The ancient stories, sayings, and deeds collected in this volume provide a window onto the everyday, witty, and often insightful world of antiquity. This collection is the fruit of more than a decade of research by a team of scholars combing Jewish, Greek, Roman, Islamic, and Christian sources. Altogether more than 1700 sayings of orators, statesmen, military and religious leaders, and many others are captured in this friendly reference work. The stories are grouped around the stages of life -- birth, youth, adult, old age, and death -- and are complemented by exhaustive indices and numerous explanatory notes.