Readings – Western Civilization

1. Early Civilizations / The Ancient Origins of the West
2. Peoples, Gods, And Empires: 1700-500 B.C.E. / Gods and Kings
3. The Rise of Greece 1000-400 B.C.E. / The Hellenic World
4. The Greek World Expands, 400-150 B.C.E. / The World of Alexander
5. Civilization Of Ancient Rome / Political Institutions of the Roman Republic
6. The Transformation Of Rome / The Christianization of the Roman World
7. Rome’s Three Heirs, 500-950: The Byzantine Empire, Islam, and Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire
8. The Expansion Of Europe, 950-1100 / Religion, Wars, And Real Estate / The Holy Crusades
9. The Consolidation Of Europe, 1100-1300 / The Rise of the Medieval University and Heresy

Early Civilizations / The Ancient Origins of the West

• Babylonian Accounts of Creation
• Babylonian Penitential Psalms
• Chaldean Account of the Deluge (Flood)
• The Code of Hammurabi
• The Book of Genesis – Chapters 1-3: Creation (KJV)
• Herodotus: An Account of the Egyptians
• Hymn to the Nile
• The Instruction of Ptah-Hotep
• Ishtar’s Descent Into Hades
• The Royal Standard of Ur – War and Peace
• Sumerian Accounting Tablet

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Peoples, Gods, And Empires: 1700-500 B.C.E. / Gods and Kings

• Akhenaton’s Hymn to the Aton
• Assyrian Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I
• The Career of Queen Hatshepsut
• The Great Inscription of Darius at Behistun
• An Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar
• Reflections of Zarathustra
• A Sermon Attributed to Zoroaster
• Zarathustra and the Doctrine of Dualism
• Minoan Bull Leaping

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The Rise of Greece 1000-400 B.C.E. / The Hellenic World

• Euripides: A Meeting of the Ecclesia
• Herodotus: The Battle of Marathon
• Herodotus: The Battle of Salamis
• Herodotus: The Battle of Plataea
• Herodotus: Cleisthenes and Athenian Democracy
• Hesiod: Works and Days
• Pausianias: A Description of Olympia
• Pindar: Second Olympian Ode
• Plutarch: Aristides and His Opposition to Themistocles
• Plutarch: Pericles Beautifies Athens
• Plutarch: The Spartan Discipline for Youths
• Xenophon: The Ideal Household

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The Greek World Expands, 400-150 B.C.E. / The World of Alexander

• Arrian: Alexander and the Assimilation of the East
• Arrian: Alexander at the Battle of Gaugamela
• Athenæus: The Great Ship of Hieron, King of Syracuse
• Cleanthes’s Hymn to Zeus
• Diogenes Laërtius: The Sceptics: Life of Pyrrho
• The Great Spectacle and Procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus
• Justin: How Philip of Macedon Began His Reign
• Plutarch: How Demosthenes Became an Orator
• Plutarch: The Youth of Alexander the Great
• Strabo: A Description of Alexandria

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Civilization Of Ancient Rome / Political Institutions of the Roman Republic

• Appian: On the Graachi
• The Canuleian Law
• Cicero: On the Best Form of Government
• Cicero: On the Laws
• Juvenal: Diatribe Against the Women of Rome
• Livy: How Cincinnatus Saved a Roman Army
• Ammianus Marcellinus: The Luxury and Arrogance of the Rich in Rome
• Petronius: The Banquet of Trimalchio
• Plutarch: Spartacus and the Slave Revolt
• Polybius: An Analysis of Roman Government
• Quintillian: The Ideal Education
• Sallust: The Conspiracy of Catiline
• The Laws of the Twelve Tables

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The Transformation Of Rome / The Christianization of the Roman World

• Ammianus Marcellinus: The Movement of the Huns and Goths into the Roman Empire
• Cyprian: The Early Conception of a Catholic Church
• Eusebius: How Constantine Overthrew Maxentius and Favored Christianity
• Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
• Origen: Principles of Faith
• Accounts of Roman Persecution of the Christians
• Pope Leo’s Sermon on the Petrine Sucession
• Priscus on the Court of Attila King of the Huns
• Conversation of Priscus with a Greek living among the Barbarians
• Salvian: A Comparison Between the Lot of Those Within the Empire and Those Who Lived Among the Barbarians
• Theodoret: How St. Ambrose Humiliated Theodosius the Great

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Rome’s Three Heirs, 500-950: The Byzantine Empire, Islam, and Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire

From Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages

• Bede: The Conversion of England
• Bede: Description of Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven
• The Carolingian Revival of Learning
• The Deeds of Clovis as Related by Gregory of Tours
• Einhard: How Charlemagne Became Emperor
• General Capitulary for the Missi
• Liutprand of Cremona: Report of his Mission to Constantinople
• Selections from the Qur’an

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The Expansion Of Europe, 950-1100 / Religion, Wars, And Real Estate / The Holy Crusades

• Aanselm of Ribemont to Manasses II
• The Battle of Hastings, William of Malmesbury
• The Charter of the Ministerials of the Archbishop of Cologne, 1154
• Daimbert, Godfrey and Raymond, to the Pope, Laodicea, September, 1099
• The Law of the Family of the Bishop of Worms, 1023
• Magna Carta, 1215
• Manumission of a Villein, 1278
• The Sack of Constantinople, c. 1205
• Letter from a Crusader
• The Truce of God, issued at Cologne (1083)
• Speech of Urban II at the Council of Clermont, November 26, 1095
• Viscount of Carcassone does homage to the abbot of St. Mary of Grasse (1110)

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The Consolidation Of Europe, 1100-1300 / The Rise of the Medieval University and Heresy

• Bernard Gui on the Albigensians
• The Conversion of Peter Waldo (c.1218)
• Dante, The Banquet
• Description of the Albigensians, c. 13th century
• The Donation of Constantine (c.750-800)
• The Early Career of St. Bernard, c. 1150
• Early Consciousness of Abuses in the Church, c. 12th century
• The Foundation of the Monastery at Cluny, 910
• The Foundation of the University of Heidelberg (1386)
• Gregory VII, The Dictate of the Pope (c. 1090)
• Medieval Students’ Songs, c. 12th century
• Petrarch’s Description of the Averroists, c. 13th century
• The Rule of St. Francis of Assisi
• Statutes of Gregory IX, for the University of Paris, 1231
• Statutes of Robert De Courçon for Paris, 1215
• University of Paris: Condemnation of Errors, 1241

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Crisis, Unrest, and Opportunity, 1300-1500 / The Calamitous Fourteenth Century