Paul Cartledge – författare

‘An incisive, inspiring and vitally illuminating account of a city which changed the ancient world and which deserves to be remembered by the modern. A masterful book written by a master historian.’ – Bettany Hughes, bestselling author of Istanbul and Helen of TroyContinuously inhabited for five millennia, and at one point the most powerful city in Ancient Greece, Thebes has been overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Athens and Sparta. According to myth, the city was founded when Kadmos sowed dragon’s teeth into the ground and warriors sprang forth, ready not only to build the fledgling city but to defend it from all-comers. It was Hercules’ birthplace and the home of the Sphinx, whose riddle Oedipus solved, winning the Theban crown and the king’s widow in marriage, little knowing that the widow was his mother, Jocasta.The city’s history is every bit as rich as its mythic origins, from siding with the Persian invaders when their emperor, Xerxes, set out to conquer Aegean Greece, to siding with Sparta – like Thebes an oligarchy – to defeat Pericles’ democratic Athens, to being utterly destroyed on the orders of Alexander the Great.In Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece, the acclaimed classical historian Paul Cartledge brings the city vividly to life, and argues that it is central to our understanding of the ancient Greeks’ achievements – whether politically or culturally – and thus to our own culture and civilization.

The contribution of the Ancient Greeks to modern western culture is incalculable. In the worlds of art, architecture, myth, literature, and philosophy, the world we live in would be unrecognizably different without the formative influence of Ancient Greek models. Ancient Greek civilization was defined by the city - in Greek, the polis, from which we derive 'politics'. It is above all this feature of Greek civilization that has formed its most enduring legacy, spawning such key terms as aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny and - last but by no means least - democracy. This stimulating Very Short Introduction to Ancient Greece takes the polis as its starting point. Paul Cartledge uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language around 1400 BCE, through the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire in around CE 330. Covering everything from politics, trade, and travel to slavery, gender, religion, and philosophy, it provides the ideal concise introduction to the history and culture of this remarkable civilization that helped give birth to the world as we know it.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

'Our greatest living expert on Sparta' - Tom Holland, author of RubiconThe definitive account of the extraordinary people of Sparta. The Spartan legend has inspired and captivated subsequent generations with evidence of its legacy found in both the Roman and British Empires. The Spartans are our ancestors, every bit as much as the Athenians. But while Athens promoted democracy, individualism, culture and society, their great rivals Sparta embodied militarism, totalitarianism, segregation and brutal repression . . .As ruthless as they were self-sacrificing, their devastatingly successful war rituals made the Spartans the ultimate fighting force, epitomized by Thermopylae. While slave masters to the Helots for over three centuries, Spartan women, such as Helen of Troy, were free to indulge in education, dance and sport.Interspersed with the personal biographies of leading figures, and based on thirty years' research, Paul Cartledge's The Spartans tracks the people from 480 to 360 BC charting Sparta's progression from the Great Power of the Aegean Greek world to its ultimate demise.Now part of the Picador Collection.

Alexander den Store. Ett namn som alla känner till. Den störste fältherre som historien har skådat. Trots att han dog strax innan han skulle fylla 33 hade han hunnit bli en mytologisk person som för all framtid skulle leva i minnet i såväl väst som öst. På några få år erövrade han nästan hela den värld som var känd på hans tid och krossade det persiska imperiet. Vem var han? Det har genom århundradena uppstått många berättelser och legender. På sitt stimulerande sätt berättar Paul Cartledge Alexanders historia. Vad som är fakta och vad som är myt. Cartledge är en av världens främsta kännare av antiken och som läsare kan man tacksamt ta till sig av hans stora kunnande. Vare sig man kan mycket eller litet om Alexander är detta en bok man har stor glädje av. Är man det minsta intresserad av en av historiens mest fängslande personer är denna bok ett måste . Paul Cartledge är professor i Cambridge och en av världens främste kännare av det antika Grekland.

Ordet Sparta väcker någonting inom oss. Trots att det har gått mer än tvåtusen år lever detta mytiska namn kvar. Det har också gett upphov till två ord som ofta används, spartansk och lakonisk. Det som mer än något annat odödliggjort Sparta var slaget vid Thermopyle. Efter att perserna under det första försöket att kuva grekerna blivit besegrade vid Marathon gjorde man ett nytt försök. Xerxes samlade en gigantisk här som skulle kuva grekerna. När de grekiska stadsstaterna samlades för att enas om hur man skulle försvara sig fick Sparta ansvaret. Man bestämde sig för att försöka hejda perserna vid Thermopyle som var ett smalt pass mellan bergen och havet. Sparta deltog med 300 soldater (därav namnet på den senaste spelfilmen om Sparta) och några andra stater med ett par tusen soldater, alla under ledning av kung Leonidas. Mot dem stod en halv miljon perser. Under tre dagar stod de 300 emot alla stormningsförsök. Persernas förluster var enorma. På den tredje dagen förråddes grekerna av en man vid namn Efialtes. (Sedan denna dag är hans namn synonymt med mardröm på grekiska.) Detta möjliggjorde för perserna att vandra över bergen och anfalla grekerna bakifrån. När Leonidas upptäckte detta skickade han hem de övriga grekerna och de 300 stred till sista man. Tack vare att de uppehöll perserna tillräckligt länge kunde de övriga grekiska styrkorna samlas och man kunde så småningom besegra perserna. Detta slag har blivit legendariskt och spartanernas offer möjliggjorde att demokratin kunde växa sig starkare istället för att krossas av despotin. Sparta var nämligen ett demokratiskt samhälle. Inte utan stora inskränkningar men med ett avancerat lagsystem som hade instiftats för att ingen person eller instans skulle få för mycket makt. När Thomas Jefferson så småningom skrev den amerikanska konstitutionen byggde han i mångt och mycket på den spartanska. Sparta är odödligt i historien och när man läser denna bok förstår man varför och känner en tacksamhet för det offer som Sparta gjorde inför övermakten och despotin. Det är inte överord att säga att våra samhällen idag hade sett annorlunda ut om Leonidas hade accepterat Xerxes uppmaning att spartanerna skulle kapitulera och lägga ner sina vapen. Istället svarade Leonidas på ett sant lakoniskt sätt: "Kom och ta dem!" Paul Cartledge är professor i grekisk historia vid universitetet i Cambridge där han har undervisat sedan 1979, och s.k. Fellow of Clare College. Han är en av världens främsta kännare av det antika Sparta och hedersmedborgare i den moderna Sparta.

Democracy is either aspired to as a goal or cherished as a birthright by billions of people throughout the world today - and has been for over a century. But what does it mean? And how has its meaning changed since it was first coined in ancient Greece? Democracy: A Life is a biography of the concept, looking at its many different manifestations and showing how it has changed over its long life, from ancient times right through to the present. For instance, how did the 'people power' of the Athenians emerge in the first place? Once it had emerged, what enabled it to survive? And how did the Athenian version of democracy differ from the many other forms that developed among the myriad cities of the Greek world? Paul Cartledge answers all these questions and more, following the development of ancient political thinking about democracy from the sixth century BC onwards, not least the many arguments that were advanced against it over the centuries. As Cartledge shows, after a golden age in the fourth century BC, there was a long, slow degradation of the original Greek conception and practice of democracy, from the Hellenistic era, through late Republican and early Imperial Rome, down to early Byzantium in the sixth century CE.For many centuries after that, from late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, democracy was effectively eclipsed by other forms of government, in both theory and practice. But as we know, this was by no means the end of the story. For democracy was eventually to enjoy a re-florescence, over two thousand years after its first flowering in the ancient world: initially revived in seventeenth century England, it was to undergo a further renaissance in the revolutionary climate of late eighteenth century North America and France - and has been constantly reconstituted and reinvented ever since.

Volume 1 in the new Cambridge World History of Slavery surveys the history of slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world. Although chapters are devoted to the ancient Near East and the Jews, its principal concern is with the societies of ancient Greece and Rome. These are often considered as the first examples in world history of genuine slave societies because of the widespread prevalence of chattel slavery, which is argued to have been a cultural manifestation of the ubiquitous violence in societies typified by incessant warfare. There was never any sustained opposition to slavery, and the new religion of Christianity probably reinforced rather than challenged its existence. In twenty-two chapters, leading scholars explore the centrality of slavery in ancient Mediterranean life using a wide range of textual and material evidence. Non-specialist readers in particular will find the volume an accessible account of the early history of this crucial phenomenon.

Democracy is either aspired to as a goal or cherished as a birthright by billions of people throughout the world today -- and has been been for over a century. But what does it mean? And how has its meaning changed since it was first coined in ancient Greece? Democracy: A Life is a biography of the concept, looking at its many different manifestations and showing how it has changed over its long life, from ancient times right through to the present. For instance, how did the 'people power' of the Athenians emerge in the first place? Once it had emerged, what enabled it to survive? And how did the Athenian version of democracy differ from the many other forms that developed among the myriad cities of the Greek world? Paul Cartledge answers all these questions and more, following the development of ancient political thinking about democracy from the sixth century BC onwards, not least the many arguments that were advanced against it over the centuries. As Cartledge shows, after a golden age in the fourth century BC, there was a long, slow degradation of the original Greek conception and practice of democracy, from the Hellenistic era, through late Republican and early Imperial Rome, down to early Byzantium in the sixth century CE. For many centuries after that, from late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, democracy was effectively eclipsed by other forms of government, in both theory and practice. But as we know, this was by no means the end of the story. For democracy was eventually to enjoy a re-florescence, over two thousand years after its first flowering in the ancient world: initially revived in seventeenth-century England, it was to undergo a further renaissance in the revolutionary climate of late-eighteenth-century North America and France -- and has been constantly reconstituted and reinvented ever since.

This investigation relies on a rash bet: to write the biography of two of the most famous statues in Antiquity, the Tyrannicides. Representing the murderers of the tyrant Hipparchus in full action, these statues erected on the Agora of Athens have been in turn worshipped, outraged, and imitated. They have known hours of glory and moments of hardships, which have transformed them into true icons of Athenian democracy.The subject of this book is the remarkable story of this group statue and the ever-changing significance of its tyrant-slaying subjects. The first part of this book, in six chapters, tells the story of the murder of Hipparchus and of the statues of the two tyrannicides from the end of the sixth century to the aftermath of the restoration of democracy in 403. The second part, in three chapters, chronicles the fate and influence of the statues from the fourth century to the end of the Roman Empire. These chapters are followed by an epilogue that reveals new life for the statues in modern art and culture, including how Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union made use of their iconography. By tracing the long trajectory of the tyrannicides -- in deed and art -- Azoulay provides a rich and fascinating microhistory that will be of interest to readers of classical art and history.

Democracy is either aspired to as a goal or cherished as a birthright by billions of people throughout the world today - and has been for over a century. But what does it mean? And how has its meaning changed since it was first coined in ancient Greece?Democracy: A Life is a biography of the concept, looking at its many different manifestations and showing how it has changed over its long life, from ancient times right through to the present. For instance, how did the ''people power'' of the Athenians emerge in the first place? Once it had emerged, what enabled it to survive? And how did the Athenian version of democracy differ from the many other forms that developed among the myriad cities of the Greek world?Paul Cartledge answers all these questions and more, following the development of ancient political thinking about democracy from the sixth century BC onwards, not least the many arguments that were advanced against it over the centuries. As Cartledge shows, after a golden age in the fourth century BC, there was a long, slow degradation of the original Greek conception and practice of democracy, from the Hellenistic era, through late Republican and early Imperial Rome, down to earlyByzantium in the sixth century CE.For many centuries after that, from late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, democracy was effectively eclipsed by other forms of government, in both theory and practice. But as we know, this was by no means the end of the story. For democracy was eventually to enjoy a re-florescence, over two thousand years after its first flowering in the ancient world: initially revived in seventeenth century England, it was to undergo a further renaissance in the revolutionary climateof late eighteenth century North America and France - and has been constantly reconstituted and reinvented ever since.

Democracy is either aspired to as a goal or cherished as a birthright by billions of people throughout the world today - and has been for over a century. But what does it mean? And how has its meaning changed since it was first coined in ancient Greece?Democracy: A Life is a biography of the concept, looking at its many different manifestations and showing how it has changed over its long life, from ancient times right through to the present. For instance, how did the ''people power'' of the Athenians emerge in the first place? Once it had emerged, what enabled it to survive? And how did the Athenian version of democracy differ from the many other forms that developed among the myriad cities of the Greek world?Paul Cartledge answers all these questions and more, following the development of ancient political thinking about democracy from the sixth century BC onwards, not least the many arguments that were advanced against it over the centuries. As Cartledge shows, after a golden age in the fourth century BC, there was a long, slow degradation of the original Greek conception and practice of democracy, from the Hellenistic era, through late Republican and early Imperial Rome, down to earlyByzantium in the sixth century CE.For many centuries after that, from late Antiquity, through the Middle Ages, to the Renaissance, democracy was effectively eclipsed by other forms of government, in both theory and practice. But as we know, this was by no means the end of the story. For democracy was eventually to enjoy a re-florescence, over two thousand years after its first flowering in the ancient world: initially revived in seventeenth century England, it was to undergo a further renaissance in the revolutionary climateof late eighteenth century North America and France - and has been constantly reconstituted and reinvented ever since.

The contribution of the Ancient Greeks to modern western culture is incalculable. In the worlds of art, architecture, myth, literature, and philosophy, the world we live in would be unrecognizably different without the formative influence of Ancient Greek models. Ancient Greek civilization was defined by the city - in Greek, the polis, from which we derive ''politics''. It is above all this feature of Greek civilization that has formed its most enduring legacy, spawning such key terms as aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny and - last but by no means least - democracy. This highly stimulating introduction to Ancient Greece takes the polis as its starting point. Paul Cartledge uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language around 1400 BCE, through the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire in around CE 330. Covering everything from politics, trade, and travel to slavery, gender, religion, and philosophy, it provides the ideal concise introduction to the history and culture of this remarkable civilization that helped give birth to the world as we know it.

This book provides an original and challenging answer to the question: ''Who were the Classical Greeks?'' Paul Cartledge - ''one of the most theoretically alert, widely read and prolific of contemporary ancient historians'' (TLS) - here examines the Greeks and their achievements in terms of their own self-image, mainly as it was presented by the supposedly objective historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Many of our modern concepts as we understand them were invented by the Greeks: for example, democracy, theatre, philosophy, and history. Yet despite being our cultural ancestors in many ways, their legacy remains rooted in myth and the mental and material contexts of many of their achievements are deeply alien to our own ways of thinking and acting. The Greeks aims to explore in depth how the dominant group (adult, male, citizen) attempted, with limited success, to define themselves unambiguously in polar opposition to a whole series of ''Others'' - non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves and gods. This new edition contains an updated bibliography, a new chapter entitled ''Entr''acte: Others in Images and Images of Others'', and a new afterword.

The contribution of the Ancient Greeks to modern western culture is incalculable. In the worlds of art, architecture, myth, literature, and philosophy, the world we live in would be unrecognizably different without the formative influence of Ancient Greek models. Ancient Greek civilization was defined by the city - in Greek, the polis, from which we derive ''politics''. It is above all this feature of Greek civilization that has formed its most enduring legacy, spawning such key terms as aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny and - last but by no means least - democracy. This highly stimulating introduction to Ancient Greece takes the polis as its starting point. Paul Cartledge uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative themes in Ancient Greek history, from the first documented use of the Greek language around 1400 BCE, through the glories of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the foundation of the Byzantine empire in around CE 330. Covering everything from politics, trade, and travel to slavery, gender, religion, and philosophy, it provides the ideal concise introduction to the history and culture of this remarkable civilization that helped give birth to the world as we know it.

This book provides an original and challenging answer to the question: 'Who were the Classical Greeks?' Paul Cartledge - 'one of the most theoretically alert, widely read and prolific of contemporary ancient historians' (TLS) - here examines the Greeks and their achievements in terms of their own self-image, mainly as it was presented by the supposedly objective historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Many of our modern concepts as we understand them were invented by the Greeks: for example, democracy, theatre, philosophy, and history. Yet despite being our cultural ancestors in many ways, their legacy remains rooted in myth and the mental and material contexts of many of their achievements are deeply alien to our own ways of thinking and acting. The Greeks aims to explore in depth how the dominant group (adult, male, citizen) attempted, with limited success, to define themselves unambiguously in polar opposition to a whole series of 'Others' - non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves and gods. This new edition contains an updated bibliography, a new chapter entitled 'Entr'acte: Others in Images and Images of Others', and a new afterword.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-one detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume III contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cumae and Pithecusae, The Cyclades, and Cyprus. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-one detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture-such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume IV contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cyrene, Delphi, Macedonia, Massalia, and Metapontion. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume VI contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Rhodes, Sicyon, Syracuse, Thebes, and Western Sicily. Together with the other volumes in the series, The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-one detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume III contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cumae and Pithecusae, The Cyclades, and Cyprus. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-one detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume III contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cumae and Pithecusae, The Cyclades, and Cyprus. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume VI contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Rhodes, Sicyon, Syracuse, Thebes, and Western Sicily. Together with the other volumes in the series, The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume VI contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Rhodes, Sicyon, Syracuse, Thebes, and Western Sicily. Together with the other volumes in the series, The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture-such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume IV contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cyrene, Delphi, Macedonia, Massalia, and Metapontion. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-one detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture-such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume IV contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Cyrene, Delphi, Macedonia, Massalia, and Metapontion. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion.The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period.The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume I contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Argos, Chalcis and Eretria, Chios-Lesbos-Samos, and Corcyra. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion. The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period. The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume I contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Argos, Chalcis and Eretria, Chios-Lesbos-Samos, and Corcyra. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The ancient Greek world consisted of approximately 1,000 autonomous polities scattered across the Mediterranean basin and was remarkable for both its diversity and its uniformity. As Greeks dispersed throughout the Mediterranean, the different environmental and human ecosystems they encountered created important differences among widely scattered settlements: each Greek community developed its own unique set of socio-political institutions and social practices. Nonetheless, despite their dispersal and diversity, Greek communities were bound together by a network of commercial, cultural, diplomatic, and military ties and shared important commonalities, most notably language and religion. The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, a collaborative effort by more than forty eminent scholars, offers twenty-two detailed and comprehensive studies of key sites from across the Greek world in the period between c. 750 and c. 480 BCE. During that period, Greeks confronted a series of demographic, political, social, and economic challenges and generated an array of responses that transformed the ways in which they lived, worked, and interacted. Much of what is now seen as distinctive about Greek culture--such as democracy, stone temples, and nude athletics--first developed during the Archaic period. The series is organized alphabetically by polis. Volume I contains detailed and up-to-date studies of Argos, Chalcis and Eretria, Chios-Lesbos-Samos, and Corcyra. Together with the other volumes in the series, the Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World offers a new and unique resource for the study of ancient Greece that will transform how we understand a crucial era in antiquity.

The Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE is one of world history's unjustly neglected events. It decisively ended the threat of a Persian conquest of Greece. It involved tens of thousands of combatants, including the largest number of Greeks ever brought together in a common cause. For the Spartans, the driving force behind the Greek victory, the battle was sweet vengeance for their defeat at Thermopylae the year before. Why has this pivotal battle been so overlooked?In After Thermopylae, Paul Cartledge masterfully reopens one of the great puzzles of ancient Greece to discover, as much as possible, what happened on the field of battle and, just as important, what happened to its memory. Part of the answer to these questions, Cartledge argues, can be found in a little-known oath reputedly sworn by the leaders of Athens, Sparta, and several other Greek city-states prior to the battle-the Oath of Plataea. Through an analysis of this oath, Cartledge provides a wealth of insight into ancient Greek culture. He shows, for example, that when the Athenians and Spartans were not fighting the Persians they were fighting themselves, including a propaganda war for control of the memory of Greece's defeat of the Persians. This helps explain why today we readily remember the Athenian-led victories at Marathon and Salamis but not Sparta's victory at Plataea. Indeed, the Oath illuminates Greek anxieties over historical memory and over the Athens-Sparta rivalry, which would erupt fifty years after Plataea in the Peloponnesian War. In addition, because the Oath was ultimately a religious document, Cartledge also uses it to highlight the profound role of religion and myth in ancient Greek life. With compelling and eye-opening detective work, After Thermopylae provides a long-overdue history of the Battle of Plataea and a rich portrait of the Greek ethos during one of the most critical periods in ancient history.