It is an unenviable task that de Blois and van der Spek – both established and renowned historians in their respective fields and based in the Netherlands – have set themselves in writing this introduction to the ancient world. Undoubtedly, many colleagues who have written, intend to write or imagine themselves writing something similar to the introduction reviewed here will find important topics left out or factual inaccuracies conveyed. They should be reminded that imbalances in any such narrative are inescapable. In its scope the work under review goes beyond the usual run of the mill introductory books to Classical Antiquity: as the title indicates, its scope ranges from the rise of early civilisation in Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West. The focus is on the Mediterranean and the Near East, roughly the area covered by the Roman Empire to its largest extent and is concerned with written evidence rather than archaeological material. It is not a world history of contemporary societies to Greece and Rome and thus excludes the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, Ancient China, India or, indeed, the civilisations of Meso- and South America.

The preface and the introduction set out the criteria for the choice of themes and phenomena. Rather than narrating a minute political history, the authors chose themes of general historical interest such as social structure and conflicts, the economy, governance and government, religion, philosophy etc. Moreover, phenomena are discussed that have had a significant and long-lasting impact on the civilisations or cultures of the Mediterranean and Near East, with the aim of setting them in relation to each other. The exploration of the cradles of Christianity and Islam is the rationale given for the scope of this introduction, but the authors clearly state that antiquity is worth exploring in its own right. They then set out the variety of written sources and languages they engage with, but no chapter is expressly concerned with this matter.

The first part is devoted to the ancient Near East. The emergence of urban centres and the state is discussed in a matter-of-fact way; the drivers of these fundamental phenomena remain unexplored, even though the early states in the Nile Valley (Early Kingdom) and in Mesopotamia (Sumer and Akkad) of the third millennium bc are briefly touched upon. The narrative then moves on to the Middle Kingdom, the Old Assyrian and the Old Babylonian periods, before exploring the international relations amongst the empires of the Hittites, the Mitanni, the (Middle) Assyrians and Babylonians, and New Kingdom Egypt. Finally, the political history of the rise of the Neo-Assyrian, Neo Babylonian and Achaemenid empires is traced. This first part is concluded with chapters on religion (with a focus on heno- and monotheism), the economy and society, and the government. Jumbling together Egyptian and Near Eastern religions and societies is unorthodox, and differences between the Nile Valley and Mesopotamia are glossed over; the chapter on economy and society, for instance, is tilted towards the Babylonian evidence from the numerous and well-published temple and palatial archives rather than the written evidence from ancient Egypt, evidently reflecting the expertise of van der Spek.

The second part is concerned with the Greek World. The Minoan/Mycenaean civilisations are only briefly touched upon; this part thus begins with the Archaic period proper (c. 750–c. 500 bc) and traces social and cultural changes (in literature, philosophy, religion, art and architecture), the emergence of Sparta and Athens (e.g. the reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes), and explains political concepts such as the polis and tyranny. The chapter on ‘The Classical period (c. 500–c. 330 bc)’ sets out the political history from the Persian Wars to the rise of Macedon before taking a closer look at Athens, its social structure, its democracy, and as the centre of Greek cultural developments (drama, philosophy, rhetoric, historical writing). The poleis in the rest of Greece, in Ionia and in the Western Mediterranean are not further mentioned. Moving beyond Atheno-centrism, the chapter on the Hellenistic world commences with a political history of Alexander the Great, the Diadochi and the formation of the Ptolemaic, Seleucid and Antigonid empires, again discussing the government and administration and the society and economy in Greece and the Near East, ignoring much of the epigraphic evidence from Asia Minor. Room is given to Greek and Near Eastern religions during the Hellenistic period as well as other cultural aspects (philosophy, historiography, science) and its impact on Rome and the Parthian empire. A specific section is devoted to the Jews/Judeans in the Hellenistic period.

The third part, by far the largest, is concerned with the history of Rome and late antiquity. It commences with a chapter on ‘Early Roman History (753–265 bc)’, which offers a rudimentary outline of Rome's origins and expansion in Italy, the structures of state and society in Rome, and its colonies and municipia in the early Republic and discusses the formation of the internal political institutions by the end of the struggle of the orders. The narrative then moves on to military expansion beyond the Italian peninsula between 264 and 133 bc and explores the forms of Roman control abroad and the impact of the influx of wealth and slaves to Rome and Italy on local society. The Late Republic is mostly explored as a political history of civil wars (133–30 bc) fomented by internal discord, which are resolved in the Early Imperial Age (27 bc–ad 193); the chapter looks at the political order of Augustus in detail and leaves much of the political history under his successors aside, before moving on to the government of eastern and western provinces, Roman law, the economy, and Roman religion and Christianity. The penultimate chapter is concerned with the ‘crisis’ of the third century and late antiquity and outlines the political history until the end of the Roman Empire in the West. The part is concluded with a reflection on the periodisation of antiquity.

The reader is introduced to the ancient world in clear and accessible language, with an outline of content for each chapter, and text boxes on a variety of themes ranging from current theoretical debate on the ancient economy of the Near East (box 6.1) to a list of emperors in the first and second centuries bc (box 15.2). There are no references in the main text and very limited bibliography at the end, which also includes websites. The book is intended for students commencing their studies in Ancient History, Classics or Classical Archaeology and does offer a rounded picture of Greece and Rome by moving beyond the usual myopic view and providing a sense of the history prior to their emergence within the context of the Mediterranean and the Near East. Despite the ambition of the authors, the book has its unavoidable imbalances: 3,000 years of Mesopotamian and Egyptian history are squished on to fewer than 80 pages, whereas the comparatively brief period of the Roman Republic commands the same amount.

The very limited bibliography is perhaps the most disappointing factor. Whereas the earlier editions included an extensive list of further literature for students to explore, the authors have now shortened it significantly for this edition. They argue that students do not use bibliographies any more, but they miss the chance here to give their intended audience some pointers on what to read next and what scholarly literature of value to their studies there is. They risk leaving students afloat in a sea of unfiltered and unordered information available on the internet. Perhaps a commented bibliography appended to each chapter might be a way forward. What lets the third edition down slightly are the illustrations. Although the quality of the photographs is mostly high, some of the line drawings are simply hideous or serve no discernible purpose (figs 10.7, 12.4, 12.6, 13.1, 13.4, 14.1, 15.14b). The maps are mostly without scale, and the origin of some of the line drawings is unaccredited (figs 15.14a and 15.14c are taken from D. Macaulay's City: a Story of Roman Planning and Construction [1974]).