A distinguished team of internationally renowned scholars surveys the great empires from 1600 bc to ad 500, from the ancient Mediterranean to China. In ten masterly chapters, the authors take in the empires of New Kingdom Egypt, the Hittites, Assyria and Babylonia, Achaemenid through to Sassanid Persia, Athens and Alexander, Rome, India and Qin and Han China. Superbly illustrated and underpinned by deep scholarship attractively conveyed, The Great Empires of the Ancient World is an original and highly appealing work that makes these past societies resonate with, and fully relevant to, the modern age.