Antiquity
Herodotus' Histories
The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Written about 440 BC, the Histori…
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars
The Twelve Caesars is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire. The work was written in 12…
Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans
Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral …
The Enchiridion
The Enchiridion (also translated as “Handbook” or “Manual”) of Epictetus is a short collection of Stoic precepts compiled by Arrian, a stude…
The Wars of the Jews
The Wars of the Jews (or The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, or as it usually appears in modern English translations, The Jewish Wa…
The City of God
Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them…
Germania
The Germania (Latin: De Origine et situ Germanorum, literally The Origin and Situation of the Germans), written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus a…
The Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh
A short monograph devoted to the Babylonian flood myth and the Epic of Gilgamesh (Standard Babylonian version), dating from the 7th century …
The Dawn of Mediaeval Europe
This volume by the British historian J.H.B. Masterman (1867-1933) is a short survey of the first four centuries after the fall of Rome. The …
The Annals
The Annals was Tacitus' final work, covering the period from the death of Augustus Caesar in the year 14. He wrote at least 16 books, but bo…
Discourses of Epictetus
Philosophical discourses of Epictetus as recorded by his affectionate student, Arrian. One main precept expounded is that we do not fear eve…
Meno
Meno (Ancient Greek: Μένων) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Written in the Socratic dialectic style, it attempts to determine the d…
The Antiquities of the Jews
Antiquities of the Jews was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus about the year 93 or 94. Antiquities of the …
History of Egypt
The history of Egypt from the earliest times to the conquest by Alexander the Great, covering the development of Egyptian civilization: scie…
History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria
History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria is the masterwork of one of the fathers of modern egyptology. This work, in t…
Musings of a Chinese Mystic
If Lao Tzu then had revolted against the growing artificiality of life in his day, a return to nature must have seemed doubly imperative to …
The Sayings of Lao Tzu
Lao-Tzu, also known as Laozi was a Chinese philosopher believed to have lived in the 6th century BCE and is credited with writing the Tao-Te…
Commentaries on the Gallic War
Commentarii de Bello Gallico (English: Commentaries on the Gallic War) is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a…
The Story of Aristotle's Philosophy
This little Blue Book No. 39, by Will Durant, deals with Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.), a Macedonian pupil of Plato, who became the teacher of …
On Duties
On Duties is a profound exploration of ethics and morality by the renowned Roman statesman and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero. In this w…