Books by G. W. Bowersock

Little is known about sixth-century Arabia. Yet from this distant time and place emerged a faith and an empire that stretched from Iberia to India. G. W. Bowersock illuminates this obscure yet most dynamic period in Islam, exploring why arid Arabia proved to be fertile ground for Muhammad's message and why it spread so quickly to the wider world.

Proceeding directly from an evaluation of the ancient sources--the testimony of friends and enemies of Julian as well as the writings of the emperor himself--the author traces Julian's youth, his command of the Roman forces in Gaul, and his emergence as sole ruler in the course of a dramatic march to Constantinople.

In the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East-maps, historical images and religious scenes constituting a treasure of new testimony from antiquity. In them, Bowersock finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride.

This book examines the historical context of the earliest Christian martyrs, and anchors their grisly and often wilful self-sacrifice to the everyday life and outlook of the cities (mostly Greek) of the Roman empire. Throughout, new light is shed on the concept of martyrdom, which has been such a powerful form of dissidence down to the present day.