History of the Greek City States - Softcover

Sealey, Raphael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520031253 ISBN 13: 9780520031258

Publisher: University of California Press, 1977

Synopsis

This book introduces the reader to the serious study of Greek history, concentrating more on problems than on narrative. The topics selected have been prominent in modern research & references to important discussions of these have been provided. Outlined are controversial issues of which differing views can be defended. Sealey's preference is for interpretations which see Greek history as the interaction of personalities, rather than for those which see it as a struggle for economic classes or of abstract ideas. Sealey assumes that the Greek cities of the archaic & classical periods didn't inherit any political institutions from the Bronze Age; that the extensive invasions that brought Mycenaean civilization to an end destroyed political habits as effectively as stone palaces. Accordingly, he believes that the Greeks of the historic period were engaged in the fundamental enterprise of building organized society out of nothing. The 1st chapters of this work deal with the stops taken by the early tyrants, in Sparta & Athens, toward constructing stable organs of authority & of political expression. In later chapters, interest shifts to relations that developed between the states & especially to the development of lasting alliances. Attention is given to the Peloponnesian League, to the Persian Wars, to the Delian League & to the 2nd Athenian Sea League of the 4th century.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520031253
• ISBN 13: 9780520031258
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 538