P. J. Rhodes

Political activity and political thinking began in the cities and other states of ancient Greece, and terms such as tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy and politics itself are Greek words for concepts first discussed in Greece. Rhodes presents in translation a selection of texts illustrating the formal mechanisms and informal workings of the Greek states in all their variety. From the states described by Homer out of which the classical Greeks believed their states had developed, through the archaic period which saw the rise and fall of tyrants and the gradual broadening of citizen bodies, to the classical period of the fifth and fourth centuries, Rhodes also looks beyond that to the Hellenistic and Roman periods in which the Greeks tried to preserve their way of life in a world of great powers. For this second edition the book has been thoroughly revised and three new chapters added. Provides detailed coverage of Athens and Sparta, the best documented states, but also includes material on many other states in mainland Greece and outside. Extends in time from Homer to the Roman Empire. - Publisher.

"Revised from the thesis submitted for the degree of D. Phil. of the University of Oxford in the summer of 1968."

Classical Greece and its legacy have long inspired a powerful and passionate fascination. The civilization that bequeathed to later ages drama and democracy, Homer and heroism, myth and Mycenae and the Delphic Oracle and the Olympic Games has, perhaps more than any other, helped shape the intellectual contours of the modern world. P J Rhodes is among the most distinguished historians of antiquity. In this elegant, zesty new survey he explores the archaic (8th-early 5th centuries BCE), classical (5th and 4th centuries BCE) and Hellenistic (late 4th-mid-2nd centuries BCE) periods up to the beginning of Roman hegemony. His scope is that of the peoples who originated on the Greek mainland and Aegean islands who later migrated to the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and then (following the conquests of Alexander) to the Near East and beyond. Exploring topics such as the epic struggle with Persia; the bitter rivalry of Athens and Sparta; slaves and ethnicity; religion and philosophy; and literature and the visual arts, this authoritative book will attract students and non-specialists in equal measure.

"This book gives an accessible account of classical Greek history, from the aftermath of the Persian Wars in 478 B.C. to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The author describes the years which witnessed the flourishing of democracy in Athens; the establishment of the Athenian empire; the Peloponnesian War, which involved the whole Greek world; the development of Macedonian power under Philip II; and the conquests of Alexander the Great."--Jacket.