Scientists, historians and archaeologists are at last beginning to collaborate seriously on studies of the long-term history of the environment. The fruit of an international conference held in Rome in 2011, The Ancient Mediterranean Environment between Science and History brings together scientists and scholars who are interested in the interaction of their several disciplines as well as in specific problems such as the effects of climate change and other environmental factors on historical developments and events, the sources of the energy and fuel used in ancient civilizations, and the effects of humans on the lands around the Mediterranean. The collection balances broad Mediterranean-wide studies and tightly focused studies of particular regions in Italy and Jordan.
W.V. Harris is Director of the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean at Columbia University. He has written widely about the social, psychological, and economic history of the Graeco-Roman world, and about Roman imperialism. In 2011 he published Rome's Imperial Economy.
Contributors: Edward R. Cook, W.V. Harris, Duncan Keenan-Jones, Paula Kouki, Paolo Malanima, Sturt W. Manning, Michael McCormick, Paola Romano, Maria Rosaria Ruello, Elda Russo Ermolli, Robyn Veal, and Andrew Wilson.
All interested in current directions in environmental history, and in the history of the Mediterranean, especially in Greek and Roman times.