The Greek World, 479–323 BC by Simon Hornblower (review)

166 BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS "A Critical History" demands a critical review; inevitably more space is given to the flaws than to the strengths. I therefore emphasise that this book repays the reader for his time. Fine's own opinions, when he allows himself to express them, attract thought and respect. He warns firmly against exaggerating the importance of expanding trade and industry in the archaic period (96). Wisely accepting Herodotos he attributes the stories of Alkmaionid treason at Marathon and afterwards to later anti-Periklean propaganda (286-287). He denounces the vulgar belief that one man could have another ostracized, recognising that only the sovereign ekklesia could make the decision (291). His progress through the complexities of the fourth century and the rise of Macedonia is marked by an admirable clarity. I am prepared to recommend this book with enthusiasm to all serious and informed students of ancient Hellas. VANCOUVER COMMUN ITY COLLEGE, LANGARA CAMPUS; UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA MALCOLM F. McGREGOR SIMON HORNBLOWER. The Greek World, 479-323 BC. London & New York, Methuen, 1983. Pp. XI, 354, 4 maps. Cloth, ISBN 0-416-74990-9. Paper, $15.50, ISBN 0-416-75000-1. To expect publishers to be motivated by anything but profit is no longer realistic. The friendly practice of serving up ancient history in chunks is no exception. Six hundred pages of text sell better in two volumes of fifteen dollars than in one of twenty. This is the third series in twenty years, after the Fischer/Weidenfeld and Nicolson/Delacorte world history and the Harvester/Fontana. It will comprise, from archaic Greece to late antiquity, seven volumes (General Editor: Fergus Millar). J. K. Davies (author of Democracy and Classical Greece, 478-336, for Fontana) will be given his turn at writing o ~ Greece; S. Sherwin-White is slated to do the Hellenistic period to 31 Be. We learn from the blurb on the back cover that " our knowledge of the civilizations of Greece and Rome has increased enormously in recent years and this series is designed to provide an up-to-date analysis, within a clear narrative structure, of their evolution from the eighth century BC to the sixth century AD". There is no statement from the General Editor in this first volume of his enterprise. The appearance of the University Paperbacks logo on the cover suggests it is meant as a textbook for university students. I shall limit my remarks to this aspect. The text is broken down into eighteen chapters of between five pages (Corinth) and 34 (Alexander). The notes are bunched together at the back (294-322), an "unsatisfactory arrangement" (315, n.5 on some other book) and doubly unfortunate in a textbook that ought to teach students also the use and usefulness of the footnote. Barely five pages of a somewhat perfunctory "Select critical BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 167 bibliography", in which (as in most of the notes) non-English literature is ignored, thus tragically reaffirming students' belief in the moral superiority of virtuous unHingualism. Finally an Index.! There are also four hand-drawn black-and-white maps. The individual chapters deal with 'Xerxes' legacy"; "Phthonos (envy) and the origin of the Delian League"; a series of more regionally centred, and partly introductory, chapters; by chapter twelve we reach liThe Peloponnesian War"; there follows one on liThe effects of the Peloponnesian War"; standard periodisation to 387/6; 371; 362; finally "Philip", and "Alexander". The Peloponnesian War and Philip receive much less than average space, the Pentekontaetia (here spelt ~~~:~S;rna~~e~~re~f~ndi~~i~e;e~~I~der~I:?~~~rs::v~~er:~~. ~I~~~~~:~ with other more general works, the numer of pages relative to the length of time covered is average. z Refreshingly little printer's ink is spilt in battles and wars (e.g., just 26 pages on the Peloponnesian War, to a large extent on diplomacy, politics, etc.; on Alexander and the Ammon oracle there are more than two pages of detailed discussion while the battle of the Granikos is dispatched in less than one page) and social, economic, intellectual and other developments receive their dues. The book is written in a clear, lively, often entertaining and never dull...