The story of the ancient Greeks is one of the most improbable success stories in world history. A small people
inhabiting a country poor in resources and divided into hundreds of quarreling states created one of the most remarkable
civilizations of antiquity. Comprehensive and balanced, A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and
Culture, Second Edition, is a shorter version of the authors' highly successful Ancient Greece: A Political, Social,
and Cultural History, Second Edition (OUP, 2007). Four leading authorities on the classical world offer a lively
and up-to-date account of Greek civilization and history in all its complexity and variety, covering the entire
period from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Era, and integrating the most recent research in archaeology,
comparative anthropology, and social history. Using physical evidence from archaeology, the written testimony of
literary texts and inscriptions, and anthropological models based on comparative studies, this compact volume provides
an account of the Greek world that is thoughtful and sophisticated yet accessible to students and general readers
with little or no knowledge of Greece.
A Brief History of Ancient Greece, Second Edition, is concise enough to be used alongside other books in courses
in Greek Civilization, Greek and Roman Civilization, Ancient Greece, or Western Civilization. It is enhanced by
text boxes featuring excerpts from ancient documents, an extensive glossary, and a timeline and general introduction
that provide a bird's-eye view of Greek history.
New to the Second Edition
New sections on childhood and on marriage and burial rituals
An expandedtreatment of religion
A revised art program that includes a new 8-page full-color photo insert, 125 black-and-white photographs
and illustrations, and 17 new and improved custom-drawn maps
Key terms--in boldface type when they first appear in the text and listed at the end of each chapter
Selective, up-to-date recommendations for further reading
A companion website featuring student self-quizzes, discussion questions, flashcards of key terms, chapter
summaries, a pronunciation guide, links to useful websites, and PowerPoint lecture outlines
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
List of Maps
Acknowledgments
Preface
Time Line
Introduction
Sources: How We Know about the Ancient Greeks
Retrieving the Past: The Material Record
Retrieving the Past: The Written Record
A Synopsis of Written Sources by Periods
The Physical Context: The Land of Greece
I. Early Greece and the Bronze Age
Greece in the Stone Ages
Greece in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (c. 3000-1600 BC)
Greece and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1150 BC)
II. The "Dark Age" of Greece and the Eighth-Century "Renaissance" (c. 1100-700 BC)
Decline and Recovery (c. 1100-900 BC)
Revival (c. 900-750 BC)
Homeric Society
The End of the Dark Age
III. Archaic Greece (c. 700-480 BC)
The Formation of the City-State (Polis)
Government in the Early City-States
The Colonizing Movement
Economic and Social Divisions in the Archaic Poleis
Hesiod: A View from Below
The Hoplite Army
The Archaic Age Tyrants
The Arts and Sciences
Panhellenic Institutions
Relations Among States
IV. Sparta
The Dark Age and the Archaic Period
The Spartan System
Demography and the Spartan Economy
Spartan Government
The Peloponnesian League
Historical Change in Sparta
The Spartan Mirage
V. The Growth of Athens and the Persian Wars
Athens from the Bronze Age to the Early Archaic Age
The Reforms of Solon
Pisistratus and His Sons
The Reforms of Cleisthenes
The Rise of Persia
The Wars Between Greece and Persia
VI. The Rivalries of the Greek City-States and the Growth of Athenian Democracy
The Aftermath of the Persian Invasions and the Foundation of a New League
New Developments in Athens and Sparta
The "First" (Undeclared) Peloponnesian War (460-445 BC)
Pericles and the Growth of Athenian Democracy
Literature and Art
Oikos and Polis
The Greek Economy
VII. Greece Life and Culture in the Fifth Century
Greece After the Thirty Years' Peace
The Physical Space of the Polis: Athens in the Fifth Century
Intellectual Life in Fifth-Century Greece
Historical and Dramatic Literature of the Fifth Century
Currents in Greek Thought and Education
The Breakdown of the Peace
Resources for War
VIII. The Peloponnesian War
The Archidamian War (431-421 BC)
The Rise of Comedy
Between Peace and War
The Invasion of Sicily (415-413 BC)
The War in the Aegean and the Oligarchic Coup at Athens (413-411 BC)
The Last Years of War (407-404 BC)
IX. The Fourth Century: Changing Ideas, Continuing Warfare
Oligarchy at Athens: The Thirty Tyrants
The Trial of Socrates (399 BC)
The Fourth Century: Changing Ideas, Continuing Warfare
Law and Democracy in Athens
The Fourth-Century Polis
Philosophy and the Polis
X. Phillip II and the Rise of Macedon
Early Macedon
Macedonian Society and Kingship
The Reign of Philip II
Philip's Plans for Greece
XI. Alexander the Great
Consolidating Power
From Issus to Egypt: Conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean (332-331 BC)
From Alexandria to Persepolis: The King of Asia (331-330 BC)
The High Road to India: Alexander in Central Asia
India and the End of the Dream
Return to the West
The Achievements of Alexander
XII. The New World of the Hellenistic Period
The Struggle for the Succession
The Regency of Perdiccas
The Primacy of Antigonus the One-Eyed
Birth Pangs of the New Order (301-276 BC)
The Polis in the Hellenistic World
The Macedonian Kingdoms
Hellenistic Society
Alexandria and Hellenistic Culture
Social Relations in the Hellenistic World
Epilogue
Glossary
Art and Illustration Credits
Index
