Ancient Greece :
A History in Eleven Cities

Paul Cartledge

Oxford University Press (176p)
ISBN 978-0-19-923338-0

 The author, a professor of Greek culture at the University of Cambridge, has created an intriguing overview of Greek history by providing synopses of 11 key city-states, each representing a different facet of Greek life and culture. Beginning with the earliest example of the successful polis, proto-Greek Knossos on the island of Crete, and continuing through the near-mythical city of Mycenae, and through to the rise of laconic Sparta, it is easy to trace the development of Greek civilization. Classical Greece is examined in the descriptions of Athens, Syracuse, and Thebes. The description of Hellenic Alexandria is symbolic of the transition of the classical period into the Hellenistic age. A final discussion of the polis of Byzantion notes the decline of city-state independence. Other than labeling Athens, Georgia, as that American state's capital in comments on the proliferation of Greek city names throughout the world, errors are few. (Editor's note: The capital of Georgia is actually Atlanta, which is still Greek since it's a variant of the Greek word, Atalanta).