Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander (Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World)

623 Pages·2010·3.81 MB·English

by  Matthew Dillon

ANCIENT GREECE
In this revised edition, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland have expanded the chronological
range of Ancient Greece to include the Greek world of the fourth century. The sourcebook
now ranges from the fi rst lines of Greek literature to the death of Alexander the Great,
covering all of the main historical periods and social phenomena of ancient Greece. The
material is taken from a variety of sources: historians, inscriptions, graffi ti, law codes, epitaphs,
decrees, drama and poetry. It includes the major literary authors, but also covers a wide
selection of writers, including many non-Athenian authors. Whilst focusing on the main
cities of ancient Greece – Athens and Sparta – the sourcebook also draws on a wide range of
material concerning the Greeks in Egypt, Italy, Sicily, Asia Minor and the Black Sea.
Ancient Greece not only covers the chronological, political history of ancient Greece, but
also explores the full spectrum of Greek life through topics such as gender, social class,
race and labour. This revised edition includes:
• Two completely new chapters - ‘The Rise of Macedon’ and ‘Alexander “the Great”,
336-323 bc’
• New material in the chapters on The City-State, Religion in the Greek World, Tyrants
and Tyranny, the Peloponnesian War and Its Aftermath, Labour: Slaves, Serfs and
Citizens, and Women, Sexuality and the Family
It is structured so that:
• Thematically arranged chapters are arranged to allow students to build up gradually
knowledge of the ancient Greek world
• Introductory essays to each chapter give necessary background to understand topic areas
• Linking commentaries help students understand the source extracts and what they
reveal about the ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the
Great. Third Edition, will continue to be a defi nitive collection of source material on the
society and culture of the Greeks.
Matthew Dillon is an Associate Professor in Ancient History in the School of Humanities,
University of New England, Australia. His main research interests are Ancient Greek
History, and Religion.
Lynda Garland is Professor and Head of the School of Humanities, University of New
England, Australia. Her main research interests are in the areas of Ancient History and
Byzantine Studies.
ROUTLEDGE SOURCEBOOKS FOR THE
ANCIENT WORLD
READINGS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: SECOND EDITION, Michael Maas
GREEK AND ROMAN EDUCATION, Mark Joyal, J.C. Yardley and Iain McDougall
THE REPUBLICAN ROMAN ARMY, Michael M. Sage
THE STORY OF ATHENS, Phillip Harding
ROMAN SOCIAL HISTORY, Tim Parkin and Arthur Pomeroy
DEATH IN ANCIENT ROME, Valerie Hope
ANCIENT ROME, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
SEXUALITY IN GREEK AND ROMAN LITERATURE, Marguerite Johnson and Terry Ryan
ATHENIAN POLITICAL ORATORY, David Phillips
POMPEII, Alison E. Cooley and M.G.L. Cooley
GREEK SCIENCE OF THE HELLENISTIC ERA, Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser
WOMEN AND LAW IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Judith Evans Grubbs
WARFARE IN ANCIENT GREECE, Michael M. Sage
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Barbara Levick
PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS IN LATE ANTIQUITY, A.D. Lee
ANCIENT GREEK LAWS, Ilias Arnaoutoglou
TRIALS FROM CLASSICAL ATHENS, Christopher Carey
GREEK AND ROMAN TECHNOLOGY, John Humphrey, John Oleson and Andrew Sherwood
ROMAN ITALY 388 bc – ad 200, Kathryn Lomas
THE ROMAN ARMY 31 bc – ad 337, Brian Campbell
THE ROMAN HOUSEHOLD, Jane F. Gardner and Thomas Wiedemann
ATHENIAN POLITICS, G.R. Stanton
GREEK AND ROMAN SLAVERY, Thomas Wiedemann
Forthcoming:
ANCIENT CITY OF ROME, Christopher Smith, J.C.N. Coulston and Hazel Dodge
WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, Mark Chavalas
GREEK RELIGION, Emma Stafford and Karen Stears
ANCIENT GREECE
Social and Historical Documents from
Archaic Times to the Death of
Alexander the Great
Third Edition
Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
First edition published 1994
Second edition fi rst published 2000
This third edition fi rst published 2010 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 1994, 2000 and 2010 Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-85455-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 10: 0-415-47329-2 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0-415-47330-6 (pbk)
ISBN 10: 0-203-85455-1 (ebk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-47329-3 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-47330-9 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-85455-6 (ebk)
FOR ALL OUR STUDENTS , PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
CONTENTS
List of Tables and Maps xi
Glossary xii
Some useful defi nitions xvi
How to use and cite Ancient Greece xviii
Preface to the third edition xix
Preface to the second edition xx
Preface to the fi rst edition xxi
1 The polis: the Greek city-state 1
The government of the city-state 3
Athens: ‘the violet-crowned city’ 8
The workings of Athenian democracy 13
Rich and poor in Athens 22
Citizenship 26
The less than ideal citizen 29
City-states and their laws 31
Leagues, unions and federations 35
Trade and commerce 38
The grain trade 42
The superstars of the city-state 45
2 Colonisation 48
The Delphic oracle 50
The oikistes 50
Mother-cities and their colonies 52
The Colonisation of the west: Italy and Sicily 53
The Black Sea and Propontis 57
Spartan colonisation 61
The colonisation of Thasos by Paros 63
The Greeks at Cyrene 64
The Greeks in Egypt: traders and mercenaries 68
Greeks and indigenous populations 70
vi
CONTENTS
3 Religion in the Greek world 73
The Olympian religion and its critics 75
Sacrifi ce and public worship 79
Divination: omens and oracles 82
Festivals 86
The Eleusinian Mysteries 89
Asklepios the healer 95
Heroes 97
Sanctuaries and cult regulations 101
Death and funeral practices 102
Women and their religious role 106
Myrrhine, priestess of Athena Nike 109
Personal piety 110
Socrates and the ‘new atheism’ 112
The Greeks and their identity 121
4 Women, sexuality, and the family 123
Sappho of Lesbos 125
Early moralisers and misogynists 126
Spartan women and families 131
The ‘historical’ woman 135
Inscriptional evidence 139
The legal status of women 142
The working woman: at home and abroad 151
Women in Greek drama 155
Homosexuality and pederasty 163
Prostitution 171
Epilogue 178
5 Labour: slaves, serfs and citizens 180
Enslavement and the slave trade 183
Slaves: their occupations and training 186
Slave prices and earnings 188
Slaves in war 190
The legal position of slaves 192
Metics 197
Helots, perioikoi and serfs 201
Citizen labour 204
The dramatic slave 210
6 Sparta 214
Lykourgos ‘the lawgiver’ 216
vii
CONTENTS
The Spartan ethos 219
The Spartan constitution 225
Spartan kingship 228
Aristotle’s criticisms of the constitution 234
Community life in Sparta 237
Spartan foreign affairs 241
The Spartan economy and view of money 247
Kleomenes: the ‘mad’ Spartan king 250
Later views of the Spartans 255
7 Tyrants and tyranny 257
Tyranny at Sicyon: the Orthagorids, 656/5?–556/5? BC 260
Tyranny at Corinth: the Kypselids, c. 658–c. 585 BC 263
Theagenes and tyranny in Megara, c. 640 BC 268
Kylon’s attempted tyranny at Athens 269
Tyranny at Mytilene 271
Polykrates of Samos 273
Polykrates’ patronage of the arts 278
The earlier Sicilian tyrants 279
The fourth-century Sicilian tyrants 282
Sicilian tyrants and the pan-Hellenic games 289
Tyrants and public works 291
Aristotle on tyranny 292
8 The law-givers of Athens: Drakon and Solon 297
Drakon the law-giver 299
Poverty and inequality in Attica before Solon 301
Solon and his background 303
The seisachtheia 305
Solon’s constitutional reforms 308
Solon’s social and judicial legislation 311
Solon on trade and agriculture 312
Solon’s ‘apodemia’ 314
Reactions to Solon’s legislation 315
Solon and tyranny 316
9 Peisistratos and his sons 318
The three ‘parties’ 319
Peisistratos’ fi rst tyranny 320
Peisistratos’ second tyranny 322
Peisistratos in exile 323
Peisistratos returns to power for the third time 324
Peisistratos as tyrant 326
viii
CONTENTS
Peisistratos’ family 327
The reign of the Peisistratidai 329
The tyrants and public works 332
The assassination of Hipparchos 333
The tyranny becomes harsher 335
The overthrow of the tyranny by the Spartans 336
The cult of the tyrannicides 338
Drinking songs in praise of the tyrannicides 339
10 Kleisthenes the reformer 341
Kleisthenes, Isagoras and Kleomenes 342
Tribes, boule and strategia 345
Ostracism 347
Demes and trittyes 352
11 The Persian Wars 356
Darius and the Persians 358
The Ionian Revolt 360
Marathon, 490 BC 363
Xerxes’ campaigns 368
Greece prepares for the attack 369
Thermopylai and Artemision 373
Salamis 376
Plataea 383
12 The Delian League and the Pentekontaetia 391
The origins of the Delian League 393
The aftermath of the Persian Wars 397
Constitutional change in Athens 400
Athenian military campaigns 400
The First Peloponnesian War, 460–445 BC 403
Perikles ‘the Olympian’ 406
The tribute 408
Athenian decrees concerning Athens’ allies 409
13 The Peloponnesian War and its aftermath 413
The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War 416
The Archidamian War, 431–21 BC 418
The tribute in the Peloponnesian War 425
The Sicilian Expedition and its aftermath 433
The fall of Athens 442
Lysander ‘who crowned unsacked Sparta’ 444
The rule of the Thirty Tyrants 446
ix