|
Livius
is a website on ancient history written and maintained since 1996 by
the Dutch historian Jona Lendering. It started on a different URL; the present one has been in use since 2000.
Lendering read history at Leiden University (MA 1993), specialized in Mediterranean culture at the
Amsterdam
Free University (MA 1996), and worked at excavations in Holland
(Riethoven) and
Greece (Halos).
After teaching historical theory and ancient history at the Free University for several years,
he was one of the founders of a school for history teaching, Livius Onderwijs. Born in Amsterdam, it has now spread to auxiliary locations in Bussum,
Dronten,
Ermelo, Leiden, Schagen, The Hague, and Zaanstad. As of 2008, Livius
Onderwijs has six teachers, about 500-600
students a year, and offers tours to countries like Italy, Turkey,
Iran, and Libya. The field trips help to etch into the students' minds some of what they've learned at the school.
Because history is for a large part telling
a story, something you do best in your own language, Lendering prefers
to publish in Dutch journals. However, he has several times contributed
to the Bryn Mawr
Classical Review and is a regular contributor to
Ancient Warfare.
He is also the publisher and editor of the on-line publication of the Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period, a set of important cuneiform sources for the history of the Seleucid and Parthian Near East, transcribed, translated and commented on by Bert van der Spek of the VU University Amsterdam and Irving Finkel of the British Museum. A publication as book is in preparation.
Lendering is currently writing a book on the legacy of Islam to
Medieval Europe, and maintains a blog. He
is the author of several books, all
in Dutch.
Reviews are here
(many in
Dutch); some other bits and pieces can be found here.
For the Livius
website, he collaborates closely with Bill Thayer of LacusCurtius.
Books by Jona Lendering
- Verloren erfenis. Oosterse wortels van de westerse cultuur
2009 Amsterdam (Lost legacy. Eastern roots of the western civilization)
A book on the legacy of Islam and Babylon (abstract; Dutch abstract).
- Oorlogsmist.
Veldslagen en propaganda uit de Oudheid 2006 Amsterdam (Fog of War. Ancient Battles and
Propaganda). A book on war and the
representation of war (more...;
chapter).
- Polderdenken.
De wortels van de Nederlandse
overlegcultuur
2005 Amsterdam (The
Roots of Dutch Consensus Culture). A little book about
medieval
peat reclamation, polders, dikes, windmills and the political,
economic
and social consequences of the Dutch war against the sea (reviews; summary in English).
- Alexander
de Grote. De ondergang van het Perzische
Rijk 2004 Amsterdam (Alexander
the Great. The Demise of the Persian Empire). It
contains several
recently discovered Babylonian texts and takes into account
modern
sociological theories about the pristine state, and ideas about
transcultural
leadership that have been developed at modern business schools. A part
of it has been translated into English and can be found here.
(reviews).
- Stad
in marmer. Gids voor het antieke Rome
aan de hand van tijdgenoten 2002 Amsterdam (The
Marble City. Literary Travel Guide to Ancient Rome). A book
on daily
life in ancient Rome, hailed as "the best book on Rome in the Dutch
language"
by the NRC Handelsblad. An English review can be
found here
and a translated part can be found here
(other reviews).
- Interim-ABC,
2002 The Hague.
A skeptical inventory of management jargon, a coproduction with Klaas
de
Roo and Paul Mentzel (reviews).
- Archeologie
van de futurologie,
2000 The Hague (Archaeology of Futurology).
A brief history
of futurology, including evaluations of the most important
futurological
methods.
- De
randen van de aarde. De Romeinen tussen
Schelde en Eems,
2000 Amsterdam (The Edges of the Earth. The Romans in the Low Countries). The
history of
the Roman occupation of Belgium and the Netherlands, including a
collection
of hundred translated Greek and Latin texts. (A translated chapter can
be found here;
other parts were used in this
article; reviews.)
- Een
interim-manager in het Romeinse Rijk. Plinius
in Bithynië, 1998 The
Hague (An Interim Manager
in the Roman Empire.
Pliny in Bithynia). A brief introduction to Roman history and
government,
culminating in a description of Pliny
the Younger's governorship
of Bithynia-Pontus (reviews).
The next projects will be:
- A biography of Synesius
of Cyrene;
- A book on the
rise of Early Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism;
- A dictionary of blunders by classicists,
archaeologists, and historians.
Other projects:
- A
history of the Seleucids;
- A
brief history of the Roman legions, not unlike the webpages
already devoted to this subject;
- A little book on the Limes
Tripolitanus;
- A book on Mediterranean culture under the
Severan
dynasty;
- A history of pre-Islamic Iran;
- A book on Babylonia between 800 BCE and 200 CE;
- and a book on the
'long
but single year' 69.
|
|