Historical Agency and the ‘Great Man' in Classical Greece

Historical Agency and the ‘Great Man' in Classical Greece PDF Author: Sarah Brown Ferrario
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316061116
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
The 'great man' of later Greek historical thought is the long product of traceable changes in ancient ideas about the meaning and impact of an individual life. At least as early as the birth of the Athenian democracy, questions about the ownership of the motion of history were being publicly posed and publicly challenged. The responses to these questions, however, gradually shifted over time, in reaction to historical and political developments during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. These ideological changes are illuminated by portrayals of the roles played by individuals and groups in significant historical events, as depicted in historiography, funerary monuments, and inscriptions. The emergence in these media of the individual as an indispensable agent of history provides an additional explanation for the reception of Alexander 'the Great': the Greek world had long since been prepared to understand him as it did.

Historical Agency and the ‘Great Man' in Classical Greece

Historical Agency and the ‘Great Man' in Classical Greece PDF Author: Sarah Brown Ferrario
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316061116
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 425

Get Book Here

Book Description
The 'great man' of later Greek historical thought is the long product of traceable changes in ancient ideas about the meaning and impact of an individual life. At least as early as the birth of the Athenian democracy, questions about the ownership of the motion of history were being publicly posed and publicly challenged. The responses to these questions, however, gradually shifted over time, in reaction to historical and political developments during the fifth and fourth centuries BC. These ideological changes are illuminated by portrayals of the roles played by individuals and groups in significant historical events, as depicted in historiography, funerary monuments, and inscriptions. The emergence in these media of the individual as an indispensable agent of history provides an additional explanation for the reception of Alexander 'the Great': the Greek world had long since been prepared to understand him as it did.

Historical Agency and the 'great Man' in Classical Greece

Historical Agency and the 'great Man' in Classical Greece PDF Author: Sarah Brown Ferrario
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781316072929
Category : HISTORY
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit

Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit PDF Author: James R. Harrison
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161546156
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 467

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Book Description
"In this study, James R. Harrison compares the modern cult of celebrity to the quest for glory in late republican and early imperial society. He shows how Paul's ethic of humility, based upon the crucified Christ, stands out in a world obsessed with mutual comparison, boasting, and self-sufficiency." --

Contested Pasts

Contested Pasts PDF Author: Jennifer Finn
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472133039
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
A fresh approach to the Roman imperial tradition on Alexander the Great

The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece

The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece PDF Author: Josiah Ober
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691173141
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
A major new history of classical Greece—how it rose, how it fell, and what we can learn from it Lord Byron described Greece as great, fallen, and immortal, a characterization more apt than he knew. Through most of its long history, Greece was poor. But in the classical era, Greece was densely populated and highly urbanized. Many surprisingly healthy Greeks lived in remarkably big houses and worked for high wages at specialized occupations. Middle-class spending drove sustained economic growth and classical wealth produced a stunning cultural efflorescence lasting hundreds of years. Why did Greece reach such heights in the classical period—and why only then? And how, after "the Greek miracle" had endured for centuries, did the Macedonians defeat the Greeks, seemingly bringing an end to their glory? Drawing on a massive body of newly available data and employing novel approaches to evidence, Josiah Ober offers a major new history of classical Greece and an unprecedented account of its rise and fall. Ober argues that Greece's rise was no miracle but rather the result of political breakthroughs and economic development. The extraordinary emergence of citizen-centered city-states transformed Greece into a society that defeated the mighty Persian Empire. Yet Philip and Alexander of Macedon were able to beat the Greeks in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE, a victory made possible by the Macedonians' appropriation of Greek innovations. After Alexander's death, battle-hardened warlords fought ruthlessly over the remnants of his empire. But Greek cities remained populous and wealthy, their economy and culture surviving to be passed on to the Romans—and to us. A compelling narrative filled with uncanny modern parallels, this is a book for anyone interested in how great civilizations are born and die. This book is based on evidence available on a new interactive website. To learn more, please visit: http://polis.stanford.edu/.

Classical Greek Oligarchy

Classical Greek Oligarchy PDF Author: Matthew Simonton
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691192057
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Classical Greek Oligarchy thoroughly reassesses an important but neglected form of ancient Greek government, the "rule of the few." Matthew Simonton challenges scholarly orthodoxy by showing that oligarchy was not the default mode of politics from time immemorial, but instead emerged alongside, and in reaction to, democracy. He establishes for the first time how oligarchies maintained power in the face of potential citizen resistance. The book argues that oligarchs designed distinctive political institutions—such as intra-oligarchic power sharing, targeted repression, and rewards for informants—to prevent collective action among the majority population while sustaining cooperation within their own ranks. To clarify the workings of oligarchic institutions, Simonton draws on recent social science research on authoritarianism. Like modern authoritarian regimes, ancient Greek oligarchies had to balance coercion with co-optation in order to keep their subjects disorganized and powerless. The book investigates topics such as control of public space, the manipulation of information, and the establishment of patron-client relations, frequently citing parallels with contemporary nondemocratic regimes. Simonton also traces changes over time in antiquity, revealing the processes through which oligarchy lost the ideological battle with democracy for legitimacy. Classical Greek Oligarchy represents a major new development in the study of ancient politics. It fills a longstanding gap in our knowledge of nondemocratic government while greatly improving our understanding of forms of power that continue to affect us today.

Philip V of Macedon in Polybius' Histories

Philip V of Macedon in Polybius' Histories PDF Author: Emma Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192692127
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Philip V of Macedon in Polybius' Histories: Politics, History, and Fiction offers a historiographical and literary study of Polybius' portrait of Philip V and aims to advance our knowledge of both the Macedonian king and the historian. It takes a chronological and thematic approach, exploring how Polybius' political, historiographical, and didactic aims impact the king's depiction from beginning to end. The first half focuses on political and rhetorical aspects: it highlights the embedded Achaean perspective of the narrative and how this fundamentally shapes Philip's image; it re-evaluates key character-defining episodes, such as the sack of Thermum and the attempt on Messene; and it problematizes Polybius' claim that Philip became increasingly treacherous and tyrannical towards the Greeks after 215 BC. The second half explores how Polybius develops his interpretation of the king through ideological and literary means: it investigates how Polybius uses cultural politics to blacken Philip's image and justify the exchange of Macedon and Rome as hegemonic powers in the Greek world; it rationalizes his use of a tragic mode for Philip's last years, examining the implications this styling has for our historical understanding of the king; and it considers how tensions between Polybius' narrative and commentary on Philip may be the result of his combination of historiographical and biographical modes of presentation. It finishes by resituating Philip in the broader context of the Histories, drawing comparisons between his portrait and that of other kings and leaders, and discussing how kings are shaped by and contribute to the arguments in the Histories.

Myth and History: Close Encounters

Myth and History: Close Encounters PDF Author: Menelaos Christopoulos
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110780119
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
The fluidity of myth and history in antiquity and the ensuing rapidity with which these notions infiltrated and cross-fertilized one another has repeatedly attracted the scholarly interest. The understanding of myth as a phenomenon imbued with social and historical nuances allows for more than one methodological approaches. Within the wider context of interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, the present volume returns to origins, as it traces and registers the association and interaction between myth and history in various literary genres in Greek and Roman antiquity (i.e. an era when the scientific definitions of and distinctions between myth and history had not yet been perceived as such, let alone fully shaped and implemented), providing original ideas, new interpretations and (re)evaluations of key texts and less well-known passages, close readings, and catholic overviews. The twenty-four chapters of this volume expand from Greek epos to lyric poetry, historiography, dramatic poetry and even beyond, to genres of Roman era and late antiquity. It is the editors’ hope that this volume will appeal to students and academic researchers in the areas of classics, social and political history, archaeology, and even social anthropology.

Democracy

Democracy PDF Author: Paul Cartledge
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199837457
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
"Democracy: A Life holds out three unique research aims: a proper understanding of the origins and variety of ancient Greek democracies; a detailed account of the fate of democracy - both the institution and the word - in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds from the fifth century BCE to the 6th century CE; and a nuanced exploration of the ways in which all ancient Greek democracies differed from all modern so-called 'democracies'"--

Ancient Macedonia

Ancient Macedonia PDF Author: Carol J. King
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351710311
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
The first English-language monograph on ancient Macedonia in almost thirty years, Carol J. King's book provides a detailed narrative account of the rise and fall of Macedonian power in the Balkan Peninsula and the Aegean region during the five-hundred-year period of the Macedonian monarchy from the seventh to the second century BCE. King draws largely on ancient literary sources for her account, citing both contemporary and later classical authors. Material evidence from the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, and numismatics is also explored. Ancient Macedonia balances historical evidence with interpretations—those of the author as well as other historians—and encourages the reader to engage closely with the source material and the historical questions that material often raises. This volume will be of great interest to both under- and post-graduate students, and those looking to understand the fundamentals of the period.