"The magnificent civilization created by the ancient Greeks and Romans is the greatest legacy of the classical world. However, narratives about the 'civilized' Greek and Roman empires resisting the barbarians at the gate are far from accurate . . . follows the thread of civilization through more than six millennia of history . . . [revealing] that Greek and Roman civilization, to varying degrees, was supremely and surprisingly receptive to external influences, particularly from the East. From the rise of the Mycenaean world of the sixteenth century B.C., . . . traces a path through the ancient Aegean to the zenith of the Hellenic state and the rise of the Roman empire, the coming of Christianity and the consequences of the first caliphate"--Adapted from dust jacket.
