An environmental history of ancient Greece and Rome / Lukas Thommen ; translated by Philip Hill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thommen, Lukas, author.

Contributor:

Hill, Philip, translator.

Standardized Title:

Umweltgeschichte der Antike. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human ecology--Greece--History--To 1500.

Human ecology.

Human ecology--Rome--History.

Greece--History--146 B.C.-323 A.D.

Greece.

Rome--History--Republic, 265-30 B.C.

Rome.

Rome--History--Empire, 30 B.C.-284 A.D.

Greece--Environmental conditions.

Rome--Environmental conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 186 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

Rev. English ed.

Other Title:

An Environmental History of Ancient Greece & Rome

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

pt. I. Greece. 1. The geographic space : The polis and the chora: the city and its countryside ; The era of colonisation ; The Hellenistic kingdoms ; Climate, coastlines and estuaries

2. People and nature

3. Agriculture

4. Forests and timber

5. Gardens

6. Animals

7. Food : Basic foods ; The symbolism of food: beans and fish

8. Fire and water : Mythology ; Science: the four elements ; Hydraulic engineering and water poisoning

9. Earthquakes and volcanoes

10. Mining

pt. II. Rome. 11. The geographic space : Rome and Italy ; The Roman Empire ; The Roman roads

12. People and nature

13. Agriculture

14. Forests and timber

15. Gardens

16. Animals

17. Food

18. Fire and water : Fires in Rome ; The water supply and sewage system of Rome ; Hydraulic engineering, water poisoning and lead problems

19. Earthquakes and volcanoes : Earthquakes ; The eruption of Vesuvius

20. Mining

21. Urban problems and rural villa construction : Housing and urban sanitation in Rome ; Rural villa construction in Italy

22. The environment in Roman Britain : The geographic space ; Agriculture, forestry and industry ; Military camps, cities and villas

Chronology.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-22670-8

1-139-33412-3

1-280-39353-X

9786613571458

1-139-33749-1

0-511-84376-3

1-139-33994-X

1-139-34152-9

1-139-33662-2

1-139-33836-6

OCLC:

792684533