Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece, Updated Edition (Facts on File Library of World History)

529 Pages·2005·11.17 MB·English

by  Lesley Adkins

HANDBOOK
TO LIFE
IN ANCIENT GREECE
Updated Edition
LESLEY ADKINS AND ROY A. ADKINS
This book is dedicated to Ralph Jackson.
Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece, Updated Edition
Copyright © 2005, 1995 by Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adkins, Lesley
Handbook to life in ancient Greece / Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins.—Updated ed.
p. cm.
Originally published: New York: Facts On File, 1997.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-5659-5
1. Greece—Civilization. I. Adkins, Roy (Roy A.) II. Title.
DF77.A35 2005
938—dc22 2004047105
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C
ONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi Sieges 125
Trophies 126
INTRODUCTION vii Navies 126
Reading 132
LIST OF MAPS ix
4 GEOGRAPHY OF THE
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
GREEK WORLD 135
LIST OF TABLES xiii Landscape 136
City-States and Colonies 138
1 CIVILIZATIONS, CITY-STATES Regions and Alliances 141
AND EMPIRES 1 Place-Names 171
Brief History 2 Reading 182
Table of Events 15
Population 27 5 ECONOMY,TRADE AND
Government 30 TRANSPORT 185
Law 37 Economy and Industry 186
Reading 40 Trade of Goods 198
Commerce 203
2 RULERS AND LEADERS 43 Travel and Transport 211
Biographies 44 Reading 218
Lists of Rulers 88
Reading 90 6 TOWNS AND COUNTRYSIDE 221
Towns and Their Planning 222
3 MILITARY AFFAIRS 93 Palaces 226
Armies 94 Rural Settlements 228
Soldiers 99 Town Buildings and Structures 230
Training 104 Architecture and Architects 241
Battle Tactics 105 Building Techniques 245
Weapons and Equipment 108 Interiors and Exteriors 252
Fortifications 120 Reading 254
7 WRITTEN EVIDENCE 257 9 ART, SCIENCE AND
Greek Language 258 PHILOSOPHY 391
Writing 261 Art 392
Books 268 Artists and Architects: Biographies 412
Inscriptions 269 Philosophy 417
Personal Names 274 Science 422
Education 275 Philosophers and Scientists:
Literature 276 Biographies 427
Music and Dance 286 Reading 436
Authors 287
Reading 306 10 EVERYDAY LIFE 439
Calendar 440
8 RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 309 The Family 442
Chronology and Development 310 Slaves 446
Gods and Goddesses 311 Food and Drink 448
Priesthoods 362 Personal Appearance 449
Sacred Places 364 Entertainment 454
Religious Observance 370 Death and Afterlife 457
Festivals 376 Reading 464
Oriental and Mystery Religions 383
Magic and Superstition 386 BIBLIOGRAPHY 467
Ritual Artifacts 387
Reading 388 INDEX 481
“The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set.”
—Byron, Don Juan
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to thank Stephen Minnitt and the published sources that we have consulted.
RobertBoulton (Somerset County Museums Finally, we would like to thank our editors, Hilary
Service) for help in obtaining photographs, and the Poole, Elizabeth Oakes, and Jeffrey Golick, for their
staff of Jessops in Taunton, Somerset, for advice on work and patience.
photographic problems. We would also like to express We are grateful to Facts On File for inviting us to
our thanks to the libraries of the University of Bris- revise this book and would like to thank especially
tol and the Society of Antiquaries of London, and to Claudia Schaab and Sara Hov. We would also like to
the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Soci- thank Hilite Reprographics for their work on the
eties. We are of course indebted to all the authors of new illustrations.
HANDBOOK TO LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE
vi
I
NTRODUCTION
The Greek period lasted for three millennia, We have therefore tried to select the most important
from the beginning of the Minoan civilization aspects of both disciplines. No attempt has been
in Bronze Age Greece (around 3000 BC) until the made to separate historical from archaeological ele-
Romans took control of the last of the Greek territo- ments in the text, and so there are no specific chapters
ries (around 30 BC). During this time the cultures of devoted solely to archaeological evidence or artifacts.
the Minoans and the Mycenaeans developed and dis- Often a particular topic can be viewed in more
appeared, and Greece passed through an anarchic than one way, so it may be covered in more than one
Dark Age to emerge as a collection of city-states and section. For example, pottery can be considered as a
colonies that werefleetingly merged into the Empire container,as part of a manufacturing process, or as a
of Alexander the Great. The breakup of his Empire work of art. Wherethis occurs, repetition of infor-
into smaller Hellenistic states achieved a kind of mation has been kept to a minimum. The reader
equilibrium that, in some areas, continued well into should make full use of the index to find all refer-
the Roman period. ences to a particular subject and also the meanings of
The Roman conquest stripped Greece of its her- particular words. Inevitably, there is room to do no
itage. Works of art were removed, and skilled arti- more than summarize the various topics, but we have
sans and trained professionals served the Roman tried to provide further references for readers wish-
Empire, leaving Greece a backwater for the next ing to know moreabout any subject. In addition to
2,000 years. Paradoxically, this dispersion of culture technical, historical and archaeological terms, we
undoubtedly led to the high achievements in Greek have also tried to give the meaning of those Greek
art, architectureand philosophical thought having an words and phrases more commonly encountered in
enormous and lasting influence on the development other works on the subject.
of Western culture. Place-names areusually in English, except where
The aim of this book is to present information convention prefers the Greek (transliterated) or
relating to Greek history from the Minoan period to where no English equivalent exists. Where the
the Roman conquest. The chapters are organized names of moderncountries are used, only the names
thematically rather than chronologically,in order to of properly defined territories at the time of writing
give readers easier access to particular topics. By con- have been used. Standard U.S. measurements are
sulting the extensive index, the book can also be used given, with metric equivalents in parentheses. Pre-
as a dictionary. All too often, archaeological and his- cise dates are given wherever possible, but at times
torical evidence areused in isolation from each other. only approximate dates are known. A date written as
INTRODUCTION
vii
c. 360 BCmeans approximately (circa) 360 BC.One Perikles becomes Pericles, Epeiros becomes Epirus
written as c. 360–c. 250 BCmeans approximately 360 and Mykenai becomes Mycenae. The Greek translit-
BCtoapproximately 250 BC.Written as c. 360–250 BC, erated version is given in italics, usually with khrather
it means approximately 360 BCto precisely 250 BC; than chand knot c.So for archon, the ancient Greek
and 360–250 BCmeans precisely 360 BCto precisely version will be presented as arkhon. The Greek
250BC.Adate such as 120/118 BCmeans either 120 upsilon can be transliterated as yor u.
BCor 118 BC. No attempt is made in this book to differentiate
Many people nowadays prefer BCE(Before Com- between the long and short vowels eand o(eta and
mon Era) to BC,but the traditional term BCis used epsilon, and omega and omicron). In some cases the
here, with no religious significance whatsoever. modern Greek words or the Anglicized forms are
used, such as “Athens,” “Lesbos” and “Cos.” What
has been chosen in this book is the termthat is likely
Transliteration of Names to be most familiar to the reader. There is no agree-
ment between scholars on how Greek terms should
and Words
be presented to a modern audience.
The transliteration of Greek names and words from
the Greek alphabet is a problematic area, because Updated Edition
people invariably have preferences. Many words are
more familiar today in a Latinized or Anglicized At the invitation of Facts On File, the opportunity
form, while others are more familiar in their original has been taken to revise and expand this Greek hand-
Greek form. Furthermore, there were differences in book. We have concentrated by and large on the lit-
names even amongst the Greeks. The least familiar erature published since we first wrote the book, as we
method of presenting names and words is direct believe that directing the reader—especially stu-
transliteration, such as Aiskhylos, Kleon, Lysandros, dents—to far more detailed sources is of particular
Perikles, Epeiros, Mykenai. The Romans transliter- value. Our purpose has always been to provide acces-
ated words by using c for kappa, ch for chi, ae for sible information, simply stating the known facts and
alpha iota, oefor omicron iota, ufor omicron upsilon, giving the terminology and dates, while leaving
yfor upsilon, -usfor an -osending, and -derfor a -dros interpretation for others to expand. We have con-
ending. centrated especially on areas such as social life, like
Generally,the Roman spelling is followed in this the role of women, health and medicine, and homo-
book. Consequently, Aiskhylos becomes Aeschylus, sexuality, as these are areas that have received most
Kleon becomes Cleon, Lysandros becomes Lysander, attention from recent scholars.
HANDBOOK TO LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE
viii
L M
IST OF APS
Territory of the Successors of Alexander Regions of Asia Minor 145
the Great in 303 BC 13 Athens and its main monuments 147
Hellenistic empires of c. 240 BC 14 Map of Sparta 157
The Hellenistic world c. 185 BC 15 Place-names of southern and central Greece 165
Hellenistic territoryc. 90 BC 16 Place-names of central and northernGreece
Alexander the Great’s conquest of the East 48 and southern Albania 166
The Long Walls between Athens and Piraeus 123 Main place-names of Asia Minor
Greek world from Spain to Egypt and Asia and Cyprus 167
Minor 137 Place-names of Sicily and Magna Graecia 168
Regions of the Hellenistic Greek world 138 Place-names of Crete 168
Early Greek colonization 140 Place-names of Egypt, Syria and Cyprus 169
Major states and islands of Greece 142 Some major place-names in the Greek world 170
L I
IST OF LLUSTRATIONS
Early settlement at Khirokitia in Cyprus 2 Philip II, assassinated in 336 BCat Aegae 11
The eruption of the volcano at Thera 3 Simplified plan of: a) old bouleuterion
The Late Bronze Age site at Mycenae, Greece 4 (subsequently became the metroon); b) new
Cyclopean masonryoutside the Lion Gate bouleuterion; and c) tholos, situated on the
at Mycenae 5 west side of the agora at Athens 34
The Troy VI East Gate of c. 1500 BCand Ostraka (potsherds) found in the agora
the sloping city walls 6 at Athens 36
Silver tetradrachm of Athens of c. 450 BC, Head of Alexander the Great 47
obverse side with Athena wearing a helmet 7 ARoman bust of Aspasia 55
Abronze serpent column made from booty Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion 59
was set up at Delphi. 8 The pass of Thermopylae 67
The pedestal of the serpent column 8 Miltiades, at the battle of Marathon (490 BC) 69
Grave stele of a young cavalryman portrayed Partof the Serpent Column commemorating
asavictorious warrior 10 the battle of Plataea (479 BC) 71
LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
ix