Download or read book Pan's Travail written by J. Donald Hughes and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Pan's Travail, J. Donald Hughes examines the environmental history of the classical period and argues that the decline of ancient civilizations resulted in part from exploitation of the natural world. Focusing on Greece and Rome, as well as areas subject to their influences, Hughes offers a detailed look at the impact of humans and their technologies on the ecology of the Mediterranean basin. He also compares the ancient world's environmental problems to those of other eras and discusses attitudes toward nature expressed in Greek and Latin literature.