Sources of the Western Tradition Volume I,
10th Edition

Marvin Perry

ISBN-13: 9781337397605
Copyright 2019 | Published
480 pages | List Price: USD $52.95

Take a seat on the front lines of the past, and experience history and the evolution of Western thought from the perspectives of everyday citizens, prominent public figures, celebrated authors and philosophers, and more. This collection of over 400 primary sources -- with introductory essays to help you get the most out of each reading, and review questions to help you check your understanding -- emphasizes the intellectual history and values of the Western tradition. Sources are grouped around important themes in European history, including developments in intellectual and religious thought, warfare, revolution, and socio-economic change. And because history is always in the making, you'll also find essays on current topics and vexing issues that you read about in the news, including the European Union, ISIS, and Muslim immigration in Europe.

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VOLUME I
Part I: THE ANCIENT WORLD.
1. The Near East.
Epic of Gilgamesh: Mesopotamian Protest against Death -- Poem of the Righteous Sufferer: Forsaken by the Gods. Mesopotamian Concepts of Justice -- Code of Hammurabi. Divine Kingship in Egypt -- Hymns to the Pharaohs; Guidelines for the Ruler. Religious Inspiration of Akhenaten -- Hymn to Aton. Empire Builders: The Assyrians and Persians -- Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I; Fusion of Cultural Tradition in Persian Empire. The Myth-Making Outlook of the Ancient Near East -- Lament for Ur.
2. The Hebrews.
Hebrew Cosmogony and Anthropology -- Genesis. Human Sinfulness -- Genesis, The Origins of Sin. The Covenant and the Ten Commandments -- Exodus, The Covenant; Exodus, The Ten Commandments. Humaneness of Hebrew Law -- Exodus, Crime and Punishment; Leviticus, Neighbor and Community; Deuteronomy, Judges, Witnesses, and Justice. God's Greatness and Human Dignity -- Psalm 8; Psalm 104. The Age of Classical Prophecy -- Amos and Isaiah, Social Justice; Isaiah, Peace and Humanity.
3. The Greeks.
Homer: The Educator of Greece -- Homer, The Iliad. Lyric Poetry -- Sappho, Love, Passion, and Friendship. The Emancipation of Thought from Myth -- Hippocrates, The Sacred Disease: The Separation of Medicine from Myth; Thucydides, Method of Historical Inquiry; Critias, Religion as a Human Invention. Human Excellence and Weakness: Humanism and Hubris -- Pindar, The Pursuit of Excellence; Aeschylus, Hubris. The Persian Wars -- Herodotus, The Histories. Athenian Greatness -- Thucydides, The Funeral Oration of Pericles. The Status of Women in Classical Greek Society -- Euripedes, Medea; Aristophanes, Lysistrata. The Peloponnesian War -- Thucydides, The Melian Dialogue and the Revolution at Corcyra. Socrates: The Rational Individual -- Plato, The Apology. Plato: The Philosopher-King -- Plato, Epistle VII; Plato, The Republic. Aristotle: Ethical and Political Thought -- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics; Aristotle, Politics. Hellenistic Culture: Rationalism, Universalism, and Individualism -- Plutarch, Cultural Fusion; Plutarch, Alexander and Cultural Fusion; Epicurus, Self-Sufficiency; Philo Alexandria, Jewish Appreciation of Greek Culture and Synthesis of Reason Revelation.
4. The Roman Republic.
Rome's March to World Empire -- Polybius, The Roman Army; Frontinus, Enforcing Discipline. The Punic Wars -- Livy, The Second Punic War: The Threat from Hannibal; Appian of Alexandria, The Third Punic War: The Destruction of Carthage. The Spread of Greek Philosophy to Rome -- Lucretius, Denunciation of Religion; Cicero, Advocate of Stoicism; Cato the Elder, Hostility to Greek Philosophy. Roman Slavery -- Diodorous Siculus, Slaves: Torment and Revolt; Appian of Alexandria, The Revolt of Spartacus. Women in Republican Society -- Quintus Lucretius Vespillo, A Funeral Eulogy for a Roman Wife. The Decline of the Republic -- Plutarch, Tiberius Gracchus; Cicero, Justifying Caesar's Assassination; Dio Cassius, In Defense of Caesar and Monarchy; Velleius Paterculus, The Triumph of Octavian; Sallust, Moral Deterioration.
5. The Roman Empire.
The Imperial Office -- Tacitus, The Imposition of One-Man Rule. Imperial Culture -- Virgil, The Aeneid; Ovid, Art of Love; Quintilian, The Education of an Orator; Juvenal, The Satires. Roman Stoicism -- Seneca, Stoic Humanitarianism; Marcus Aurelius, Meditations; Musonius Rufus, Enlightened Lectures on Women. Roman Law -- Justinian, Corpus Iuris Civilis. The Roman Peace -- Aelius Aristides, The Roman Oration: The Blessings of Pax Romana; Tacitus, The Other Side of The Pax Romana; Josephus, "nor does fear frighten them." Third-Century Crisis -- Dio Cassius, Caracalla's Extortions; Petition to the Emperor Philip. The Demise of Rome -- Ammianus Marcellinus, The Battle of Adrianople; Salvian, Political and Social Injustice; Saint Jerome, The Fate of Rome; Pope Gregory I, The End of Roman Glory.
6. Early Christianity.
The Teachings of Jesus -- The Gospel According to Saint Mark; The Gospel According to Saint Matthew. The Dead Sea Scrolls -- Josephus, The Essenes. Christianity and Greco-Roman Learning -- Tertullian, What Has Jerusalem To Do With Athens?; Clement of Alexandria, In Defense of Greek Learning; Saint Augustine, Appropriating Pagan Learning and Institutions for Christian Ends. The Persecutions -- The Martyrdom of Blandina. Monastic Life -- Saint Benedict of Nursia, The Benedictine Rule. Christianity and Society -- Lactantius, Acquisitiveness as the Source of Evil; Justin Martyr, Christian Morality; Saint Benedict of Nursia, The Christian Way of Life; The Apostle Paul, The Submissive Role of Women; A Bishop's Sermon, Breaking the Vow of Virginity. Jews in the Era of Early Christianity -- Saint John Chrysostom, Christian Demonization of Jews; Rabbinic Judaism, Ethical Concerns. The Christian Worldview; Saint Augustine, The City of God.
Part II: THE MIDDLE AGES.
7. The Early Middle Ages.
Islam -- The Koran. Legal Texts and Decrees: Restrictions on Dhimmis. Jihad -- Sayings Attributed to the Prophet; Ibn Taymiyyah, The Religious and Moral Doctrine of Jihad. Islam and Greek Learning -- Avicenna, Love of Learning; Rhazes, Muslim Medicine. Converting the Germanic Peoples to Christianity -- Bede, History of the English Church and People; Einhard, Forcible Conversion under Charlemagne. The Transmission of Learning -- Cassiodorous, The Monk as Scribe. The Carolingian Renaissance -- Einhard, Charlemagne's Appreciation of Learning; Charlemagne, An Injunction to Monasteries to Cultivate Letters. The Feudal Lord -- Galbert of Bruges, Commendation and the Oath of Fealty; Bishop Fulbert of Cartres, Obligations of Lords and Vassals; Dhouda, Loyalty to Lord and King. The Burdens of Serfdom -- Bishop Adalbero of Laon, The Tripartite Society; Manorial Justice; William of Juieges and Wace, Failed Rebellion.
8. The High and Late Middle Ages.
The Revival of Trade and the Growth of Towns -- How to Succeed in Business; Ordinances of the Guild Merchants of Southampton. The Lure of Combat -- Bertran de Born, "For no man is accounted good/Till blows he's given and withstood"; Geoffroi de Charny, Deeds of Arms Bring the Highest Honor. Medieval Entertainment -- William Fitz-Stephen, Sports in Medieval London. Papal Supremacy -- Pope Gregory VII, The Dictatus Papae; Pope Innocent III, "Royal Power Derives its Dignity from the Pontifical Authority." The Crusades -- Robert the Monk, Appeal of Urban II to the Franks; William of Tyre, The Capture of Jerusalem; James of Vitry, The Remission of Sins and the Reward of Eternal Life. Religious Dissent -- Thomas Aquinas, Death for Unrepentant Heretics; Emperor Frederick II, Punishing Heretics; Peter of les Vaux-Cernay, Exterminating the Cathars. Medieval Learning: Synthesis of Reason and Christian Faith -- Adelard of Barth: A Questioning Spirit; Peter Abelard, Inquiry into Divergent Views of Church Fathers; Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica. Medieval Universities -- Geoffrey Chaucer, An Oxford Cleric; A Wandering Scholar, "Am Driven By Poverty To Madness"; Jacques de Vitry, Ethnic Conflicts at the University of Paris. The Jews in the Middle Ages -- Albert of Aix-la-Chapelle, Massacre of the Jews of Mainz; Pope innocent III, A Decree on the Jews; The Libel of Ritual Murder; Philip II Augustus, Expulsion of the Jews from France; Maimonides, Jewish Learning. Troubadour Love Songs -- Love as Joyous, Painful, and Humorous. The Status of Women in Medieval Society -- Jacopone da Todi, Praise of the Virgin Mary "O Thou Mother, Fount Of Love"; Christine de Pisan, The City of Ladies. Sexual Nonconformity: Satan's Lures -- Robert of Flamborough, Prohibition of Sexual Sins; Peter Damian, Condemnation of Homosexuality. Medieval Contributions to the Tradition of Liberty -- John of Salisbury, Policratus: A Defense Of Tyrannicide; The Magna Carta. The Fourteenth Century: An Age of Adversity -- Giovanni Boccaccio, The Black Death; Jean de Venette, Extremist Behavior During the Plague; Sir John Froissart, The Peasant Revolt of 1381; John Bromyard, Virulent Denunciation of the Rich and Powerful. The Medieval Church in Crisis -- Marsilius of Padua, Attack on the Worldly Power of the Church. The Medieval Worldview -- Lothario dei Segni (Pope Innocent III), On the Misery of the Human Condition; Andreas Gryphius, "The Vanity of this World"; Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy.
Part III: EARLY MODERN EUROPE.
9. The Renaissance.
The Humanists' Fascination with Antiquity -- Petrarch, The Father of Humanism; Leonardo Bruni, Study of Greek Literature and a Humanist Educational Program; Petrus Paulus Vergerius, The Importance of Liberal Studies; Lorenzo de' Medici, The Pursuit of Fame and Glory. Human Dignity -- Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man. Individualism -- Montaigne, Self-Examination. The Ideal Gentleman -- Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier. Break with Medieval Political Theory -- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince. Renaissance Art -- The Genius of Leonardo da Vinci; Giorgio Vasari, The Genius of Michelangelo. Learned Renaissance Women -- Moderata Fonte, The Worth of Women. The Spread of the Renaissance -- Francois Rabelais, Celebration of the Worldly Life; William Shakespeare, Human Nature and the Human Condition.
10. The Reformation.
Late Medieval Attempts to Reform the Church -- Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ. A Catholic Critic of the Church -- Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly. The Lutheran Reformation -- Martin Luther, Critique of Church Doctrines; Ulrich von Hutten, Resentment of Rome. The German Peasants' Revolt -- The Twelve Articles; Martin Luther, Against the Thievish, Murderous Hordes of Peasants. Luther and the Jews -- Martin Luther, On the Jews and Their Lies. The Calvinist Reformation -- John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Catholic Response to Protestantism -- Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Religious Persecution -- The Persecution Of Anabaptists: The Examination of Elizabeth Dirks; Menno Simons, An Anabaptist Rejection of the Use of Force.
11. Early Modern Society and Politics.
Spanish Oppression of Amerindians -- Juan Lopez de Palacios Rubios, Justifying Spanish Domination of Amerindians; Bartolome de Las Casas, The Tears of the Indians. Toward the Modern Economy: The Example of Holland -- William Carr, The Dutch East India Company. The Jews of Spain and Portugal: Expulsion, Forced Conversion, Inquisition -- Andres Bernaldez, An Early Account of the Spanish Inquisition; Damiao de Gois, The Forced Conversion of Portuguese Jews. The Atlantic Slave Trade -- Seventeenth-Century Slave Traders, Buying and Transporting Africans; John Newton, Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade; Malachy Postlethwayt, Slavery Defended. John Wesley, Slavery Attacked. The Witch Craze -- Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger, The Hammer of Witches; Friedrich Spee, The Ordeal of an Accused Witch; Johannes Junius, A Confession of Witchcraft Explained. Absolutism -- Duc de Saint-Simon, Louis XIV's Spies; Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Justifying Rule by Divine Right; James I, A Speech to Parliament. A Secular Defense of Absolutism -- Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan. Constitutional Resistance to Royal Absolutism -- Philippe du Plessis-Mornay, Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants; The Triumph of Constitutional Monarchy in England: The Glorious Revolution; The English Declaration of Rights.
12. The Scientific Revolution.
Galileo: Confirming the Copernican System -- Galileo Condemned by the Inquisition. Advocacy Of Experimental Science -- Prophet of Modern Experimental Science; William Harvey, The Circulation of the Blood; Herman Boerhaave, A New Method of Chemistry. The Autonomy of the Mind -- Rene Descartes, Discourse On Method. The Mechanical Universe -- Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica. The Limitations of Science -- Blaise Pascal, Pensées.
13. The Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment Outlook -- Immanuel Kant, "What Is Enlightenment?". Enlightenment Political Thought -- John Locke, Second Treatise on Government; Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence; Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws; Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract; Thomas Paine, Rights of Man. Attack on Religion -- Voltaire, A Plea for Tolerance and Reason; Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason; Baron d'Holbach, "Religion is a mere castle in the air". Epistemology -- John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding; Claude-Adrien Helvetius, Essays on the Mind and a Treatise on Man. Compendium of Knowledge -- Denis Diderot, Encyclopedia. Humanitarianism -- Caesare Beccaria, Condemning Torture; John Howard, State of Prisons in England and Wales; Denis Diderot, Encyclopedia: "Men and Their Liberty Are Not Objects of Commerce. . . . ". Literature as Satire: Critiques of European Society -- Voltaire, Candide; Montesquieu, The Persian Letters. Madam du Chatelet: A Woman of Brilliance -- Madame du Chatelet, An Appeal for Female Education. On the Progress of Humanity -- Marquis de Condorcet, Progress of the Human Mind.

  • Marvin Perry

    Marvin Perry, now retired, taught history at Baruch College, City University of New York. He has published several successful Cengage Learning texts, including WESTERN CIVILIZATION: IDEAS, POLITICS, AND SOCIETY (senior author and general editor); WESTERN CIVILIZATION: A BRIEF HISTORY; the leading Western Civilization reader, SOURCES OF THE WESTERN TRADITION; AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE; SOURCES OF EUROPEAN HISTORY SINCE 1900 (senior editor); HUMANITIES IN THE WESTERN TRADITION (senior author and general editor); and WORLD WAR II IN EUROPE: A CONCISE HISTORY. His scholarly work includes ARNOLD TOYNBEE AND THE WESTERN TRADITION (1996); ANTISEMITISM: MYTH AND HATE FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE PRESENT (coauthor, 2002); ANTISEMITIC MYTHS: A HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY ANTHOLOGY (coeditor, 2008); and THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM: AN ANTHOLOGY (coeditor, 2008). Dr. Perry's scholarly work focuses on the history of ideas.

  • Volume I (covering ancient times until the Enlightenment) contains 33 new documents. New selections include Plato's famous Epistle VII (Ch. 3); Livy's description of Hannibal's character, Dio Cassius' defense of Julius Caesar (Ch. 4); and a bishop's sermon on girls who took a vow of virginity in order to become "brides of Christ" (Ch. 6).

  • Coverage of the Middle Ages in Volume I includes a passage by Rhazes, a renowned Muslim physician, on the dangers of alcoholism; and an account of the administration of justice on an English manor.

  • Chapter 8 has been reworked more than any other chapter, with new sections on "The Lure of Combat" and "Medieval Entertainment." It also now includes Emperor Frederick II's account of the need to hunt down and exterminate heretics, a document revealing the questioning spirit of Adelard of Bath, examples of vagabond student poetry and ethnic hostility that prevailed in universities, new samples of troubadour love songs, and Giovanni Boccaccio's famous description of the suffering caused by the Black Death.

  • Volume I's new sources on Early Modern Europe include Vasari's assessment of Michelangelo's genius and passages illustrating Shakespeare's insights into human nature (Ch. 9); excerpts from The Imitation of Christ and The Twelve Articles illustrating the grievances of the peasants (Ch. 10); and Friedrich Spee's account of the ordeal faced by a helpless woman indicted for witchcraft.

  • Volume I's Chapter 12 (which appears as Chapter 2 in Volume II), includes a new section on "Advocacy of Experimental Science," featuring William Harvey's account of his discovery of the circulation of the blood and chemist Herman Boerhaave's insistence that scientific truth requires the support of experimental evidence.

  • Volume I's Chapter 13 (which appears as Chapter 3 in Volume II) includes a new section, "Enlightenment Political Thought," with excerpts from Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws, discussing separation of powers, and Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, advocating a republican form of government hereditary monarchy.

  • Volume II (covering the Renaissance until the present) contains 53 new selections. New sources on Modern Europe include Olympe de Gouges "Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen" (Ch. 4); Benjamin Constant's warning of the danger of unlimited popular sovereignty (Ch. 6); an excerpt from Charles Dickens' Hard Times (Ch. 7); and accounts of the Irish Potato Famine and a Russian woman doctor's description of the mistreatment of Russian women in factories (Ch. 8).

  • Volume II's Chapter 9 includes two new opposing views of British rule in India, one by Lord Lytton, the other by Jawaharlal Nehru; Joseph Conrad's compelling Heart of Darkness, which explores human depravity, is added to Chapter 10.

  • New documents in Volume II's coverage of "Western Civilization in Crisis" include accounts by British and German combatants at the Battle of the Somme, a description of Russian women in combat, and the ethnic cleansing of Turkey's Armenian minority (Ch. 11). New selections in Chapter 12 deal with the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany prior to World War II; there's also a passage from The Fate of Man in the Modern World (1935) by Nicholas Berdyaev.

  • Chapter 13 includes a virtually new section on Nazi ideology, several accounts by Jewish survivors depicting the cruel treatment of Jewish prisoners by SS guards, and graphic accounts by American veterans who describe the brutal campaign of Iwo Jima.

  • Chapter 14 includes George F. Kennan's article advising a policy of containment to deal with the Soviet threat in the early days of the Cold War, and two new sections ("Communist Oppression in Asia" and "The Twilight of Imperialism").

  • The concluding chapter includes new essays on ISIS, Islamic immigrants in Europe, and the European Union -- updated just prior to publication so as to be as current as possible. The other new selections are a description of the Taliban's war on women by a young Afghan woman who lived through it, and the testimonies of victims of human trafficking prepared by the U.S. Department of State.

  • This two-volume reader features over 400 primary sources that emphasize the intellectual history and values of the Western tradition; more than 80 documents are new in the tenth edition.

  • Detailed introductions and review questions put each source in its historical context and provide reinforcement for students.

  • Sources are grouped around important themes in European history, including developments in intellectual and religious thought, warfare, revolution, and socio-economic change -- allowing students to compare and analyze multiple documents.

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.