From Plataea to Potidaea

From Plataea to Potidaea PDF Author: E. Badian
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801844317
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
From the Greek victory over Persian forces on the field of Plataea to the Athenian blockade of the rebel city of Potidaea - key events in the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, respectively - the half-century of Greek history known as the Pentecontaetia is an era for which sources are few and interpretation is controversial. Now, eminent historian E. Badian brings together six essays - one new and five revised for this volume - that shed new light on one of the key periods in the history of the ancient world. How was the Persian War finally settled, and what was the nature of the relationship that emerged between the two great powers of the Aegean, Athens and Persia? Is it possible to determine the sequence of events of the half-century between Xerxes' retreat and the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War? Should the general picture of Thucydides as the objective and "scientific" historian be revised, at least as far as this period is concerned? In addressing these and other questions, E. Badian provides the penetrating insights and rigorous scholarly argument, to which his readers have become accustomed.

From Plataea to Potidaea

From Plataea to Potidaea PDF Author: E. Badian
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801844317
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
From the Greek victory over Persian forces on the field of Plataea to the Athenian blockade of the rebel city of Potidaea - key events in the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, respectively - the half-century of Greek history known as the Pentecontaetia is an era for which sources are few and interpretation is controversial. Now, eminent historian E. Badian brings together six essays - one new and five revised for this volume - that shed new light on one of the key periods in the history of the ancient world. How was the Persian War finally settled, and what was the nature of the relationship that emerged between the two great powers of the Aegean, Athens and Persia? Is it possible to determine the sequence of events of the half-century between Xerxes' retreat and the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War? Should the general picture of Thucydides as the objective and "scientific" historian be revised, at least as far as this period is concerned? In addressing these and other questions, E. Badian provides the penetrating insights and rigorous scholarly argument, to which his readers have become accustomed.

Song of Wrath

Song of Wrath PDF Author: J. E. Lendon
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465022804
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
Song of Wrath tells the story of Classical Athens' victorious Ten Years' War (431-421 BC) against grim Sparta -- the first decade of the terrible Peloponnesian War that turned the Golden Age of Greece to lead. Historian J.E. Lendon presents a sweeping tale of pitched battles by land and sea, sieges, sacks, raids, and deeds of cruelty and guile -- along with courageous acts of mercy, surprising charity, austere restraint, and arrogant resistance. Recounting the rise of democratic Athens to great-power status, and the resulting fury of authoritarian Sparta, Greece's traditional leader, Lendon portrays the causes and strategy of the war as a duel over national honor, a series of acts of revenge. A story of new pride challenging old, Song of Wrath is the first work of Ancient Greek history for the post-cold-war generation.

A Commentary on Thucydides: Volume II: Books IV-V. 24

A Commentary on Thucydides: Volume II: Books IV-V. 24 PDF Author: Simon Hornblower
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199276257
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
This will be a 3 volume commentary on Thucydides. Appendices will appear in v.3 to be published some years hence.

Pericles and the Conquest of History

Pericles and the Conquest of History PDF Author: Loren J. Samons (II)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107110149
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
Loren J. Samons, II examines the events of Athenian history to understand the actions and legacy of this pivotal historical figure.

Ancient Greek Letter Writing

Ancient Greek Letter Writing PDF Author: Paola Ceccarelli
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191663077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
In this volume, Ceccarelli offers a history of the development of letter writing in ancient Greece from the archaic to the early Hellenistic period. Highlighting the specificity of letter-writing, as opposed to other forms of communication and writing, the volume looks at documentary letters, but also traces the role of embedded letters in the texts of the ancient historians, in drama, and in the speeches of the orators. While a letter is in itself the transcription of an oral message and, as such, can be either truthful or deceitful, letters acquired negative connotations in the fifth century, especially when used for transactions concerning the public and not the private sphere. Viewed as the instrument of tyrants or near eastern kings, these negative connotations were evident especially in Athens where comedy and tragedy testified to an underlying concern with epistolary communication. In other areas of the Greek world, such as Sparta or Crete, the letter may have been seen as an unproblematic instrument for managing public policies, with inscriptions documenting the official use of letters not only by the Hellenistic kings, but also by some poleis.

From Ikaria to the Stars

From Ikaria to the Stars PDF Author: Peter Green
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292758774
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
"I hadn't, till I really started digging, gauged the fierce intensity of the need for myth in the human psyche, of any age, or sensed the variety of motives dictating that need," writes Peter Green in the introduction to this wide-ranging collection of essays on classical mythology and the mythic experience. Using the need for myth as the starting point for exploring a number of topics in Greek mythology and history, Green advances new ideas about why the human urge to make myths persists across the millennia and why the borderland between mythology and history can sometimes be hard to map. Green looks at both specific problems in classical mythology and larger theoretical issues. His explorations underscore how mythic expression opens a door into non-rational and quasi-rational modes of thought in which it becomes possible to rewrite painful truths and unacceptable history—which is, Green argues, a dangerous enterprise. His study of the intersections between classical mythology and Greek history ultimately drives home a larger point, "the degree of mythification and deception (of oneself no less than of others) of which the human mind is capable."

The Rise And Fall of Athens

The Rise And Fall of Athens PDF Author: Plutarch
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1802067299
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
Plutarch traces the fortunes of Athens through nine lives - from Theseus, its founder, to Lysander, its Spartan conqueror - in this seminal work What makes a leader? For Plutarch the answer lay not in great victories, but in moral strengths. In these nine biographies, taken from his Parallel Lives, Plutarch illustrates the rise and fall of Athens through nine lives, from the legendary days of Theseus, the city's founder, through Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias and Alcibiades, to the razing of its walls by Lysander. Plutarch ultimately held the weaknesses of its leaders responsible for the city's fall. His work is invaluable for its imaginative reconstruction of the past, and profound insights into human life and achievement. This edition of Ian Scott-Kilvert's seminal translation, fully revised with a new introduction and notes by John Marincola, now also contains Plutarch's attack on the first historian, 'On the Malice of Herodotus'.

What's Wrong with Democracy?

What's Wrong with Democracy? PDF Author: Loren J. Samons
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520251687
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
"This is unlike any recent work I know of. It offers a challenging, often refreshing, and what will certainly be a controversial assessment of classical Athenian democracy and its significance to modern America. Samons is willing to tread where few other classicists are willing to go in print. He reminds readers that the Athenian democracy offers just as many negative lessons as positive ones, and topics like the popular vote, the dangers of state payments to individual citizens, the naturally acquisitive foreign policy of democratic governments, and the place of religion in democracy all come up for discussion and criticism. Samons has written an original and very provocative book."—James Sickinger, author of Public Records and Archives in Classical Athens "Professor Samons' lively and challenging account of ancient Athens raises important questions about democracy, ancient and modern. It will surely arouse keen interest and debate."—Donald Kagan, author of The Peloponnesian War "In this elegantly written, carefully researched, and perceptive book, Samons presents a penetrating analysis of ancient Athenian democracy's dark sides. His book is as much about the errors and weaknesses of our own political system as it is about those of ancient Athens. Whether or not we agree with his critique and conclusions, this book is not merely thought-provoking: it is annoyingly discomforting, forcing us to re-examine firm beliefs and to discard easy solutions."—Kurt A. Raaflaub, author of Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece "In this marvelously unfashionable book, Samons debunks much of what passes in the current-day academy as scholarship on classical Athens, demonstrating that it is an ideologically-driven apology for a radically defective form of government. In the process, he casts light on the perspicacity of America's founding fathers and on the unthinking populism that threatens in our own day to ruin their legacy."—Paul A. Rahe, author of Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution "We are in the greatest age of democracy since antiquity and in the most need of guidance about the wisdom of government by majority vote. Precisely for that reason Professor Samons offers a bold and unbridled look at the nature and history of democracies, ancient and modern. He reminds us that we are capable of doing as much evil as good when constitutional protections and republican oversight are not there to moderate the instant desires of the majority. This is an engaging, provocative, and timely study of ancient Athens and modern America that should serve as a cautionary reminder to both romantic scholars and zealous diplomats."—Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Other Greeks

Athenian Empire

Athenian Empire PDF Author: Polly Low
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748631240
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
In the fifth century BC, the Athenian Empire dominated the politics and culture of the Mediterranean world.This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the history and significance of the Athenian Empire. It starts by exploring possible answers to the crucial questions of the origins and growth of the empire. Subsequent sections deal with the institutions and regulations of empire, and the mechanisms by which it was controlled; the costs and benefits of imperialism (for both rulers and ruled); and the ideological, cultural and artistic aspects of Athenian power. The articles collected here engage with the full range of evidence available--literary, epigraphic, archaeological and art-historical--and offer a compelling demonstration of the range of approaches, and conclusions, for which that evidence allows.

Land Battles in 5th Century BC Greece

Land Battles in 5th Century BC Greece PDF Author: Fred Eugene Ray, Jr.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786452609
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
"Relying heavily on primary sources such as Herodotus, Thucydides and Plutarch, this volume provides the first-ever tactical level survey of all Greek land engagements which occurred during the 5th century BC, a seminal period in the history of western warfare"--Provided by publisher.