A History of Greece, 1300 to 30 BC

by Parker, Victor

• ISBN13: 9781405190336
• ISBN10: 1405190337
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-01-28
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

A History of Greece: 1300‒30 BC, offers a comprehensive introduction to the foundational political history of Greece, from the late Mycenaean Age through to the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Hellenistic monarch of Egypt.

• Introduces textual and archaeological evidence used by historians to reconstruct historical events during Greece’s Bronze, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods
• Reveals the political and social structure of the Greek world in the late Mycenaean period (thirteenth century BC) through analysis of the Linear B tablets, the oldest surviving records in Greek
• Features numerous references to original source materials, including various fragmentary papyri, inscriptions, coins, and other literary sources
• Provides extensive coverage of the Hellenistic period, and covers areas excluded from most Greek history texts, including the Greek West
• Features judicious use of illustrations throughout, and considers instructors’ teaching needs by structuring the later sections to facilitate teaching a parallel course in Roman History
• Balances scholarship with a reader-friendly approach to create an accessible introduction to the political history of one of most remarkable ancient civilizations and sophisticated periods of world history

Author Biography

Victor Parker is Associate Professor of Classics in the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has published some fifty specialized articles in Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern history as well as a commentary on the historian Ephorus. 

Table of Contents

1.) Introduction (with general topographical and political maps).Geology, geography, and climate of Greece.The basic periods of Greek history.2.) The Mycenaean Period (with map).Pre-Mycenaean cultures in Greece (e.g. Minoan).Sources for the Mycenaean period (Linear B Texts; archaeology).Myceanean kingdoms; administrative structure of a Mycenaean kingdom.Society, economy, and religion in the Myceanean world.Downfall of the Mycenaean kingdoms.3.) The "Dark Ages" (with map showing Dorian, Ionian, and Aeolian regions).New beginning or continuity?.New peoples in Greece (Dorian Invasion).Material culture in Dark Age Greece.Settlement of the Anatolian Coastline.4.) The early archaic period (Geometric Greece).Evidence from Homeric Epic.Kingship.The rise of the polis.Re-invigorated contacts abroad.Introduction of the alphabet.Rise in material prosperity; growth in population.5.) Colonisation (with map showing extent of Greek colonisation).Delineation of colonial areas; colonising states.Characteristics of a colony.Role of trade in colonial movement.6.) Sparta and wars for land (map of southern Peloponnese).Messenian Wars; Lelantine War; other wars for land.Military developments: the Hoplite phalanx.Rise of Sparta and the Peloponnesian League.7.) The tyrants (will include discussion of lawgivers such as Pittacus and Solon).Phenonemon of "tyranny".Causes of tyranny.Tyrant dynasties in mainland Greece.Tyrannies in the West and in Ionia.Downfall of the tyrannies in mainland Greece.8.) The rise of Athens (map of Athenian demes).Cleisthenes and Cleomenes.Cleisthenes' political reforms.9.) The Ionian Revolt (historical map of Persian Empire showing predecessor realms).The Lydian Kingdom and the Persian Empire.The Ionian cities under Lydian and Persian rule.Beginning, course, defeat, and aftermath of the revolt.10.) The Persian Wars.Persian expansion into Europe.The Marathon campaign.Xerxes' Invasion and the Greeks' response.The Carthaginian Invasion of Sicily.11.) The Athenian Empire (map of Athenian Empire).The Delian League and its war against Persia.The League's transformation into the Athenian "Empire".The administration of the "Empire".12.) Mainland Greece during the "Pentecontaetia".Sparta and Athens at peace and war.Athens in the "Periclean Age" (incl. Athenian democracy).Other Greek cities between Athens and Sparta (incl. discussion of oligarchy).13.) The Peloponnesian War.Origins of the War.Archidamian War.Decelean War.End of the War.14.) The Spartan "Hegemony".Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War: Sparta's social problems.Sparta invades Ionia.Corinthian War.The King's Peace and Sparta's use of it.Carthaginians and Greeks on Sicily.15.) The Boeotian "Hegemony" (map of Boeotia).The coup-d'_tat in Thebes.The second Athenian League.Boeotian policy from the battle of Leuctra to the battle of Mantinea.Carthaginians and Greeks on Sicily.16.) The Phocian War.Aftermath of Mantinea.Philip II's early successes.Phocians' seizure of Delphi and their attacks on Boeotia and T