Conrad Black 
The Political and Strategic History of the World, Vol I 
From Antiquity to the Caesars, 14 A.D.

PREFACE xv

INTRODUCTION 19

PART I – The Origins of Government: From Earliest Times to the Fifth Century B.C. in the West and the Third Century B.C. in the East 27

ONE – The Jews from Antiquity to the Fifth Century B.C. 29

TWO – Ancient Egypt from the Fifth Millennium to the Eleventh Century B.C. 60

THREE – Babylonia and Assyria from the Second Millennium to the Eighth Century B.C. 93

FOUR – The Beginnings of India and China from Antiquity to the Third Century B.C. (India) and the Second Century B.C. (China) 126

FIVE – The Early Greeks from the Fifteenth to the Sixth Centuries B.C. 152

PART II - The Persian Empire and The Golden Age of Greece 550-358 B.C. 193

SIX – The Rise of Persia and the Invasion of Greece, 550-445 B.C. 195

SEVEN – The Age of Pericles and Cimon the Ascendency of Athens and the Start of the Peloponnesian War from the early Sixth Century to 445 B.C. 232

EIGHT – The Peloponnesian War II  260

NINE – The Syracusan Disaster and the Fall of Athens, 420-399 B.C. 297

TEN – The Revival of Athens, Rise of Thebes and the Decline of Persia 342

Part III – Sicily (410-290 B.C.) and Macedonia (358-275 B.C) 377

ELEVEN – The Rivalry of Sicily and Carthage, 410-290 B.C.379

TWELVE – Philip of Macedon, 360-336 B.C.  411

THIRTEEN – Alexander the Great, 336-323 B.C.442

FOURTEEN – The Wars of Succession to Alexander I: 323 to 308 B.C. 480

FIFTEEN – The Wars of Succession to Alexander II: 308-275 B.C. 516

PART IV – The Rise of Rome: From Its Origins to Roman Dominance of the Mediterranean Seventh Century B.C. to 180 B.C. 545

SIXTEEN – From the Birth of Rome to Control of Central Italy: Antiquity to 292 B.C. 547

SEVENTEEN – The Pyrrhic Wars, the Roman Federation: The Roman Rivalry with Carthage the First Punic War – 292 to 240 B.C.  575

EIGHTEEN – The Supreme Struggle for the Mediterranean: The Second Punic War, 240-201 B.C. 606

NINETEEN – Rome Turns to the East-The Temptation of the Former Macedonian Empire   656

TWENTY – The Triumph of Rome in the East, 215-155 B.C. 682

PART V – The Crisis of the Roman Republic 725

TWENTY-ONE – Digesting an Empire, Strengthening Frontiers,  and the Third Punic War, 155-140 B.C. 727

TWENTY-TWO – The People and the Generals: The Tragedy of the Gracchi and the Rise of Gaius Marius, 140-100 B.C. 749

TWENTY-THREE - The Social and Mithridatic Wars: The Rise and Dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, 115 B.C. to 78 B.C. 785

TWENTY-FOUR - War in Spain 813

TWENTY-FIVE – The First Triumvirate, Caesar in Gaul, Crassus in Parthia, Crossing the Rubicon, 62-48 B.C. 840

PART VI - The Triumph of Julius and Octavian Caesar 877

TWENTY-SIX - Caesar, Pompey, and the Civil War, 48-46 B.C. 879

TWENTY-SEVEN - Gaius Julius Caesar: Dictatorship, Assassination, Vengeance, and Succession, 46-37 B.C. 902

TWENTY-EIGHT - Octavian Caesar, Mark Antony and Cleopatra, 37 B.C.-2 A.D.934

TWENTY-NINE - The Augustan Empire, 27 B.C.-14 A.D. 968

THIRTY – CONCLUSION 1003

INDEX          1007

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1151