Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #286

by Paul Cartledge

This highly original introduction to ancient Greece uses the history of eleven major Greek cities to illuminate the most important and informative aspects of Greek culture. Cartledge highlights the role of such renowned cities as Athens (birthplace of democracy) and Sparta, but he also examines Argos, Thebes, Syracuse in Sicily, and Alexandria in Egypt, as well as lesser known locales such as Miletus (home of the West's first intellectual, Thales) and Massalia (Marseilles today), where the Greeks introduced the wine grape to the French. The author uses these cities to illuminate major themes, from economics, religion, and social relations, to gender and sexuality, slavery and freedom, and politics.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Greece, Ancient History, Classics, Greek Mythology, Ancient

184 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

About the author

Paul Anthony Cartledge is the 1st A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, having previously held a personal chair in Greek History at Cambridge. He was educated at St Paul's School & New College, Oxford where he took his 1st degree & completed his doctoral thesis in Spartan archaeology in 1975 under Prof. Sir John Boardman. After a period at the University of Warwick he moved in 10/79 to Cambridge University where he's a fellow of Clare College.
He's a world expert on Athens & Sparta in the Classical Age & has been described as a Laconophile. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks & the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes. He's also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour & an Honorary Citizen of modern Sparta. Besides the Leventis Professorship, he holds a visiting Global Distinguished Professorship at New York University, funded by the Greek Parliament.

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally the Very Short Introductions offer a really good standard, but this is the exception. Not that Paul Cartledge (° 1947) is not well-versed, he was professor of Greek history and culture at the University of Cambridge, UK; so he knows what he is talking/writing about. But that seems to me to be the problem. He tries to say too much at once, which results in a very difficult writing style, with many juxtapositions and parenthetical sentences, and with multiple references to related details. In addition, he apparently still clings to a number of outdated views. More about that in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Sense of History]

I am just beginning my intensive reading program on ancient Greek history. So I start with introductions, such as this installment of the "Very Short Introduction-series". That was a bit disappointing. Paul Cartledge (Cambridge University UK) presents Greek history on the basis of eleven cities, 1 for each period. That is a handy find, certainly. However, that didactic approach is completely undone by Cartledge's very difficult writing style and by his adherence to old theories.

Take that of the "hoplitic revolution", which I myself was taught in my college years in the 1970s. That is the theory that in the 7th century BCE the Greek cities changed from a limited army of (individual) warriors to citizens operating in ranks (in what later became the well-known phalanxes), the so-called hoplites. That military democratization was linked to the political, and in that way also to the emergence of the typical ancient Greek form of government, the polis, and ultimately democracy. There are many things wrong with this theory (fighting in ranks was introduced much earlier, political changes were separate from military ones, and real phalanxes are now only dated to the 4th century). Almost all researchers have written off the theory, but Cartledge clearly still holds on to it.

And there are more comments to be made. Calling the Mycenaean civilization a false start, because it (seemingly) came to nothing, shows a very teleological view of history, as if only the “Golden 5th century” is the norm, and everything that did not lead directly to it a failure. Strange. In short: this very short introduction certainly does not seem to be recommended. On to others!

[Steven Walle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are not familiar with the culture of ancient Greece this book would be a great place to start. The author explains the cultural influences upon Greece and also their city states such as Athins and Sparta. It describes the creation of democracy as well as the start of the Olimpic Games.

Enjoy and Be Blessed.

[AskHistorians]

Designed for a non-expert audience, but again by a top expert, this book uses a series of microhistories to tell a story of Greece's history from the Dark Age to the Byzantine Empire.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paul Anthony Cartledge made a noble attempt at the difficult task of creating a short history of Ancient Greece, by telling that story through the history of select Ancient Greek Cities at certain times respectively. It was a great idea and approach, but Cartledge's attempt fell short. The book is a tiresome and slow read, and the cut up and brief structure made it confusing and difficult to follow. The Very Short Introduction was so densely written, it failed to have a purpose, as it was too dense for beginners to the subject and too brief for those with a background in the subject. He bounced around through history too much and would often mention important historical events and pieces of literature without elaborating on them (the intro format and small size was partially to blame for this). He also failed to make the use of cities a convincing way to tall the story. It was a good try, but it failed.

[Sarah Goldberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not a bad book, it's just not a great introduction. Cartledge fully admits the challenge of writing a short introduction to a complex area of study, and the book actually does shine as a geographic introduction to the classical Greek world. The book's chief shortcoming is actually in its chief purpose -- it's peppered with references to people, things and places that the author never fully explains, making it a tough pill for a newbie to swallow in terms of overall understanding.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A survey of eleven ancient Greek cities. Prehistory: Cnossos and Mycenae. Early History to 500 BCE: Argos, Miletus, Massalia, and Sparta. Classical from 500 to 330 BCE: Athens, Syracuse, and Thebes. Hellenistic: Alexandria and Byzantion. Most of it I already either knew or forgotten, but still fun to read.

The Spartans are considered "the patron saints of brachylogy." They were considered "masters of the snappy repartee." The word "laconic" describes such an utterance in their honor for they were the "Lakones" in ancient Greek.

One example of a laconic story from Sparta in Herodotus was the request by the Samians for aid. Their speech put the Spartans to sleep. So the Samians returned and pointed at an empty sack with the line, "The sack lacks barley-meal." The Spartans complained that the word "sack" was unnecessary but provided food aid anyway.

Spartan males exercised stark naked. The Greek word for "nude" is gumnos, the basis of the Greek gumnasion, our "gym." The men would scrub down with a bronze scraper called a strigil and then cover themselves with olive oil. This gave rise to a type of Greek statue called a kouros, an adolescent youth in bronze or stone. The statues were also used as a cultural marker of superiority over non-Greek barbarians who Greeks liked to believe were ashamed to show their flabby bodies in public.

In Athens, the regime of the 400 did lasting damage. For example, they condemned to death all of the generals in command at the VICTORIOUS battle of Arginusae. The reason given was for failing to rescue the crews of the twenty five Athenian warships lost during the battle.

The hetaera were ancient Greek courtesans or concubines, especially ones who were highly educated or refined. Though they were generally foreigners, slaves, or freedwomen, their freedom was greater than that of the married woman, who was bound to seclusion. That their homes were frequented by married men was not censured by society. They were often hired as entertainers for symposia and family sacrifices. The hetaera of Corinth and Athens were especially noted for their outstanding physical and cultural accomplishments. Phryne and Lais are historical representatives.

The Sacred Band was a crack Theban infantry force of 300, consisting of 150 homosexual pairs, founded in 378 BCE.

Phryne, (Greek: “Toad”), byname of Mnesarete, (flourished 4th century BCE), was a famous Greek courtesan. Because of her sallow complexion she was called by the Greek name for “toad.” She was also (according to Athenaeus) the model for the statue of the Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles, whose mistress she was; copies of the statue survive in the Vatican and elsewhere. When accused of blasphemy (a capital charge), she was defended by the orator Hyperides. When it seemed as if the verdict would be unfavourable, he tore her dress and displayed her bosom, which so moved the jury that they acquitted her; another version has Phryne tear her own dress and plead with each individual juror.

The year 322 BCE was about the end of Greek democracy with the suicide of Demosthenes who was avoiding torture and death at the hand of his pro-Macedonian enemies.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book aims “to provide a fairly painless and highly stimulating introduction to the complex, diverse, and challenging subject of the history of ancient Greece.” It begins with the Minoans, particularly as regards the Mycenaean take-over around 1450 and ends with the foundation of Constantinople in the fourth Christian century. Focusing on poleis representative of the varieties of Greek culture, it ranges from Massalia in the northwest to Alexandria in the southeast, treating of the aforementioned as well as of Mycenae, Argos, Miletus, Sparta, Athens, Syracuse, Thebes and Byzantion, the outlines of each in this order roughly describing the history of the almost two millennia covered from Minoan Cnossos to Byzantine Constantinople.
Painless this book is, having the character of a series of extemporaneous lectures delivered off the cuff by an enthusiastically learned professor to a group of undergraduates fulfilling a core requirement. The author, informal always, self-consciously witty sometimes, certainly succeeds in making the topic accessible and does give a fair series of impressions which should broaden most notions of what “ancient Greece” might have been. But, as in all such lectures spanning days, there are redundancies, omissions, over- and under-emphases which strike the reader as they wouldn't an auditor. Not well edited, suggestive and impressionistic rather than definitive, this work, although entertaining, falls short of Cartledge's usual writing.

[Leon McNair · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ancient Greece

A good book to pair with this reading might be – The Cambridge Illustrated History Of Ancient Greece, Paul Cartledge


While the author provides an erudite representation of eleven prolific city-states that influenced and shaped the course of ancient Greece, unfortunately it translates as a shortcoming for a small book that is supposed to be a broad-script introduction of a new topic, and the reader may disengage with the text at times over the constant variety of city-states, people, situations and battles mentioned. These eleven city-states are also used as the headlines for the Chapters. The author admits the problem in the Preface, that with such a long and complex subject-matter it is a difficult task to condense the information in a style appropriate for readers with no prior knowledge and understanding.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignore the naysayers. This is one of the best VSI volumes going, right up there with Colin Ward’s introduction to anarchism. Prof. Cartledge is an imminently informative and congenial guide to all things pertaining to Ancient Hellas and Hellenes, in all of their variety.

I loved the city by city, cross section approach to Greek civilisation. Anything with a more linear structure would have offered nothing new. So much is packed into this volume, so much so, in fact, that this edition is probably one of the most transformative histories I’ve ever read. A real masterstroke.

[Craig Fiebig · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoy Greek history generally or Paul Cartledge specifically this is worth the quick read. The book suffers from occasional poor editing but appreciating a culture as important as that of ancient Greece through the lens of its cities makes it worth the effort.

[Bill's Chaos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Condensed too much. I found this to be very difficult to read. The writing style plus having no previous knowledge of the topic made it difficult for me to piece together any coherent story.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Cartledge, a prolific Greek historian from Cambridge especially known for his extensive work on Spartan social and political history, takes a somewhat unconventional approach toward briefly sketching the history of such a wide-ranging and slightly ambiguous topic as ‘Ancient Greece.’ Originally published as Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities, Cartledge tackles what he hopes will be a ‘fairly painless’ overview of Greek history from c.1400 BCE to c.330 CE, around the time when Constantine the Great established Constantinople, formerly Byzantion, as the new capital of the Roman Empire, by focusing in on the stories of eleven of the most politically and culturally noteworthy poleis of the Greek world. Cartledge cleverly orders his discussion of these influential cities in such a way as to tell a roughly chronological narrative, starting with the Minoan palace-center of Cnossos during the Bronze Age and ending with the so-called Greek ‘colony’ of Byzantion, which flourished as a city-state at the dawn of the Hellenistic period and later as the aforementioned capital of the Roman Empire. As he himself notes, Cartledge covers a diverse selection of cities, including those with mythological roots, those that were founded as colonies beginning in the eighth century BCE, and the one city, Alexandria, which was founded at the behest of the King Alexander the Great of Macedon. While presenting an introduction to Greek history in such a creative way does, unfortunately, make it sometimes hard to follow the narrative thread Cartledge does his best to maintain throughout each chapter, it nevertheless allows Cartledge to delve into far greater detail about, say, the viticultural tendencies of the Massaliotes than any broad, sweeping outline of Greek history would permit. In this sense, this very short introduction is a massive success.

Above all, Cartledge magnificently maneuvers the baffling tendency of the Greek states to habitually shift their allegiances depending on who was the premiere power in the Mediterranean at the time. Despite this cursory sketch, he nevertheless touches upon the major alliances of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, including those led by Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and the Kingdom of Macedon, if not the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues of the late Hellenistic era when the Roman Republic had finally stumbled onto the Greek political scene. Furthermore, Cartledge gives proper treatment as to why and how these coalitions were shattered and reborn, citing the consequential support the Achaemenid Empire showed Sparta toward the end of the Peloponnesian War, the unscrupulous behavior of Athens toward its so-called ‘allies’ in the Delian League, and the refusal of the Greek city-states to allow any one of their neighbors unchecked hegemony for more than a couple of decades. Perhaps one of his most satisfying chapters is that on Thebes, so often overlooked not only by tourists today–the modern town lies almost directly on top of the ancient polis, as Cartledge notes–but also by popular histories focused more on the great states of Athens and Sparta. Cartledge appropriately points out how Pindar hailed from Boeotia, Theban superiority over the Greek mainland under the leadership of Epaminondas in the middle of the fourth century, and the unique nature of the Theban Sacred Band, the city’s crack troops made up of homosexual couples. Finally, Cartledge makes an effort to salvage the reputation of the former medizers, making a point to note how democratic Thebes stood by democratic Athens at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 against Philip II of Macedon, whose son Alexander would, sadly, destroy the fabled city after a revolt in 335. Altogether, Cartledge offers a refreshing narrative and, in addition to a chapter on Thebes, also throws in chapters dedicated to the likes of Massalia, Miletus, and Byzantion, all cities underserved in popular literature on Ancient Greece.

Despite the polished quality of this brief synopsis and the skill with which Cartledge eloquently introduces readers to the fascinating political, social, and cultural history of the ancient Greek city-states, the decorated professor nevertheless lets what seems to be a streak of anti-Christian sentiment slip into his discussion. While praising the female mathematician, Hypatia of Alexandria, as a martyr slaughtered at the hands of Christian fanatics by no means constitutes Christophobia–I very much commend Cartledge for mentioning, if only fleetingly, her captivating biography and role as a female intellectual in what was by and far a man’s world–Cartledge goes to great lengths to contrast the open-mindedness dominant in the cultural life of many Greek poleis with the parochial, implicitly backward nature of Christianity. Cartledge calls the ‘old pagan establishment’ ‘relatively tolerant’ and ‘inclusive’ as opposed to ‘exclusive, dogmatic’ Christian beliefs that ‘could countenance such acts as the murder of Hypatia in Alexandria’ (131). While he acknowledges that the civil wars that continuously plagued the Greek cities could often be particularly brutal, more brutal, perhaps, than violence propagated by Christians, he still seems to ignore the very real persecution of Christians at the hands of pagan Roman emperors like Nero and, to a more serious degree, during the reign of Diocletian. These pagans were not, it seems, as open-minded as Cartledge suggests most pagans were throughout antiquity. While this is a short introduction to Ancient Greece and not Rome, Cartledge nonetheless paints Christian attitudes at the time with a remarkably broad brush that extends beyond the historical period he primarily focuses on so that I feel justified in mentioning the Roman emperors above. In any event, the ideological dichotomy made by Cartledge feels forced and unnecessary. One can praise open discourse in the political life of cities like Athens without defaming one of the most popular religions of antiquity. Still, this constitutes a minor misstep, for Cartledge brilliantly familiarizes up and coming classicists and historians, and refreshes the minds of those already entrenched in those disciplines, with his very short introduction to a civilization that deserves our ‘concentrated attention’ (133).

[جلجامش Nabeel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book, with a good insight into ancient Greece and a lovely timeline and glossary at the end. However, it was a bit difficult for those who know simple things. I did not like the way of presenting the entire civilization according to 11 cities.

Quotes:

Herodotus, Greece’s and the world’s first historian properly so-called, placed the following definition of ‘Greekness’ in the mouths of his Athenian speakers, addressing the Spartans, their allies, at a crucial moment of the decisive conflict between Greeks and ‘barbarian’ (non-Greek) Persians during the winter of 480/479 BCE: …it would not be fitting for the Athenians to prove traitors to the Greek people, with whom we are united in sharing the same kinship and language, with whom we have established shrines and conduct sacrifices to the gods together, and with whom we also share the same way of life. (Histories, Book 8, chapter 144, in the translation of Andrea Purvis)

For, whatever language ‘Linear A’ script may record, it is certainly not Greek—and possibly belongs, not to the Indo-European language family of which Greek is a member, but to the Semitic language family. Most later Greeks of the historical period— Herodotus being a major exception—were convinced that the legendary eponym Minos was as real and as Greek as could be; indeed, he was thought to have functioned in the emblematic manner of early rulers, as a lawgiver.

Moreover, though Greek in language, the civilization of Mycenaean Greece was in most other, basic respects a provincial outpost of a Middle Eastern culture whose epicentres lay in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. The imposing Lion Gate entrance to the citadel (Plate 3) recalls Hattusas of the Hittites or even Babylon; and the beehive, corbelled, drystone tombs known as the Treasury of Atreus (Agamemnon’s father) and the Tomb of Aegisthus (lover of Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra) betray an almost Egyptian lust for imposing posthumous longevity. Palacefrescoes suggest that the buildings rang to the chants of courtmusicians, and so, conceivably, there may have been Mycenaean court-poets or at any rate courtlyricists.

the Phoenicians had proceeded on to Spain, to found such cities as Malaga and Cadiz, as they founded a string of settlements on the western Mediterranean’s southern shore, chiefly Utica and Carthage, which were in direct and regular contact with their cluster of permanent outposts (such as Motya and Panormus, later Palermo) at the western end of the island of Sicily.

It was also the target residence of choice for famous immigrant Cadmus from Phoenicia, who was credited anachronistically with bringing with him from Tyre the art of alphabetic writing; the Greeks with rather surprising humility referred to their alphabet as either ‘Phoenician’ or ‘Cadmean’ letters. Were the modern town of Thebes not plonked directly on top of the ancient prehistoric and historic cities, we would know an awful lot more about the prehistoric city built upon the Cadmea acropolis, with its Mycenaean palace that has yielded the most recent sizeable haul of Linear B texts—including use of a word that looks something like ‘Lacedaemon’, the name of the region of the southeast Peloponnese that Sparta came to dominate.

By no means the most original, but probably the most tart, expression of this negative point of view is to be found in Edward Gibbon’s magnificently comprehensive Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (chapter 48, first published in 1788): the subjects of the Byzantine empire, who assume and dishonour the names both of Greeks and Romans, present a dead uniformity of abject vices, which are neither softened by the weakness of humanity, nor animated by the vigour of memorable crimes.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.70

who knew my favorite member of the beatles also wrote books about greece

[Daniel Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needless to say, one cannot hope to get even a tiny fraction of the enormous range of things one could say about Ancient Greece into such a tiny book. Indeed, the subject is so large and so vague that I was intrigued, before starting, as to how the writer would attempt to approach it and divide it up. His solution is more elegant, charming and imaginative, both in conception and execution, than anything I would ever have thought of.

Observing that the fundamental unit of ancient Greek life was the polis, or city-state, he takes a limited selection of some of the more famous or representative ones and, by telling each of their stories in turn, gradually narrates the history of Greece from the late bronze age until the last Olympics, taking many sidesteps to explore aspects of Greek culture and literature.

Having sung this book's praises, I'm afraid I must also note that this book is too colloquial. There are too many... ellipses... which sometimes makes it feel like you're reading a Facebook comment thread rather than, say, something published by OUP.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Cnossos
Chapter 3: Mycenae
Chapter 4: Argos
Chapter 5: Miletus
Chapter 6: Massalia
Chapter 7: Sparta
Chapter 8: Athens
Chapter 9: Syracuse
Chapter 10: Thebes
Chapter 11: Alexandria
Chapter 12: Byzantion
Chapter 13: Epilogue
Appendix: The Panhellenic Sanctuaries

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read several of Oxford’s AVSI now, and this ranks low on my list. The entire purpose of these Introductions is for the lay reader to get an impression of what is truly important and general about an era or topic. In other words, someone with little prior knowledge can access the work and take something meaningful away from it. This volume reads like the abridged version of a 2,000 page work wherein the author could not possibly cut anything for fear of losing some sophisticated point. The chapters are loosely organized around different Greek city-states that follow a thematic, if not alway chronological, order. Yet, within each chapter, there are numerous examples of the author writing with an assumption that the reader brings a a wealth of knowledge to the topic. I don’t mean to imply that someone wouldn’t immediately recognize Alexander the Great, Athens, Sparta, or some other common-knowledge item. It is more than this author name drops countless tangential and obscure figures, places, ideas, and Greek words with little to no context. This makes for an incredibly frustrating read at points.

That being said, I still managed some take-always and to create a mental framework of the chronological periodization of “Ancient Greece” into the Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Periods.

[eilasoles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, but it was ultimately undermined by its organization. In the introduction, the author says that he plans on describing several centuries of history by focusing in turn on different Greek cities. Each city not only illustrates a portion of ancient Greek history but also illustrates certain aspects of ancient Greek culture.

It sounded like a novel approach, but where this falls apart is the fact that each chapter tends to rehash previous topics, while also touching on things that will be discussed in a later chapter. The author repeatedly makes a point and then parenthetically refers to a previous chapter or says that it will be discussed further in a new chapter.

This repetition of things lent the book a scattershot approach to the subject, and made it confusing to follow the things being presented. I think that such an approach really only makes sense for a more confined time and set of things to be discussed. A good example of where this works is The Guns of August, which oscillates between the viewpoints of the French and the Germans during the opening months of World War I.

That's not to say that there's not a lot of good information in this book or a lot of interesting things to learn. For example, I never knew that Marseille and Nice were Greek cities, or that a Greek explorer actually circumnavigated Britain in the 4th century BC. That's amazing.

The author is comprehensive and engaging and never talks down to or over the head of the reader. Also, he's got to get a bonus for making a reference to a They Might Be Giants song when explaining why he used Byzantion as the name for the city Byzantium which later became Constantinople and then Istanbul.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The choice to simply not follow a standard timeline, but to navigate Greek history through the major city-states and their respective golden ages was extremely clever and quite interesting.

This choice makes everything much clearer, although it does take away a bit from the less splendorous eras of each polis.

The reading, as simple as it is, is quite enjoyable, although a little slow in very few moments.

I highly recommend it as an introductory read

_________________________________________

A escolha de simplesmente não seguir uma linha do tempo padrão, mas navegar pela história grega através das principais cidades-estados e suas respectivas eras de ouro foi extremamente inteligente e bastante interessante.

Essa escolha torna tudo muito mais claro, apesar de tirar um pouco das eras menos esplendorosas de cada polis.

A leitura, por mais simples que seja, é bastante gostosa, apesar de meio travada em pouquíssimos momentos.

Recomendo bastante como uma leitura introdutória.

[Anthony J. Toumazatos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although of course still a worthwhile read, I felt this book fell slightly short of the quality of the other Oxford short introduction books I have read recently (which I suppose shows in just how high of regard I hold this neat undertaking). The writing style was at times confusing, and it felt that the academic topics taken up were slightly more complex than necessary for a book intended to be an introductory overview.

Nonetheless, I still felt this was a fun read. Each chapter was dedicated to a different Ancient Greek city with the intention of demonstrating the breadth of geography, time, and cultures that belong to the Greek world. This allowed me to connect in an effective mental framework many of the loose ends I have learned about the ancient world up to this point. I do wish more time was spent on fascinating characters and achievements rather than the context surrounding a city, however. For example, for the city of Miletus only one sentence was dedicated to Thales, one of the most impressive pre-Socratic philosophers.

[Dries Van Den Elzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter. However, I did not like the fragmentary setup. Moreover, I found Cartledge’s writing style murky:

“And so the ding-dong over the possession of Byzantion between Sparta and a reviving Athens (thanks to Persia, switching sides against a now hostile Sparta) continued into the later 390s and early 380s - until Athens’s naval power seemed to the Persians to have grown threateningly great again, all too reminiscent indeed of its fifth-century empire, including as it did control of Byzantion and reimposition therefrom of a trade-tax.”p21

[Alec · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 I am really enamored with the concept of the “A very short introduction” series, and likely will read on. As a book in its own right it was sort of difficult read, a lot of it felt a bit disjointed as it’s written an almost train of thought style. I did really enjoy lots of what I learned and I found the organization of telling a history through the cities that form a society really cool.

[J.S. Nelson]

DNF

[Whit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a historian of Ancient Greece, but I am an amateur enthusiast looking to expand what little knowledge I can be rightfully said to have. Paul Cartledge's Ancient Greece offered an intriguing way to expand that knowledge within a neat framework: explore Greece over time and place "through in-depth portraits of its most important institution: the city." It begins well enough, with enough dry pretentious British humor to make me excited to dive in. The chapters about each city are very short, almost perfectly designed for reading before bed.

Unfortunately, there's a quick turn in the quality of the text - stemming, paradoxically, from being simultaneously too ambitious and too poorly conceived. The framework of cities is fascinating, as is exploring what the archeaological record does and doesn't tell us. But Professor Cartledge's attempt to include historiography, critiques of major figures in the study of Greece, and odd granular details feels haphazard. Perhaps my reading of the book was belabored by the prose. Here is a sample sentence from the chapter on Argos that, while egregious, shows the disappointing territory the writer stakes out: "The establishment of this dominion sometimes involved the defeat and even expulsion of lesser neighbours, such as those of Asine on the coast, and their replacement by settlers from the metropolis; this was a form of internal colinzation that obviated the need for very much in the way of overseas colonization by Argos." The sentence after the semicolon took me several reads to understand emphasis and meaning, at which point I gave up.

Who would benefit from this book? Someone with a better working knowledge of Greek geography, perhaps - the map at the front of the book helps only nominally, as the text will casually jump between places all around the Mediterranean. If you are looking for a specific city that you'd like to know more about, perhaps you'll find one of the chapters enlightening or enriching, either in its profile of the polis itself or in geographical or temporal similarities between the poleis covered and the ones sought by the reader. Otherwise, it is not a good introduction. Sarah Pomeroy's Ancient Greece, a much larger textbook, is much more readable and gives much more useful information regarding not only the pre-Greek and Greek peoples but also the landscape, historical methodology, and everyday life in the Greek world.

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient Greece is one of the most fascinating and intriguing historical polities. The very notion of Greece as a single political and cultural entity is a relatively modern designation. The ancient Greeks had organized their life within a polis, a self-containing “city state,” of which there had been hundreds throughout the ancient history, spanning almost all of northern Mediterranean. So when we talk about ancient Greece what we really have in mind is the history of these poleis – their origin, development, and eventual decline and disappearance in the late antiquity. A book that would cover all of the poleis would be a gargantuan project, and would surpass in length all the volumes in the very short introduction series. Instead, Paul Cartledge, the author of this short introduction, focuses on just eleven poleis, picking some that are the most representative of the ancient Greek history as a whole.

Overall, this book is a good introduction to ancient Greece, and all hellenophiles will find a lot of interesting information in it. Through the general introduction and the individual chapters for each polis, we learn about the development of ancient Greek society, through its golden years and the epic wars that it engaged in, to the later not-too-illustrious years. The choice of topics is fairly representative, and Cartledge exhibits an impressive range of knowledge and understanding of this subject.

One big issue that I have with this book concerns its structure and organization. The choice of presenting the history of ancient Greece in a “parallel” fashion, by focusing on each polis in its own right, leads to a very disjoined overall narrative. It can be had to follow various developments as they recur in different chapters, with all the variations that this entails. Furthermore, the style of writing also leaves a lot to be desired. Sentences are often highly convoluted, with frequent allusions, digressions, parenthetical asides, parentheses proper, and even parentheses within parentheses! Cartledge is never the one to use a simple statement when a more complex one would suffice. He also strives a bit too hard to exhibit his own wit and erudition whenever possible. The result is a bit contorted narrative that doesn’t flow very smoothly. Overall, however, this is a pretty good book and I feel I got a lot of interesting insights from it.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is how I like my history to be written. Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities is short and concise whilst also containing all of the information it needs to. It shares this trait with another book I recently read Caligula: A Biography by Aloys Winterling. As I'm writing this, I haven't reviewed that on Goodreads - but I still may well do. It's great.

Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities does exactly what it says on the tin. It traces a history of the Ancient Greek civilization from the earliest records through to its absorption into the Roman Empire. It also touches very briefly on the Byzantine Empire. It tells this narrative through the story of eleven cities - emphasizing centrality of the polis as an institution in Ancient Greek culture and identity.

Paul Cartledge is an expert in his field and it shows. The information is distilled to a maximum degree - making this text brief and accessible. Every chapter shows a wide breadth of knowledge and research - however there's one that particularly sticks out. The chapter on Sparta is unusually lucid and it should come as no surprise either - Cartledge is a world leading expert on the topic. His descriptions of the place and its culture are the highlight of the book.

(Another book by Cartledge is entitled The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece. I haven't read it - but I'm going to keep an eye out for it from now on.)

Reading some of the other reviews, it seems like Goodreads as a whole can be pretty harsh on Paul Cartledge. After reading this, I don't really see why. Sure, his sentences are sometimes meandering, and he sometimes does introduce a great deal of information rather rapidly, but I never found this hard to follow. When things got complex (this book covers a complex area of history), I slowed down my reading speed little - and gave myself more time to take things in. Perhaps this isn't the best text for a complete newcomer to the topic of Ancient Greece - but for those with some basic foundational knowledge (having a read a handful of Wikipedia articles would probably be enough) this text should make for an entertaining and educational read.

[gen]

uni read

[Rue Baldry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy read. It’s a break-neck-speed overview of all Ancient Greek political and military history. It is hardly an ‘introduction’ however in the sense of a beginner’s guide because it assumes too much prior knowledge. The author also seems to have a compulsion to use obscure complicated vocabulary when plain English would have served just as well.

All the wars and states ended up blurring and it was hard, most of the time, to stay focussed. The great exception to that was the chapter on Sparta, and it was the descriptions of the social set-up which made that chapter stand out. I would have liked more social history, more of an insight into day-to-day life, and less military details.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book recollects the story of Ancient Greece in a very novel way. One of the author's central themes is that there is no entity called 'Ancient Greece', rather what we would term 'Ancient Greece' is actually a collection of city-states each with its own history, political structure and economy. As such, this book is organized where the author has chosen to recount in each chapter the story of a specific city-state. Unbelievably detailed (for such a short work), this book serves to introduce readers to this fascinating civilization which is undeniably vital to the development of western civilization.