Sparta

by A.H.M. Jones

A political & military history of the powerful Greek City-state founded in the 8th-century B.C.

Genres: History

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones (9 March 1904 – 9 April 1970) — known as A.H.M. Jones — was a prominent 20th century British historian of classical antiquity, particularly of the later Roman Empire.

Jones's best-known work, The Later Roman Empire, 284–602 (1964), is considered the definitive narrative history of late Rome and early Byzantium, beginning with the reign of the Roman tetrarch Diocletian and ending with that of the Byzantine emperor Maurice. One of the most common modern criticisms of this work is its almost total reliance on literary and epigraphic primary sources, a methodology which mirrored Jones's own historiographical training. Archaeological study of the period was in its infancy when Jones wrote, which limited the amount of material culture he could include in his research.

He published his first book, The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, in 1937. In 1946, he was appointed to the chair of the Ancient History department at University College, London. In 1951, he moved to Cambridge University and assumed the same post there. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1947.

Jones was reportedly an extremely fast reader with an encyclopedic memory. His disdain for "small talk" sometimes made him seem remote and cold to those who did not know him well, but he was warmly regarded by his students. He was sometimes criticized for not fully acknowledging the work of earlier scholars in his own footnotes, a habit he was aware of and apologized for in the preface to his first book.

Jones died of a heart attack in 1970 while traveling via boat to Thessaloniki to give a series of lectures.

Since Jones's death, popular awareness of his work has often been overshadowed by the work of scholars of Late Antiquity, a period which did not exist as a separate field of study during his lifetime. Late Antiquity scholars frequently refer to him, however, and his enormous contributions to the study of the period are widely acknowledged.

Reviews

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not worth your time unless you'd rather read a condensed retelling of the ancient sources instead of reading them yourself. At one point, considered one of the world's greatest living historians, Jones decided to take Thucydides, Xenophon, and a few other historians and reword them to write a book that was intended as a series of lectures.

There is no unique insight from Jones and in the few places where he isn't transcribing what others have written, he's making assertions that have no support in what he's transcribed, no reasoning within the book, and almost nowhere references contemporary scholarship or discusses it. You need to be careful in how he uses the ancient sources as well. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of footnotes and miss where he's omitted or altered accepted translations of the ancient sources without alerting the reader to why he's doing so.

You get Jones' version of Spartan history without any critical discussion from him about why this is the right history. Oh yeah, he's also projected modern values onto the ancients and made assumptions about their society based on how we do ours. Always dangerous. It also probably says something that in the 40+ years since the book was originally published, no scholars of note have referenced it in their works.

If you do read, read for academic reasons and with an open mind. Get it on a library loan, but do not buy it. Invest instead in good translations of the ancients sources he uses and draw your own conclusions.

[Erik Graff · Rating 1 out of 5]

This survey reads like the outline of a book, so dense is the prose with personal and place names. I know Spartan history rather well, having edited two books on the subject, but despite such familiarity I found this tough, and basically boring, going. The author really makes no effort to bring Spartan culture come alive or even to background his chronological narrative.

[lamarcus brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sparta is a fascinating culture, so completely unique through out history with its governing system, and its social system. So many things I feel they did right. And a few things they did wrong. This book is a bit outdated now and it was dry, but it gives you a no-nonsense look into their history.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting approach to the history of Sparta. Divides chapter by branches of government, segments of society and important wars.

[Roy]

Since it addresses Sparta, it gives much more information than general histories, which tend to concentrate on Athens.

[Stephen Journeay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book; the writing is unfriendly to a reader that I wouldn't take the time to decipher: reading should be enjoyable, not a chore. This book might interest those obsessed with the Greeks or this time period.

[Aweosmemaster330]

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