Thalassocracy

The study of chronography is a relatively new field, and Dr. Miller has once again contributed to its advancement with The Thalassocracies, her second original investigation in which she attempts to establish the chronography of events in the ancient world. This is an extension of Dr. Miller's Sicilian Colony Dates, in which she examined the ability of the ancient Greek historians to cite dates for historical events occurring before the advent of Greek historiography in the fifth century B.C. A well-organized, carefully developed study, The Thalassocracies depends almost completely upon evidence of early Greek history and historiography from diverse and rarely treated ancient sources rather than from derivative modern works. It is an important contribution to research in the fields of history and historiography because of Dr. Miller's perceptive observations and interpretations of events in antiquity. She presents a wealth of information about ancient sources of early Greek and Near Eastern history and demonstrates thorough scholarship in handling her subject which, although highly technical, she presents clearly enough to make it accessible to the nonspecialist reader. The value in both of Dr. Miller's studies lies in her penetration beyond the mass of secondary sources to determine the origins of the various dates that are found there and to decide upon the reliability of the general chronology that had become canonical by Herodotus's time.

A collection of sixteen papers focusing on the economic activities of prehistoric, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman Crete. The wide-ranging papers discuss the economy of prehistoric Crete, social development, production and symbolism in the pre-Palatial and Palatial periods, economic activities and social development in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, coinage and minting and relationships with other polities of the Aegean and east Mediterranean.

Beyond Thalassocracies aims to evaluate and rethink the manner in which archaeologists approach, understand, and analyze the various processes associated with culture change connected to interregional contact, using as a test case the world of the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1100 BC). The 14 chapters compare and contrast various aspects of the phenomena of Minoanisation and Mycenaeanisation, both of which share the basic underlying defining feature of material culture change in communities around the Aegean. This change was driven by trends manifesting themselves in the dominant palatial communities of each period of the Bronze Age. Over the past decade, our understanding of how these processes developed and functioned has changed considerably. Whereas current discussions on Minoanisation have already been informed by more recent theoretical trends, especially in material culture studies and post‐colonial theory, the process of Mycenaeanisation is still very much conceptualized along traditional lines of explanation. Since these phenomena occurred in chronological sequence, it makes sense that any reappraisal of their nature and significance should target those regions of the Aegean basin that were affected by both processes, highlighting their similarities and differences. Thus, in the present volume we focus on the southern and eastern Aegean, in particular the Cyclades, Dodecanese, and the north-eastern Aegean islands.

David Childress, popular author and star of the History Channel’s show Ancient Aliens, brings us the incredible story of the Cham: Egyptian-Hindu-Buddhist seafarers who ruled a realm that was as big as the Pacific Ocean. The mysterious Cham, or Champa, peoples of Southeast Asia formed a megalith-building, seagoing empire that extended into Indonesia, Fiji, Tonga, Micronesia, and beyond—a transoceanic power that reached Mexico, the American Southwest and South America. The Champa maintained many ports in what is today Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia (particularly on the islands of Sulawesi, Sumatra and Java), and their ships plied the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, bringing Chinese, African and Indian traders to far off lands, including Olmec ports on the Pacific Coast of Central America. Statues in Vietnam of the Champa show men and women distinctly African in appearance and the Champa royalty were known to consist of nearly every racial group. They had iron tools and built megalithic cities of finely-cut basalt and granite, such as the city of My Son in central Vietnam. Its construction is identical to that at Tiwanaku in South America. Topics include: Who Were the Champa?; Cham and Khem: The Egyptian Influence on Cham; The Search for Metals; Trans-Pacific Voyaging; The Basalt City of Nan Madol; Elephants and Buddhists in North America; The Cham and the Olmecs; The Cham in Colombia; The Cham and Lake Titicaca; Easter Island and the Cham; tons more.

Unis vers Cythère forms a continuation of the ongoing project to disseminate a new faculty of thought called cytherics, which is defined as the sighting and siting of aphrodisian - aesthetic-erotic - environments. The first part of the book proposes «polis thought» as a subdivision within political theory that would encourage attention to the polis element - the openness furnished by the classical polis/city for disputation, rhetoric, performance, ceremony, and the carnivalesque - for political theory and history. The second part develops the concept of the «artful firm», derived from contemporary firm and management theories on «the art firm» and «artful making», to argue for further convergences in related areas of aesthetics and management. Unis vers Cythère begins and ends with essays on the ancient Hellenic twin concepts of «thalassocracy» and «theatrocracy» in their relations to orthodox contemporary theories of political democracy.

This single-volume resource explores the five major oceans of the world, addressing current issues such as sea rise and climate change and explaining the significance of the oceans from historical, geographic, and cultural perspectives. The World's Oceans: Geography, History, and Environment is a one-stop resource that describes in-depth the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern Oceans and identifies their importance, today and throughout history. Essays address the subject areas of oceans and seas in world culture, fishing and shipping industries through history, ocean exploration, and climate change and oceans. The book also presents dozens of entries covering a breadth of topics on human culture, the environment, history, and current issues as they relate to the oceans and ocean life. Sample entries provide detailed information on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle, Coral Reefs, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Ice Melt, Myths and Legends, Piracy, and Whaling. Contributions to the work come from top researchers in the fields of history and maritime studies, including Paul D'Arcy, John Gillis, Tom Hoogervorst, Michael North, and Lincoln Paine. The volume highlights the numerous ways in which Earth's oceans have influenced culture and society, from the earliest seafaring civilizations to the future of the planet.

Mementoes of HMS Tamar abound in Hong Kong, but what is really known about this troopship and her role in the maintenance of British imperial rule? Using logbooks, newspapers, and numerous other sources, this book pieces together the multifaceted and largely unknown history of the Tamar . From her launch into service to her roles as a hospital, theatre stage, and transport for military personnel, the Tamar carried not just people, but also their mundane dreams and ambitions— for friends, families, and staying alive. Any ideas or concerns about sustaining the empire seldom featured in their minds at all, but it was this empire that the Tamar served for seventy-nine years, steaming the equivalent of thirty-two times around the Earth and transporting tens of thousands of people to what would seem to them another world. In this engaging narrative, the Tamar’s exploits and the experiences of her crew and passengers parallel those of the British Empire and its subjects, bringing to life the realities of imperial life on land and at sea. As mud continues to settle over the Tamar’s forgotten remains in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, Transport to Another World will appeal to historians and readers interested in maritime history and colonial Hong Kong in general, and makes a case for conserving the memory of a past some would prefer to forget.