spoilt aristocrats’ like Ovid, is nothing if not wide-ranging. In his uncovering of forgotten stories of life on the periphery, he roams from the empty northern uplands of Hadrian’s Wall, the chilly mileposts where Roman African legionaries shivered and grumbled, to the ruins of Volubilis in the burning Moroccan desert
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This refreshingly original tour of the ancient world’s lesser-known locales challenges readers to imagine familiar stories from the other side for a change . . . By highlighting how cultural partisans of the past shaped how history was told, Rees aims to help readers see beyond the stereotyping that bluntly divided the ancient world into tidy categories such as civilised and uncivilised, citizen and barbarian. His book is a reminder that while neatly defined narratives may seem appealing, the truth is rarely so straightforward
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A true tour of horizons, the ancients’ and our own. Exploring ancient worlds beyond Greece and Rome, Owen Rees illuminates the dimmer corners of the Mediterranean as well as societies on other sands and seas, from Kenya to Ukraine. Fascinating questions arise: When is a border a boundary? When is a site a city? And when are people ‘classics’?
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In this path-breaking and vital book, Owen Rees opens new perspectives on ancient history, exploring nomadic and settled cultures that flourished beyond the ''civilized'' epicenters of Greece and Rome, to reveal surprising connections, from Hadrian’s Wall and the Scythian steppes to Africa’s Rift Valley, the Khyber Pass, and Southeast Asia
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This is a powerful and wide-ranging account of life at the edges of the known world ... From Hadrian’s Wall to Co Loa in Vietnam and the Christian town of Aksu