Classical Greece: 500-323 BC (Short Oxford History of Europe)

Classical Greece provides an analysis of the physical setting of and the archaic legacy to the classical city, its economy, its civic and religious institutions, the waging of war between cities, the occurrence and ancient analysis of conflict within the city, and the private life of the citizen, finishing with history through the fifth and fourth centuries. Robin Osborne presents us with a concise, comprehensive, and authoritative book that will be enjoyed by classics and history students; students taking courses in classical Greek literature, philosophy, art, and archaeology; academics; and general readers alike. 9780198731542 Title Page 4 General Editor's Preface 6 Acknowledgements 7 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 11 List of Contributors 12 1: The creation of classical Greece 14 The natural world of Greece 16 The pre-classical past: the literary inheritance 18 The pre-classical past: oral history 23 The pre-classical past: the monuments 25 City and nation 31 The programme of this book 34 2: The economy 36 The political economy of Attic Oratory 36 Back to the land 39 From the shop floor 44 The silver lining 48 Toilers of the sea 52 Go a-borrowing, go a-sorrowing? 57 The heart of the matter 62 Envoi 64 3: The classical city 65 The civic model 65 Citizens and citizenship 68 Athens and Sparta 73 The polis 82 Religious activity and the polis 87 4: The city at war 94 The causes of war 95 The soldiers: military roles and social status 97 Waging war 106 The economics of warfare 119 The transformation of classical warfare 122 5: Political conflicts, political debates, and political thought 124 Introduction: civil war in Corcyra, 427 BC 124 Political theory: the sources of conflict and its prevention 128 Democracy at Athens and its critics 134 Political conflict on stage 139 Spartan oligarchy: the rise and fall of a political ideal 144 Monarchy revisited 147 Conclusions: from destructive political conflict to constructive political debate 148 6: Private life 152 The body 155 Dress 157 Diet and health 162 Oikos: household and house 164 Family 167 Slaves 171 Friendship 173 Sexuality 175 A civic morality 178 Conclusion 181 7: The fifth century: political and military narrative 183 The Ionian Revolt and the Persian Wars 184 Consequences of the Persian Wars 186 The Delian League and the creation of empire 189 Sparta, Corinth, and Athens, 478-446 195 Greeks in the West 197 Thucydides and the development of a genre 198 The Peloponnesian War 200 Conclusion 209 8: The fourth century: political and military narrative 210 Discerning a pattern 210 A pattern repeated 215 The decades of uncertainty 219 The rise of Macedon 224 Greece into Asia 232 9: Epilogue 236 Further Reading 245 Chronology 250 Glossary 253 List of Ancient Authors 254 Maps 260 Index 264 # Publisher: Oxford University Press,USA # Number Of Pages: 284 # Publication Date: 2000-11-02 The complete Short Oxford History of Europe (series editor: Professor T C W Blanning) will cover the history of Europe from Classical Greece to the present in eleven volumes. In each, experts write to their strengths tackling the key issues, including society, economy, religion, politics, and culture, head-on in chapters that will be at once wide-ranging surveys and searching analyses. Each book is specifically designed with the non-specialist reader in mind; but the authority of the contributors and the vigour of the interpretations will make them necessary and challenging reading for fellow academics across a range of disciplines. Osborne's is the third book to be launched in the series, following on from the publication of Blanning's Eighteenth and Nineteenth century volumes. Robin Osborne provides an analysis which introduces the physical world of the Greek city and the inheritance of the classical city from its archaic past. With specially commissioned chapters, a team of experts introduce the reader to the economy of the Greek city, its political and religious institutions, the waging of warfare between cities, the nature and ancient analysis of struggles within cities, and the private life of individuals. The focus then moves to diachronic change within the city, tracing the broad narratives of Greek history through the fifth and fourth centuries, and concludes by demonstrating the changing ways in which the Greeks themselves construed individual and civic life. Looking at classical Greece as a whole, the reader is introduced to general issues through use of precise examples and through the words of Greek writers themselves. Maps, a timeline, and a selective bibliography help readers to ground the information that is given and direct their further studies. "Classical Greece provides an analysis of the physical setting of and the archaic legacy to the classical city, its economy, its civic and religious institutions, the waging of war between cities, the occurrence and ancient analysis of conflict within the city, and the private life of the citizen, finishing with history through the fifth and fourth centuries. Robin Osborne presents a book that will be enjoyed by the classics and history student, those taking courses in classical Greek literature, philosophy, art and archaeology, the academic, and the general reader alike."--Jacket