Historians, archaeologists, classicists, and geologists join forces to reconstruct the environment of the classical world. The topics include energy consumption in the Roman world; megadroughts, El-Nino, and the invasion of late-Roman Europe by the Huns and Avars; defining and detecting Mediterranean deforestation from 800 BCE to 700 CE; southern Jordan as an example of problems relating to environmental history and human settlement in the classical and late classical periods; and large-scale water management projects in the Roman central-southern Italy. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The product of a collaboration between scientists, historians and archaeologists, this book breaks new ground in the study of the long-term interaction between environmental factors, including climate, and human beings.
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List of Tables and Figures |
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vii | |
| Notes on Contributors |
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xiii | |
| Abbreviations |
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xvii | |
| Preface |
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xix | |
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What Kind of Environmental History for Antiquity? |
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1 | (12) |
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Energy Consumption in the Roman World |
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13 | (24) |
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Fuelling Ancient Mediterranean Cities: A Framework for Charcoal Research |
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37 | (24) |
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What Climate Science, Ausonius, Nile Floods, Rye, and Thatch Tell Us about the Environmental History of the Roman Empire |
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61 | (28) |
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Megadroughts, ENSO, and the Invasion of Late-Roman Europe by the Huns and Avars |
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89 | (14) |
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The Roman World and Climate: Context, Relevance of Climate Change, and Some Issues |
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103 | (70) |
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Defining and Detecting Mediterranean Deforestation, 800 BCE to 700 CE |
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173 | (24) |
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Problems of Relating Environmental History and Human Settlement in the Classical and Late Classical Periods: The Example of Southern Jordan |
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197 | (16) |
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Human-Environment Interactions in the Southern Tyrrhenian Coastal Area: Hypotheses from Neapolis and Elea-Velia |
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213 | (20) |
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Large-Scale Water Management Projects in Roman Central-Southern Italy |
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233 | (26) |
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The Mediterranean Environment in Ancient History: Perspectives and Prospects |
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259 | (18) |
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| Bibliography |
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277 | |
| Index |
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327 | |
W.V. Harris is Director of the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University. He has written widely about the social, psychological, and economic history of the Graeco-Roman world, and about Roman imperialism. In 2011 he published Rome's Imperial Economy.
Contributors: Edward R. Cook, W.V. Harris, Duncan Keenan-Jones, Paula Kouki, Paolo Malanima, Sturt W. Manning, Michael McCormick, Paola Romano, Maria Rosaria Ruello, Elda Russo Ermolli, Robyn Veal, and Andrew Wilson.
