The Far Edges of the Known World: Life Beyond the Borders of Ancient Civilization

Classicist Rees debuts with an illuminating history of the marginalized cultures of the ancient world. Arguing that historians have typically viewed other ancient cultures as the Greeks and Romans saw them—as “monstrous” others on “the edge of the world”—Rees surveys new research in which this paradigm is rapidly shifting. “We are now seeing an explosion in studies exploring the links... between ancient Rome and China,” he writes, and of “Greco-Indian exchange,” as well as of “ancient Africa beyond Egypt.” These studies reveal exciting new human stories while also blurring the boundaries between cultures, making classical Greece and Rome seem far less “homogenous.” The subjects Rees covers include nomadic groups in modern Kenya that built massive sandstone monuments more than 5,000 years ago; the complex cultural exchanges between Nubia, Kush, and Egypt; Greek colonists in Ukraine; and the Scythian fashion pioneers who made trousers popular. Most fascinating is a segment on Vietnam, the location of “one of history’s biggest ‘what might have beens,’ ” where “Rome and the powerful empire of Han China almost made direct contact”—a connection dashed only by the fact that Han China considered the Vietnamese, a prosperous maritime community, just as “savage” as Rome considered its own neighbors, Rees astutely hypothesizes. Lively and propulsive, this brings obscure corners of the ancient world to life. (Sept.)