Twelve Greeks and Romans Who Changed the World

By setting these biographical essays deeply within their subjects’ historical contexts, Carl Richard has given us an accessible and concise guide not only to these twelve major figures of ancient literature, philosophy, and history, but to the principal events of the Greek and Roman world from the Mycenaean Bronze Age to the Christian world of Augustine. The prose is lively, the anecdotes are entertaining and apt, and the range is remarkable in a text of this size…. — Ward Briggs, University of South Carolina

Carl Richard’s book is easy to read and highly recommended for those waiting to take a course on Western Civilization or who are rediscovering classical Greek and Roman history. ― Great Lakes Bulletin

A valuable overview of ancient history, politics, economics, science, literature, art, philosophy, and religion in Greece and Rome. Recommended. ― CHOICE

Readers will enjoy learning about how the lives and works of such figures as Plato, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceaser, and Cicero became part of modern political debates, and about the debt that Western writers owe to Homer. ― History

By setting these biographical essays deeply within their subjects’ historical contexts, Carl Richard has given us an accessible and concise guide not only to these twelve major figures of ancient literature, philosophy, and history, but to the principal events of the Greek and Roman world from the Mycenaean Bronze Age to the Christian world of Augustine. The prose is lively, the anecdotes are entertaining and apt, and the range is remarkable in a text of this size. — Ward Briggs, University of South Carolina

This book is a breathtaking accomplishment. There is a wealth here of information, wisdom, and wit. The author of The Founders and the Classics has written another classic. — Susan Ford Wiltshire, Vanderbilt University