Roisman - Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander: the evidence

Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History

This series presents readers with new translations of the raw material of ancient history. It provides direct access to the ancient world, from wars and power politics to daily life and entertainment, allowing readers to discover the extraordinary diversity of ancient societies.

Published

The Ancient Near East
Edited Mark W. Chavalas
The Roman Games
Alison Futrell
Alexander the Great
Waldemar Heckel and J. C. Yardley
The Hellenistic Period
Roger Bagnall and Peter Derow
Ancient Greek Religion
Emily Kearns
Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander
Joseph Roisman; translations by J. C. Yardley

In Preparation

Sexuality in the Classical World
Holt Parker

This edition first published 2011
2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Translations 2011 John Yardley

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Roisman, Joseph, 1946
Ancient Greece from Homer to Alexander: the evidence / Joseph Roisman.
p. cm. (Blackwell sourcebooks in ancient history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-2775-2 (hardcover: alk. paper)ISBN 978-1-4051-2776-9 (pbk.: alk.
paper) 1. GreeceCivilizationTo 146 B.C.Sources. 2. GreeceHistoryTo 146
B.C.Sources. I. Title.
DF12.R65 2011
938dc22

2010025066

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Illustrations

Maps

Preface and Acknowledgments

The aim of this book is to acquaint the reader with the main evidence for Greek history from Homer and the end of the Dark Age to Alexander the Great (ca. 800323 BCE). Although the editor hopes to have covered diverse political, social, and cultural aspects of Archaic and Classical Greece, he does not strive to be exhaustive or to provide a substitute for a textbook on the subject. Indeed, much of the volume deals with the Greek mainland and is less concerned with Greeks in the western Mediterranean. Similarly, the bibliography of modern scholarship at the end of each chapter does not aim to be comprehensive but is limited to works in English, with a clear preference for more recent publications. (Only the author and the year of publication are given in these bibliographical notes. Fuller details can be found in the References at the end of the book.) Finally, the selection of the evidence may at times reflect the personal interests of the editor. Yet an attempt was made to create a continuity of themes and processes by placing the evidence in a broader historical context and by linking various documents together. A companion website provides further evidence and explanations in addition to those offered here as well as links to relevant online sites.