Lawrence A. Tritle

For three decades in the fifth century b.c. the ancient world was torn apart bya conflict that was as dramatic, divisive, and destructive as the world wars of the twentieth century: The Peloponnesian War. Donald Kagan, one of the worldrsquo;s most respected classical, political, and military historians, here presents a new account of this vicious war of Greek against Greek, Athenian against Spartan. The Peloponnesian War is a magisterial work of history written for general readers, offering a fresh examination of a pivotal moment in Western civilization. With a lively, readable narrative that conveys a richly detailed portrait of a vanished world while honoring its timeless relevance. The Peloponnesian War is a chronicle of the rise and fall of a great empire and of a dark time whose lessons still resonate today. One of the world's foremost historians presents a fresh look at the greatest war of ancient Greece and a pivotal moment in Western civilization that still resonates today.

This stimulating new study provides a narrative of the monumental conflict of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, and examines the realities of the war and its effects on the average Athenian.: A penetrating new study of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta by an established scholar; Offers an original interpretation of how and why the war began; Weaves in the contemporary evidence of Aristophanes in order to give readers a new sense of how the war affected the individual; Discusses the practicalities and realities of the war; Examines the blossoming of culture and inte.

Perhaps nowhere else is tolerance in greater need than in the Balkans, a region torn by ethnic, spiritual, and cultural rivalries for over a thousand years. "Balkanize" has entered the English language as a verb to describe division and discord, and today, as in the past, a miscalculation based on misinformation or a lack of information could easily result in an explosion with dire repercussions not only for the European community but the wider Atlantic world as well. The papers collected in this volume, the result of an international symposium held at Loyola Marymount University, offer an attempt toward understanding old hatreds and divisions. They allow us a glimpse of why the Balkans remain, just as in 1914, a powder keg close to explosion.

The papers collected in this volume present a systematic survey of the struggles of Athens, Sparta and Thebes to dominate Greece in the fourth century - only to be overwhelmed by the newly emerging Macedonian Kingdom of Philip II. Additionally, the situation of Greeks in Sicily, Italy and Asia is portrayed, showing the geographical and political diffusion of the Greeks in a broader historical context.

This volume offers a critical examination of war and organized violence, and their relevance beyond the battlefield. The volume's introduction begins with the ancient sources for the writing of war, preceded by broad surveys of warfare in ancient Greece and Rome. Also included herein are chapters analyzing new finds in battlefield archaeology and how the environment affected the ancient practice of war.