Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece

by: Waterfield, R.

Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens
A History of Ancient Greece
Robin Waterfield
An exciting and rich narrative account of the cradle of Western civilisation
Highlights the key achievements of the Greeks, including the birth of democracy, tragedy, philosophy, and science
Engaging and comprehensive, provides more detail and a larger chronological scope than most general histories of ancient Greece

Description
'WE GREEKS ARE ONE IN BLOOD AND ONE IN LANGUAGE; WE HAVE TEMPLES TO THE GODS AND RELIGIOUS RITES IN COMMON, AND A COMMON WAY OF LIFE.'
So the fifth-century historian Herodotus has the Athenians declare, in explanation of why they would never betray their fellow Greeks to their 'barbarian' Persian enemy. And he could easily have added other common features to this list, such as clothing, culinary traditions, and political institutions.

But if the Greeks understood their kinship to one another, why did so many of them fight for the invading Persians? And why, more generally, is ancient Greek history so often one of internecine wars and other, less violent forms of competition? This extraordinary contradiction is the central theme of Robin Waterfield's magisterial new history of ancient Greece.

From their emergence in the Mediterranean around 750 BCE to the Roman conquest of the last of the Greco-Macedonian kingdoms in 30 BCE, this is the complete story of the ancient Greeks. Equal weight is given to all eras of Greek history-the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods-and to the celebrated figures who shaped it, from Solon and Pericles to Alexander and Cleopatra. In addition, by incorporating the most recent scholarship in classical history and archaeology, the book provides fascinating insights into Greek law, religion, philosophy, drama, and the role of women and slaves in ancient Greek society. A brilliant account of a remarkable civilization, Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens presents a comprehensive and compelling portrait of the perennial paradox of ancient Greece: political disunity combined with underlying cultural solidarity.

Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Chronology and King Lists
Introduction I: Historical Background
Introduction II: Environmental Background
ACT I: The Archaic Period (c. 750-480): The Formation of States
1:The Emergence of the Greeks in the Mediterranean
2:Aristocracy and the Archaic State
3:The Archaic Greek World
4:Early Athens
5:The Democratic Revolution
6:Sparta
7:Greek Religion
8:The Persian Wars
9:The Greeks at War
ACT II: The Classical Period (479-323): A Tale, Mainly, of Two Cities
10:The Delian League
11:The Economy of Greece
12:Athens in the Age of Pericles
13:Women, Sexuality, and Family Life
14:The Peloponnesian War
15:The Insatiability of ASyracuse
16:Socrates and the Thirty Tyrants
17:The Futility of War
18:The Macedonian Conquest
19:Alexander the Great
ACT III: The Hellenistic Period (323-30): Greeks, Macedonians, and Romans
20:The Successor Kingdoms
21:A Time of Adjustment
22:The Greek Cities in the New World
23:Social Life and Intellectual Culture
24:The Roman Conquest
25:A Feat of Imagination
Glossary
Recommended Reading
Index

Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece

by: Waterfield, R.

• ISBN-13: 9780198853121 / 978-0-19-885312-1
• ISBN-03: 0198853122 / 0-19-885312-2
• Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020