The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C.

Volume VIII covers the period from immediately before the Second Punic War to 133 B.C., the time when Rome acquired effective political mastery of the Mediterranean lands. From the Carthaginians in Spain, the Second Punic War, and the first Roman involvement across the Adriatic, the advance of Roman power is traced through the conquests in Cisalpine Gaul, Spain and Africa in the west and through the conflicts in the east with Macedonia, the Seleucid empire, and finally the Greeks. Interspersed with these themes are chapters on the Seleucids and their rivals, the Greeks of Bactria and India, the internal political life of Rome, and developments in Rome's relationships with her allies and neighbors in Italy. Two concluding chapters explore the interactions, both intellectual and material, between the Roman and Italian tradition and the Greek world. Over the past half century The Cambridge Ancient History has established itself as a definitive work of reference. The original edition was published in twelve text volumes between 1924 and 1939. Publication of the new edition began in 1970. Every volume of the old edition has been totally re-thought and re-written with new text, maps, illustrations and bibliographies. Some volumes have had to be expanded into two or more parts and the series has been extended by two extra volumes (XIII and XIV) to cover events up to AD 600, bringing the total number of volumes in the set to fourteen. Existing plates to the volumes are available separately. *Profusely illustrated with maps, drawings and tables. *Comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the history of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East from prehistoric times to AD 600 by an international cast of editors and contributors Volume VIII begins immediately prior to the Second Punic War and concludes with the Roman destruction of the Greek city of Corinth in 133 B.C. This period marks Rome's expansion, from an Italian power, into the effective ruler of the Mediterranean world. The volume deals with the Second Punic War, the first Roman involvement across the Adriatic, conquests in Cisalpine Gaul, Spain and Africa in the west, and then to in the east with Macedonia, the Seleucid empire, and finally the Greeks. Interspersed with these themes are chapters on the Seleucids and their rivals, the Greeks of Bactria and India, the internal political life of Rome, and developments in Rome's relationships with her allies and neighbors in Italy. Two concluding chapters explore the interactions, both intellectual and material, between the Roman and Italian tradition, and the Greek world. The period covered by this volume saw a vast expansion of Roman power, an expansion which extended Roman military and political domination over virtually the entire Mediterranean world, from west to east, from Spanish tribes to Hellenistic kingdoms.