Submitted by Bija Knowles on Tue, 12/08/2009 - 14:42
Review Rating:
6
Spartacus and the Slave War 73-71 BC is part of Osprey's series giving 'accounts of history's greatest conflicts, detailing the command strategies, tactics and battle experiences of the opposing forces throughout the crucial stages of each campaign'. Considering the limited historical evidence available on the subject of Spartacus and his slave rebellion, writing a book with this much detail would be no mean feat. Author Nic Fields gets around this problem by providing a lot of background to the slave rebellion of 73-71 BC.
The introduction takes a look at two previous slave revolts that took place in Sicily in the second century BC. These two uprisings ended in 132 BC and 100 BC, the latter almost 30 years before Spartacus's rebellion. They were born in the pastoral culture of Sicily, where no adequate law-enforcement was in place, allowing brigands and slave herdsmen to mix freely. The origins of the slave war led by Spartacus were substantially different, but it's nevertheless interesting background information.
Dr Mark Lehner wants to know the answer to a question that rarely gets asked - Where and how did the workers who built the pyramids live? A popular misconception is that they were slaves, when in actual fact Dr Lehner states this is far from the truth. The builders of the pyramids were well fed with copious amounts of prime-cut beef, and graffiti found at the pyramids suggests that the builders were members of various tribes and clans.
In the video, Dr Lehner explains that he is looking to find out more about the people who built the pyramids - what their diet was, how they raised livestock and gathered crops, how they lived and other questions which remain about the workers.
To uncover his answers, Dr Lehner and his team undertake a rare type of excavation - one which is not in search of treasures or riches, but one which seeks to find answers.
One of the most impressive and startling structures in the world is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, yet the construction of it remains the subject of much debate and discussion to this very day.
Dr Mark Lehner, an archaeologist at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and Harvard Semitic Museum, has given an exclusive video interview to Heritage Key in which he explains what he and his team are doing in their latest excavation.
