An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome (Key Themes in Ancient History (Paperback))

Thommen, Lukas

ISBN 10: 0521174651 / ISBN 13: 9780521174657

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2012

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780521174657

Bibliographic Details

• Title: An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome (Key Themes in Ancient History (Paperback))
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521174651
• ISBN 13: 9780521174657
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In ancient Greece and Rome an ambiguous relationship developed between man and nature, and this decisively determined the manner in which they treated the environment. On the one hand, nature was conceived as a space characterized and inhabited by divine powers, which deserved appropriate respect. On the other, a rationalist view emerged, according to which humans were to subdue nature using their technologies and to dispose of its resources. This book systematically describes the ways in which the Greeks and Romans intervened in the environment and thus traces the history of the tension between the exploitation of resources and the protection of nature, from early Greece to the period of late antiquity. At the same time it analyses the comprehensive opening up of the Mediterranean and the northern frontier regions, both for settlement and for economic activity. The book's level and approach make it highly accessible to students and non-specialists.

About the Author

Lukas Thommen is a Professor in the Historical Institute at the University of Zurich and is also a member of the Sosipolis International Institute of Ancient Hellenic History in Greece.