 | Hesiod and Theognis (Classics) by Hesiod
Buy new: £5.44 / Used from: £1.54 An introduction to ancient Greek pre-historical, mythical thinking. Sets the groundwork in terms of values.
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 | The Iliad (Penguin Classics) by Homer
Buy new: £6.26 / Used from: £2.99 The Iliad will show you how the early ancient Greeks thought about History. Indispensable reading, as this is the heart of the ancient Greeks' mytho-historical belief.
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 | The Odyssey (Penguin Classics) by Homer
Buy new: £5.97 / Used from: £0.93 Follow the story of Odysseus after the fall of Troy. Still mytho-historical.
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 | The Histories (Penguin Classics) by Herodotus
Buy used from: £4.99 You are now properly into History, and a crackling one at that. The Persians' mighty armed forces are repelled by the Greeks. Not strictly factual, but a major leap has been made.
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 | The Peloponnesian War (Classics) by Thucydides
Buy new: £7.66 / Used from: £0.75 The story continues after the Persians are repelled. Thucydides makes a leap to fact-based reporting (more or less). Not as much fun as Herodotus, but probably more reliable.
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 | The Persian Expedition (Penguin Classics) by Xenophon
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £1.98 An interesting aside to the unfolding of events in Greece: A band of Greek mercenaries go deep into Persia and have trouble getting back home.
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 | Hellenica: History of My Times (Penguin Classics) by Xenophon
Buy new: £6.19 / Used from: £5.66 Xenophon now brings back to the struggle for power in Greece. The Spartans and Athenians duke it out, neutralize each other, and Thebes rises. Sets the groundwork for understanding Alexander.
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 | The History of Alexander (Classics) by Quintus Curtius Rufus
Buy new: £6.47 / Used from: £2.10 Reward yourself for all the hard work! You will have an excellent background to understand the mindset of the ancient Greeks, the geography, and the main political issues.
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 | Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell
Buy new: £5.63 / Used from: £3.22 This is where you should start your quest, as it is mankind oldest known epic. It also happens to deal with the root of all of man's quests: The fear of death.
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 | The Early History of Rome: Bks. 1-5 (Penguin Classics) by Livy
Buy new: £6.68 / Used from: £4.00 Time to move to the Romans: Livy is one of the greatest and this one deals with the origins of Rome.
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 | Rome and Italy: Bks.6-10 (Classics) by Titus Livy
Buy new: £6.87 / Used from: £4.95 Livy now moves to tell us about how the Republican Romans survived their Italian neighbours and then went on to conquer them.
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 | History of Rome from Its Foundation: Rome and the Mediterranean (Penguin Classics) by Titus Livy
Buy new: £8.60 / Used from: £4.29 Now the Romans set out, almost accidentally, to conquer Sicily, come into contact with the Carthagenians, beat them, and become truly a Mediterranean power
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 | The Rise of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics) by Polybius
Buy new: £8.38 / Used from: £1.50 Time for a bit of reflection on what we have read: Polybius re-encapsulates Rome's rise to the end of the Punic Wars, while providing insightful observations on the nature of political history.
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