A History Of Greece

British Academy Review, issue 19, 2012

This work is an attempt to transfer into written form short lectures normally given in places of historical interest – churches, museums, archaeological sites – or, in the open, where important events took place in the past. It is the result of requests from interested and curious listeners to these talks to be able to take away with them a written record of what was said so as to have the chance of looking at it again later, when they had returned home and been able to think over the experiences gained from the trip, in conjunction with photographs taken. The immediacy of a spoken account on the site of a monument, or in a historically significant place with a beautiful view, cannot of course be translated faithfully onto paper or the computer screen. But the writer hopes that such losses are balanced by the additional information and views which the spoken form precludes but a written version can contain.

This first-year course of 3 contact hours per week explores the fascinating political history of ancient Greece from 1200 to 300 BC. The Rise of Ancient Greece: Greek History to the Fourth Century BC focusses on the rise of the Greek city-states in the archaic period, their creation of political institutions, their formation of multilateral military alliances, and their wars among themselves and against the Persian empire. It considers all the major conflicts of the eastern Mediterranean during the late archaic and classical periods as well as what impact different political systems had on the warmaking of the Greek and Persian belligerents. The Rise of Ancient Greece: Greek History to the Fourth Century BC also explores the rich society and culture of the Greeks in classical times. It explores in detail the place of women in classical Athens and classical Sparta as well the invention of Greek theatre. The Rise of Ancient Greece: Greek History to the Fourth Century BC studies major literary genres that the ancient Greeks invented as well as important aspects of ancient Greek art. The course trains students in standard methods of Ancient History and helps them to become excellent writers of their own historical research.

Social History

Special issue guest edited by Dimitris Eleftheriotis (Glasgow), Dimitris Papanikolaou (Oxford) and Lydia Papadimitriou (LJMU), 2012

Tabula

The article explores the impact of Byzantines on Istrian Humanism and Renaissance. In the introduction author describes the alienation of the territories which used to be Eastern and Western part of the Roman Empire and, congruently, the fate of the classical (particularly Greek) heritage in the Dark and Middle Ages in those territories. This is followed by a description of the historical events that led to rapprochement of the East and West, with particular emphasis on the Byzantine exodus to Italy. The author then provides a methodological framework by analyzing the main aspects of „rediscovering” Greek cultural heritage and the influence of the Byzantine immigrants on them. The author than turns to Istria, providing, first, a short summary of Istrian contacts with the Greek cultural heritage throughout history and then the settlement of the Byzantines in Istria. The main part of the article follows, containing a detailed analysis of the described elements of „rediscovering” Greek...