Universal History attempts to explain the world beyond the immediate surroundings of the author. It reflects a desire to synthesise the mass of written and oral knowledge about the past and to introduce a systematic interpretation. This collection re-examines the notion of Universal Historiography with a focus on its appearance in the Greek and Roman world and on the legacy that ancient authors offered to later generations. Fifteen new essays by a diverse set of international scholars tackle questions of definition, illustrate the diversity of its forms, structures, themes and analyses, the historical and intellectual contexts which gave rise to universalist thought, and its reputation and reception in antiquity and beyond.Contributors: Errietta Bissa, Tim Cornell, Allegra de Laurentiis, Marco Di Branco, Jackie Elliott, Johannes Engels, John Farrenkopf, Andrew Fear, Marta Garcia Morcillo, Francois Hartog, Peter Liddel, Clemence Schultze, Brian Sheridan, Peter Van Nuffelen, Liv Yarrow.