ATHENS and SPARTA: The rivalry that shaped Ancient Greece
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 large size | Published by: |
What's it all about: This is the story of the two most famous Greek cities, Athens and Sparta, and of the great events in the fifth century BC when they fought side by side against the Persian superpower and somehow won, only later to argue and tear the Greek world apart. To understand all this, we need to understand the peculiar nature of Spartan and Athenian society, and place them within the context of the many other Greek communities as well as a the wider world.
Why I wrote the book: A few years ago, I wrote a biography of Philip II and Alexander the Great and kept looking for a reasonably recent and accessible book describing what the Greek world was like when Philip was born early in the fourth century BC - something that would help the interested reader to understand what had gone before. I couldn't find one. There was plenty of good stuff about the Persian Wars, about the Peloponnesian War, about Athenian democracy and culture and the strange society of Sparta, but there was nothing bringing it all together and setting everything in context. That is what this book is meant to do. The ancient Greeks tend to get less attention than the Romans, so one of the main aims of this book is to show to a wider audience just how fascinating they were.
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ATHENS AND SPARTA tells the gripping story of two of the most iconic city-states in history: rivals in power, opposites in ideology and central to the drama of Classical Greece. United, they helped repel the mighty Persian invasion. Divided, they plunged the Greek world into the devastating Peloponnesian War. One was a radical democracy and naval empire, the other a brutal, militarised oligarchy. Both were bold experiments in how to run a state - and both left a legacy that shaped the Western world.
This is a history not only of politics and war, but of culture and the extremes of human behaviour. For over a century, Athens and Sparta avoided the revolutions that rocked other Greek cities. Athens, the aggressive, immensely self-confident, radical democracy was often brash and even vulgar as well as cruel, yet it also gave the world so many ideas, comedy and drama that moved audiences in ways unlike anything that had come before. Spartans did not innovate, while Athenians threw out ideas constantly - some good and some bad. No other major state has allowed thousands to join in debates where anyone could propose a law and see it enacted. This was a society capable of remarkably clear thinking and such pointless savagery as executing Socrates for challenging accepted ideas.
Drawing on the vivid accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, as well as rich archaeological evidence, Adrian Goldsworthy brings to life a cast of statesmen, lawgivers, philosophers, artists, courtesans and soldiers. ATHENS AND SPARTA is a story of ambition and hubris, brilliance and brutality - a timeless account of how two visions of society collided and defined an age.
Links to videos about the book on my YouTube Channel:
ATHENS and SPARTA - AN INTRODUCTION (Playlist)
ATHENS and SPARTA - AN INTRODUCTION
Navies, Seapower and the Trireme - ATHENS and SPARTA released this week!
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