Athens: A History, From Ancient Ideal to Modern City

by Robin Waterfield

Perhaps no other city looms larger in our cultural and historical imagination than Athens. For two and a half millennia, people have looked to the city's past as a beacon of genuine democracy, artistic expression, and the classical ideal. In this engaging narrative, noted classicist Robin Waterfield traces the life and history of Athens, a city whose idealized past continues to inspire the present.This is the only book to cover the entire history of Athens, from its brief period of classical greatness through its decline under a series of occupying empires-Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, and Turkish-to its resurrection in the modern era. Waterfield brings the city vividly to life through the colorful and varied individuals who shaped her history, from Solon, the founder of her democracy, to Pericles, Socrates, Euripides, and the other geniuses of the fifth century, and right up to more recent figures, such as Lord Byron and Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.As Waterfield shows, the memory of Athens' glorious past-even if that memory is a myth-has inspired generations, and offers vital lessons for the current era.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Greece

362 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2004

About the author

Robin Anthony Herschel Waterfield is a British classical scholar, translator, editor, and writer of children's fiction.

Reviews

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a history from Golden Age to Present should be: 90% Golden Age and 10% Present. There's a reason the akward first Olympics are the most interesting thing about post-Roman Athens, which shrunk as badly as Rome itself.

As for the Golden Age, it is brought to life in the sense that it wasn't static, like the Acropolis. This famous temple complex was already the second to third set of buildings on the hill, built by an Athenian empire flush with cash shortly before it was shredded by its united vassals and enemies in the complex, cold-and-hot-again Peloponessian War. The switch to Macedonia is a bit abrupt, but at least by then we've learned the brutal differences between modern and ancient 'democracy' and the equally stained nuances of the principle that pan-Hellenic festivals could put a stop to war.

[Debbie Notkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend gave me this book because I was looking for a history of Greece which encompassed both ancient and modern times. In Greece, I kept hearing Greek people say "We are not just ancient Greece," and my traveling companion noted that Greece is a place where history has been colonized.

This wasn't especially good for that; as the author freely admits, his modern history is sketchy, and basically stops around 1834 (except for a long-ish epilogue) because that's when Athens ceased to be independent. The writing is only okay, and the author's opinions are occasionally very irritating. But the facts are useful, and seem mostly accurate, and I learned a lot I didn't know.

In particular, I didn't know that Athens vanished into complete obscurity (literally not appearing on maps) for a few hundred years between its conquest by Macedonia and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. I didn't know how completely it slipped away from being an important city for much longer than that few hundred years. And I didn't know that it had been ruled by Macedonia, Rome, the Franks, the Catalans, the Venetians, and the Turks (and I might be forgetting a few).

You have to be really interested in Greek history to stick with this one, and I still would rather find something by someone who was (a) Greek, and (b) not completely fascinated by ancient Athens. But I'm not sorry I read it.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covering the history of Athens from ancient to modern times in a single book is hugely ambitious but Robin Waterfield manages it surprisingly well. Although he spends more time and focus on Athens' ancient history, this nevertheless feels like the right balance, especially as there were periods in Athens' more recent history about which either little is known or when other cities, such as Constantinople, took precedence in the area. It's a fascinating read and a great overview from which you can go off and read more about the specific period(s) in which you're interested.

[Joshua Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well researched and written, Athens: A History is an absolute joy. Whether you are a scholar of ancient history, a Hellenophile, or simply love history, you will find this book rewarding. Further, as the book has a unique focus on the Olympic Games, those readers with an interest in athletics will find it quite engaging. The narrative reads easily like fiction but does not sacrifice the integrity of historical accuracy for style. Highly recommended. A pleasure to read.

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this topic, how can you go wrong? It's quick paced and touches on the whole history of Athens, giving a good flavor of the city at different points in time.

[Joshua McCune · Rating 5 out of 5]

At its very core, this is just an excellent, heavily detailed and appropriately unbiased book outlining the exciting, complex and at times turbulent history of Athens. It is best, in my opinion, to think of this book in three overarching sections: the first is an introduction which looks briefly at the state of Athens, and of Greece more widely, at the time of writing (2004, shortly prior to the Olympic Games held in the city). The second, the largest, and perhaps the most expected section by readers, is that of Classical or Ancient Athens. The life of Athens as the centre of administration and commerce, within the Delian League, the figures who made Athens Athens, and its role in the Ancient times more widely. The third section is an increasingly rapid look at Athens as a product of various entrapments - Athens under Frankish rule, under Catalans, etc., increasingly chronologically, and with a brief gander at the role of Elgin and Byron in the fast and frighteningly frank theft of Athens’ artefacts and histories (which Robin seems to be, rather surprisingly, quite content with!). This book was successful in that it didn’t necessarily assume a lot of prior knowledge - but sometimes reading over the passages again was needed to follow the discussion. All in all, a great book as an introduction to the history of Athens, all up until the early 2000s.

[Frrobins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a frustrating book in that it contained interesting information told in the dullest manner possible. I think part of the problem was that the scope was too large and rather than going into detail it felt more like a rendition of fact after fact after fact. I got about half way through and decided I'd had enough.

[Amanda]

This is more a Greek civilization book than a history of the city of Athens specifically. I tried to get into it but I found myself annoyed by the starting place of Olympia. Makes sense considering this book was written before 2004 Olympics but still

[Graham McGrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Devoid of insight. Written with all the passion of a middle school assignment at 10 pm on Sunday night

[Panagiotis Gioxas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Αν χρειαστείς να διαβάσεις την ιστορία των Αθηνών,τότε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι μια καλή αρχή.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read that covers almost the entire breadth of Athenian history from paleolithic times up until the 2004 Olympics. The last paragraph in the book is a specious sop to anti-americanism and for that the book lost one star. Otherwise a good read from a talented author.