Comparable to Plato's Republic in depth and insight, Leviathan includes two society-changing phenomena that Plato didn't dare to dream of -- the rise of great nation-states with their claims to absolute sovereignty, and modern science, with its unprecedented analytic power. To Hobbes, the leviathan -- a mythical sea creature described in the Old Testament -- represented his central thesis: that the state must be strong in order to control and protect...

In 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii in lava and rock. The rediscovery of this city becomes a treasure hunt by which we can imagine the daily lives of their citizens.