The Rise of Athens

October 15, 2016
A thick, lively popular history that tells a complex story without dumbing it down or devoting more than a modest effort to distinguishing fact from myth.All ancient histories begin with prehistory, and veteran British historian Everitt (The Rise of Rome: The Making of the World's Greatest Empire, 2012, etc.) describes the Homeric age before 1000 B.C.E. as Greeks themselves viewed it, an ingenious approach that emphasizes the many differences between ancient cultures and modern societies. The heroes of the Iliad were a surly, murderous lot. Lovers of Mary Renault's classic The King Must Die (1958) may not welcome news that Theseus, the mythical founder of Athens, raped any woman that took his fancy. After a dark age, classic Athens emerged around 700 B.C.E., a turbulent city riven by conflicts between the rich and the poor. The vaunted democracy that emerged after 600 B.C.E. inspired America's Founding Fathers but also taught them what to avoid. Every male citizen gathered and voted, so it often resembled mob rule. An aggressive aristocratic class remained, and charismatic leaders became populist dictators. Yet it worked. Athens prospered and dominated other cities for two centuries until it tangled with rival city-state Sparta in 434 B.C.E. and lost. After 400 B.C.E. Athens declined into a more modest town, but its intellectual heritage--Socrates, Plato, Euripides, Aristotle, Archimedes, etc.--carried through its fourth-century conqueror, Macedonia, second-century conqueror, Rome, and, subsequently, the Western world. Though dense with incident, the narrative is highly readable, and the glossary and timeline are helpful additions. Nearly 500 pages of names, plots, betrayals, battles, and murders may be more than some readers want to know about ancient Greece, but Everitt keeps the action moving, making this a worthy alternative to the classic doorstop, Will Durant's The Life of Greece(1939).

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Starred review from November 15, 2016

Everitt (Augustus; The Rise of Rome) has created another engaging, readable, and informative narrative about classical antiquity. This history of Athens begins with the stories of Homer and Theseus, where history and myth provide the framework of early Greek identity. Then Everitt maneuvers into the more reliably documented past of classical Greece, illuminated by Greek historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. The book finishes with the decline of classical Athens and the rise of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. Readers gain an appreciation of the cultural and political differences among the major players in the classical world, including the Athenians, Spartans, and Persians. Everitt explains how democracy grew out of the various political factions in Athens, detailing the struggles between the aristocracy and the people, the reforms of tyrants Solon and Pisistratus, and the enlightenment of the Pericles era. Readers will also discover (or rediscover) the wonder of the Parthenon, the flowering of Athenian direct democracy, and the sophisticated philosophy of Plato, as well as Greek words such as polis and ecclesia. VERDICT Everitt has a gift for making ancient history accessible. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in world history, Western civilization, philosophy, or political science.--Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2016
The author of Cicero (2002) and Augustus (2006) turns his gimlet eye to ancient Athens in this comprehensive look at the influential city-state. Everitt begins by introducing the three major powers in the Mediterranean in the eighth century BC: Athens, named for the Greek goddess of wisdom; militaristic Sparta; and the expansive Persian Empire. Despite both being Hellenic, Athens and Sparta were very different. After years of tyrannical rule, an innovative Athenian named Cleisthenes invented democracy by involving all male citizens in the government by giving them the power to vote. Sparta, on the other hand, looked at children as the property of the state and trained Spartan sons in the art of war. Athens and Sparta were united in their enmity toward the Persians; when King Xerxes invaded Greece in the fifth century BC, the two city-states banded together to mount a defense. Drawing on Herodotus and other primary sources, Everitt relishes recounting the great battles that defined Athenian glory and exploring the intricacies of its government, combining impressive scholarship with involving narration in this invaluable history of a foundational civilization.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)