The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika

by STRASSLER, ROBERT B.

• ISBN13: 9781400034765
• ISBN10: 1400034760
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-12-07
• Publisher: Anchor

Summary

From the editor of the widely praised The Landmark Thucydides and The Landmark Herodotus, here is a new edition of Xenophon’s Hellenika, the primary source for the events of the final seven years and aftermath of the Peloponnesian War.

Hellenika covers the years between 411 and 362 B.C.E., a particularly dramatic period during which the alliances among Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Persia were in constant flux. Together with the volumes of Herodotus and Thucydides, it completes an ancient narrative of the military and political history of classical Greece.

Xenophon was an Athenian who participated in the expedition of Cyrus the Younger against Cyrus’ brother, the Perisan King Artaxerces II. Later Xenophon joined the Spartan army and hence was exiled from Athens. In addition to the Hellenika, a number of his essays have survived, including one on his memories of his teacher, Socrates.

Beautifully illustrated, heavily annotated, and filled with detailed, clear maps, this edition gives us a new, authoritative, and completely accessible translation by John Marincola, a comprehensive introduction by David Thomas, sixteen appendices written by leading classics scholars, and an extensive timeline/chronology to clarify this otherwise confusing period. Unlike any other edition of the Hellenika, it also includes the relevant texts of Diodorus Siculus and the Oxyrhynchus Historian, with explanatory footnotes and a table that correlates passages of the three works, which is perhaps crucial to an assessment of Xenophon’s reliability and quality as a historian.

Like the two Landmark editions that precede it, The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika is the most readable and comprehensive edition available of an essential history.

No scholar or serious student of the period will want to be without this book. This is by far the most accessible example of Xenophon's Hellenika that is available. Loving created and masterfully translated, this version is eminently readable.

Author Biography

ROBERT B. STRASSLER is an unaffiliated scholar who holds an honorary Doctorate of Humanities and Letters from Bard College and is chairman of the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

JOHN MARINCOLA is the Leon Golden Professor of Classics at Florida State University. He is the author and editor of many books about Greek and Roman historiography and has translated a number of classical texts. He lives in Florida.


From the Hardcover edition.

Table of Contents

Introduction by David Thomas

Editor’s Preface by Robert B. Strassler

Acknowledgments

Chronological Outline of Text by Book/Chapter/Section in Xenophon’s Hellenika

Key to Maps
 
BOOK ONE
BOOK TWO
BOOK THREE
BOOK FOUR
BOOK FIVE
BOOK SIX
BOOK SEVEN
 
Appendix A
The Arginousai Affair
Peter Krentz, Davidson College
 
Appendix B
The Athenian Government and the Oligarchy of the Thirty
Peter Krentz, Davidson College
 
Appendix C
Chronological Problems in the Continuation (1.1.1–2.3.10) of Xenophon’s Hellenika
David Thomas, Hertfordshire, UK
 
Appendix D
Persia in Xenophon’s Hellenika
Christopher Tuplin, University of Liverpool
 
Appendix E
Spartan Government and Society
Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge
 
Appendix F
The Spartan Army (and the Battle of Leuctra)
Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge
 
Appendix G
Agesilaos
Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge
 
Appendix H
Political Leagues (Other Than Sparta’s) in Xenophon’s Hellenika
P. J. Rhodes, University of Durham, NC
 
Appendix I
Units of Distance, Currency, and Capacity in Xenophon’s Hellenika
Thomas R. Martin, College of the Holy Cross
 
Appendix J
Ancient Greek Religion in the Time of Xenophon
Christopher Blackwell, Furman University
 
Appendix K
Trireme Warfare in Xenophon’s Hellenika
Nicole Hirschfeld, Trinity University
 
Appendix L
Land Warfare in Xenophon’s Hellenika
JohnW. I. Lee, University of California, Santa Barbara
 
Appendix M
Brief Biographies of Important Characters in Xenophon’s Hellenika
Skyler Balbus, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, MA
Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge
Robert B. Strassler, Brookline, MA
David Thomas, Hertfordshire, UK
 
Appendix N
Compositional Theories of Xenophon’s Hellenika
David Thomas, Hertfordshire, UK
 
Appendix O
Selections from the Histories of Diodorus Siculus Relevant to Xenophon’s Hellenika
Translated by Peter Green, University of Iowa
 
Appendix P
Selected Fragments of the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia Relevant to Xenophon’s Hellenika
Translated by John Marincola, Florida State University
 
Translator’s Notes by John Marincola

Cross-Reference Table of Related Passages in Xenophon’s Hellenika, Diodorus’ Histories, and the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia

Glossary

Ancient Sources Cited in This Edition of Xenophon’s Hellenika

Bibliography for the General Reader

Figure Credits

Index

Reference Maps and Directory