Ancient Civilization
A Textbook for Secondary Schools (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Ancient Civilization: A Textbook for Secondary Schools<br><br>A great deal more attention is being given to social history and the life of the people of the past than was formerly the case. A great deal less is being given, except by classical students, to the history of Greece and Rome. This book aims to meet the need of schools that desire a short ancient history text, to the time of Charlemagne, which shall not be chiefly a narrative of events. It deals primarily with human progress. It devotes especial attention to great movements, to important leaders, to the life of the people and to the civilization of different periods. Although it is not always easy to trace the records of the "dim silent masses," this social history seems to be worth more than the annals of courts or of conquerors. As far as possible, the author has tried to keep in mind three things: (1) the importance of any change as a part of the development of ancient civilization; (2) the connection between these changes and modern life; and (3) the interest and capacity of the student in the high school. He has tried to give a correct impression of events and changes rather than to describe them with literal accuracy, as literal accuracy is impossible in so brief an account. Even if it were not impossible, it would be undesirable, for an exact, detailed account would render obscure the character and the meaning of the movement under consideration. Brief and general as is this survey of a very broad field, the author hopes that he may have made the subject interesting as well as intelligible.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.