Ancient Greece

Greece: History and Treasures of
an Ancient Civilization

This beautiful book about ancient Greece is published by the Italian publisher White Star, which specializes in picture books in large format. It is a volume in the series “History and Treasures of an Ancient Civilization.”

The text is written by Stefano Maggi, who is a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Pavia. The English translation is done by Catherine Bolton.

The book begins with an introduction and a chronological survey accompanied by a map of the eastern half of the Mediterranean Sea. The main text is divided into five chapters. Here are the headlines:

      1 – The Origins

      2 – The Archaic Period

      3 – The Classical Period

      4 – The Fourth Century

      5 – Hellenism

At the end of the book we find a conclusion (“The Legacy of Greece”), an index, a bibliography and photo credits.

The text is illustrated by numerous illustrations. All photos are in colour. The size is large and the quality is high.

This book covers several aspects of ancient Greece: history, archaeology and culture as well as art and architecture. The geographical scope is not just Greece, but also cities founded by Greek pioneers in foreign lands, mostly located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This network of cities in the Greek “diaspora” is known by the Latin term “Magna Graecia.”

I like this book, but I have to mention two things which bother me:

(1) The map on pp. 14-15: according to this map, Cyrene is located on the coast of North Africa. But this city is located inland, ca. 20 km from the coast. Incidentally, Cyrene is not mentioned in the text.

Greek pioneers also founded several cities in the western half of the Mediterranean Sea, for instance Massilia (modern Marseilles in present-day France) and Emporion (in Spanish: Ampurias, in Catalan: Empúries). But the map does not show the western half of the Mediterranean Sea, and Massilia and Emporion are not mentioned in the text.

(2) The (very short) bibliography on page 206: in the section about “General References” we find the Italian translation of a book by the famous American and British scholar Moses I. Finley (1912-1986). Why list an Italian translation? In an English book, I expect to find the original English version of his book: The Use and Abuse of History (hardcover 1975, paperback 1986 & 2000).

In the section about “History” we find the Italian translation of another book by Finley. Again I have to ask: why list an Italian translation here? In an English book, I expect to find the original English version of his book: Democracy: Ancient and Modern (hardcover 1973, paperback 1985).

In the section about “Art History” there are only four books, two in Italian, one in German, and only one in English.

The list is not exactly up-to-date: the most recent book was published in 1989.

The following book by Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan & Jennifer T. Roberts could and should have been included in the bibliography: Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History (hardcover 1998, paperback 2000 & 2007).

The following book by Stefania Ratto was probably published too late to be included in the bibliography: Greece (Dictionaries of Civilization) (University of California Press, 2008).

In spite of these flaws I like this book. Here are some of the interesting places and monuments which are covered and shown in his book:

* In Athens: the Acropolis, which includes the Parthenon temple and other impressive monuments, pp. 2-3 and 109-113.

* In Delphi: the famous bronze statue of the charioteer, pp. 87. The sanctuary of Delphi is covered on pp. 130-133.

* In Mycenae: the Tomb of Aigistos and the Lion Gate. The Mycenaean civilization is covered on pp. 40-53.

* In Epidauros: the sanctuary of Asclepius or Aesculapios, which includes a large theatre, pp. 138-139.

* On the island of Crete: the partially reconstructed palace at Knossos. The Minoan civilization is covered on pp. 24-39.

* The famous statue from ca. 120 BC, which portrays the goddess of love – known as Venus or Aphrodite - was discovered on the island of Melos or Milo in 1820. Today it is placed in the Louvre in Paris, pp. 188-189.

* The famous naval monument from ca. 190 BC, which portrays the goddess of victory, known as Nike, was discovered on the island of Samothrace in 1863. Today it is placed in the Louvre in Paris, p. 9.

* In the south of Italy: the ancient city Paestum or Poseidonia, which includes several large temples, pp. 104-105.

* On the southern coast of Sicily: the ancient city Selinunte or Selinus, which includes the huge monument known today as Temple E, pp. 98-99.

* On the southern coast of Sicily: the ancient city Agrigentum, which includes the temple of Concord (from ca. 440 BC) - one of the best-preserved examples of Doric architecture in Magna Graecia, pp. 16-17 and 102-103.

* In the western part of modern Turkey: the ancient city Priene, which is an excellent example of urban planning according to the ideas laid down by Hippodamus of Miletus, pp. 150-151.

* In the western part of modern Turkey: the ancient city Pergamon, pp. 196-197. The Pergamon altar dedicated to Zeus was excavated by a German team in the 19th century. Today it is placed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, p. 192.

* The so-called Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great was discovered in 1887 in the royal necropolis of Sidon in modern Lebanon. Today it is placed in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul, pp. 164-165 and 186-187.

This book has some flaws, as I have explained above, but it is a beautiful book, and the flaws are only minor. Therefore I believe it deserves a rating of five stars.

* * *

 

Stefano Maggi,

Greece: History and Treasures of an Ancient Civilization,

White Star Books, 2007, 208 pages

 

* * *