This comprehensive volume offers fascinating analysis of the social and cultural climates of the Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome. Providing balanced treatment of the political, institutional, and military history for each civilization, it examines the various societal forms characteristic of the ancient world, especially the unique relationship between society and the state that characterized the social order of antiquity. Detailed descriptions of the highly integrated world of the classical period are given, with special emphasis on culture, social structure, moral values, and political processes.  The Ancient World also follows the transformations and changes experienced by societies of the ancient world, including the emergence of Hellenistic culture from classical culture, the transformation of the Republic, and the transition from classical to Christian society. What's more, the Fifth Edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the latest scholarship.