A social history of the role of eunuchs in the households and courts of Greece, Rome, China, Byzantine, medieval Europe and the East, which aims to challenge traditional preconceptions about their duties. Scholz demonstrates that many eunuchs were not slaves but were instead important household and government officials who exerted great influence, notably in the Near East. He also argues that androgeny was idealised as a liberated and pure condition in medieval Christian Europe.

Eunuchs and Castrati: A Cultural History

History

Scholz, Piotr O.

Ancient Civilizations

Markus Wiener

Piotr O. Scholz

Americas

This short and timely guide to the archaeology and history of Olympia traces its development into arguably the most famous sanctuary in the Greek world, long before it was a stage for athletes. However, much of the book explores the Olympic competition, and its surrounding festival, which had its origins in the 7th century BC. Sinn also considers the sanctuary's artwork, produced by the finest sculptors of the day, the monuments erected by Alexander the Great and other kings and the relationship between the games and Nero. Includes recent archaeological evidence.

Olympia: Cult, Sport and Ancient Festival

Sinn, Ulrich

Sports & Outdoors

For centuries, East Africa has played a central role within the Indian Ocean world. The Arabs built the first trade networks there; these were laid siege to by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, followed by British colonialists in the nineteenth century. An interregional trade linked different subregions of East Africa to other Indian Ocean economies. For example, Hindu merchants from Gujarat played a leading role in the ivory trade of East Africa during the past four centuries. In the nineteenth century, Zanzibar became a major center of the Asian slave trade. While slave trading, slave raiding, and their consequences provide one thematic focus of this book, the author also demonstrates that Indian Ocean commercial networks were much more complex in the range of products exchanged, including luxury goods and staple food items, as well as enforced labor. Islam provided yet another connective tissue linking East Africa to the Indian Ocean world and served as a cultural matrix through which popular beliefs and practices were transmitted. This book offers an eye-opening perspective on an often neglected area of world history.

East Africa and the Indian Ocean

Edward A. Alpers

Africa

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Books by Markus Wiener