This book is an account of an almost completely neglected archaeological epic, the uncovering and restoration of all the classical monuments of Rome during the French occupation (1809-14). This was the first large-scale archaeological programme in the city. Based on archives in Rome and Paris, the archaeology of these five years is placed against its essential background: the fate of the monuments since antiquity and the contemporary Napoleonic political and cultural history. Mr Ridley describes the enormously complicated organisation which carried out the work and identifies the leading administrators, archaeologists and architects. The bulk of the work is a detailed account of the excavation and restoration work on the Forum Romanum, the Colosseum and the Forum of Trajan, the main classical monuments. There are numerous illustrations of the monuments both before and after the French intervention, as well as unpublished plans from the archives. There is an extensive specialist index. The book is intended for anyone interested in archaeology, in Napoleonic Europe and above all, in Rome.

The Eagle and the Spade: Archaeology in Rome during the Napoleonic Era

History

Ridley, Ronald T.

Ancient Civilizations

Cambridge University Press

This book is an account of an almost completely neglected archaeological epic, the uncovering and restoration of all the classical monuments of Rome during the French occupation (1809-14). This was the first large-scale archaeological programme in the city. Based on archives in Rome and Paris, the archaeology of these five years is placed against its essential background: the fate of the monuments since antiquity and the contemporary Napoleonic political and cultural history. Mr Ridley describes the enormously complicated organisation which carried out the work and identifies the leading administrators, archaeologists and architects. The bulk of the work is a detailed account of the excavation and restoration work on the Forum Romanum, the Colosseum and the Forum of Trajan, the main classical monuments. There are numerous illustrations of the monuments both before and after the French intervention, as well as unpublished plans from the archives. There is an extensive specialist index. The book is intended for anyone interested in archaeology, in Napoleonic Europe and above all, in Rome.

Bernardino Drovetti was the French consul in Egypt for most of the early 19th century. After an important career in the Napoleonic army, he came to Egypt in 1803 where he was to play a leading role in many fields: diplomacy, politics, archaeology and exploration, amassing no fewer than three collections of antiquities.

Napoleon's Proconsul in Egypt: The Life and Times of Bernardino Drovetti

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Stacey International

The unification of Egypt;: As seen through a study of the major knife-handles, palettes and maceheads,

Shield Press

Augustus' Res Gestae , inscribed on two pillars at the entrance to the emperor's tomb, is a unique text that still provokes debate concerning its translation and interpretation. This detailed study looks back over four hundred years of research, focusing in particularly on the rivalry between the English, French and Germans to produce the first definitive edition during the 18th and 19th centuries. Ridley then discusses the editions and interpretations of the last century before turning his attention to the text itself. After an examination of parallel texts, Ridley offers his own translation of the Res Gestae with an extensive commentary. He focuses on difficult and controversial sections and shows that, despite the vehement protestations of past commentators, the text is rife with Augustus' lies.

The Emperor's Retrospect (Studia Hellenistica)

Peeters Press

One of the not frequently mentioned characteristics of us as humans is both an interest in the past and a desire to leave records of our own time, place or selves. This is not necessarily, however, the same thing as 'history', which has a very clear meaning, namely 'enquiry'. The very essence of history is the asking of questions and the search for answers to them. These questions concern especially causation (why?), or responsibility (who?). This book is a bold attempt to survey narratives from the beginning of written records in Egypt and Mesopotamia through the major pre-classical cultures down to Herodotos, whom Cicero named 'The Father of History', to test the accuracy of that epithet, against a current fashion of denigration of the Greek's achievement. The fascinating pre-classical cultures, usually neglected by classicists, were certainly interested in the past and recording the present, but never asked questions about them. The narrative was already fixed, governed overwhelmingly by divine control and designed usually to glorify the ruler in question. An entirely new world is revealed by Herodotos, who never stopped asking questions. History was born.

The Birth of History: From the Third Millennium to Herodotos (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 311)

Peeters Pub & Booksellers

More ink has probably been spilled on Akhenaten and his times (‘the Amarna Period’) than any other figure from ancient Egypt, with a vast range of interpretations and theories that can leave the uninitiated utterly bewildered. Against this background, Akhenaten: A Historian’s View examines what scholars have said over the years regarding key aspects of the period, to produce a ‘history of histories,’ exploring exactly how various chains of arguments were arrived at―and how houses of cards thus erected have subsequently come tumbling down. In particular, it teases out ideas based on solid documentation from those based on theory and fancy, and tracks ways in which new evidence became available, how it was interpreted, and how it fed―or didn't―into the big picture. This book thus fills a major gap in the literature of the Amarna Period and also contributes to the wider, and much neglected, field of the historiography of ancient Egypt.

Akhenaten: A Historian's View (AUC History of Ancient Egypt, The)

The American University in Cairo Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ridley, Ronald T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ridley, Ronald T.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ridley, Ronald T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Eagle and the Spade: Archaeology in Rome during the Napoleonic Era

The Eagle and the Spade: Archaeology in Rome during the Napoleonic Era

Napoleon's Proconsul in Egypt: The Life and Times of Bernardino Drovetti

The unification of Egypt;: As seen through a study of the major knife-handles, palettes and maceheads,

The Emperor's Retrospect (Studia Hellenistica)

The Birth of History: From the Third Millennium to Herodotos (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, 311)

Akhenaten: A Historian's View (AUC History of Ancient Egypt, The)