The trouble with civilization: Ancient cities reveal the vulnerabilities of modern societies. Researchers are beginning to unravel the stories of Earth's mysterious lost civilisations, and separate the evidence from the prolific myths. The first chapter from The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World by David W. Anthony. To better understand the ancient Roman world, one archaeologist looks at the graffiti, love notes and poetry alike, left behind by Pompeians. From Archeology, foreign religions grew rapidly in the 1st-century A.D. Roman Empire, including worship of Jesus Christ, the Egyptian goddess Isis, and an eastern sun god, Mithra; and crossroad of cultures: Dura-Europos was a melting pot of the ancient Middle East. A review of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons. Revisiting Civilization: Scott Locklin on Sir Kenneth Clark's documentary on Western Civilization. Enlightened and Enriched: Joel Mokyr on how we owe our modern prosperity to Enlightenment ideas. Theodore Dalrymple on modernity’s uninvited guest: Civilization makes progress, but evil persists. A review of Ego and Soul: The Search for Meaning in the Modern West by John Carroll. Westerners vs. the World: Life-long members of societies that are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic — people who are WEIRD — see the world in ways that are alien from the rest of the human family. Dialogue, debate or disagreement: How useful is the distinction between East and West in today’s world?
