The Greek World After Alexander 323-30 BC (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) [Hardcover]

Graham Shipley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0415046173 | ISBN-13: 978-0415046176 | Edition: 1

The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC examines social changes in the old and new cities of the Greek world and in the new post-Alexandrian kingdoms.

An appraisal of the momentous military and political changes after the era of Alexander, this book considers developments in literature, religion, philosophy, and science, and establishes how far they are presented as radical departures from the culture of Classical Greece or were continuous developments from it.

Graham Shipley explores the culture of the Hellenistic world in the context of the social divisions between an educated elite and a general population at once more mobile and less involved in the political life of the Greek city.

Editorial Reviews

Review

the seventh volume to appear in Routledge 'History of the Ancient World' series is clearly and sensibly written, has an excellent and original selection of tables, maps, diagrams, and photographs, and provides and thorough, reliable, and up-to-date introduction to key topics.--Zofia H. Archibald, University of Liverpool.
...a good survey of political, socioeconomic, intellectual, and cultural developments....
–Choice

About the Author

Among Graham Shipley's previous works are War and Society in the Greek World, War and Society in the Roman World (both co-edited with John Rich) and A History of Samos. He is currently Professor of Ancient History at the University of Leicester.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 600 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (February 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415046173
• ISBN-13: 978-0415046176
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,289,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In-depth on Hellenistic history, not a good intro, however, November 17, 2003

By 

Fazal Majid (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greek World After Alexander 323-30 BC (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

I got this book from the remainders section at my local bookstore. It illuminates a neglected period of ancient history, that is often seen as a period of decline, even though it produced some of the pinnacles of Greek thought like Euclid.

Shipley writes for a scholarly audience, and it shows. The book's exposition is somewhat muddled and does not follow a progressive plan. For instance, many references are made to the role of Pergamon early in the book, and explained only far later in the (relatively short) chapter on the Seleukids and Pergamon. The maps are interspersed seemingly at random with the text, and none of them shows the boundaries or zones of influence of the competing hellenistic kingdoms. Making the most of this book will require at least two readings.

As such, I don't recommend this book as a first introduction to the subject, as there is a tendency to lose track of the forest for the tree. It is excellent for its in-depth survey of the field, and its highly annotated bibliographic references (as befits a scholarly work).

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Introduction to the Hellenistic World, September 25, 2000

By 

Saberwal (BOMBAY ,INDIA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greek World After Alexander 323-30 BC (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

Graham Shipley has written an excellent book for students and others encountering the Hellenistic age (the three tumultous centures between Alexander's death and Octavian's victory at Actium) for the first time. Broadly there are two ways of looking at the history of Eastern mediterranean in this period. One is the `degeneration' framework which sees this period in general terms as a sad falling-off from the classical apogee of Greek achievement. The other is that which sees this as a period of rapid change when the civilization of near east and western mediterranean were drawn together through the rubric provided by the Hellenistic culture.This book falls firmly in the second group. An important aspect is that this book eschews the functionalist approach. Indeed the author warns through out against anachronisms and retrojecting analysis derived from the experience of modern capitalism, Imperialisam or christian descourse to understand the period. The book opens with a chapter revewing the approaches and sources and next traces Alexander and his successors to 276 BCE. The next chapter is a important one on kings and cities and examines the consequeness of the political changes of the period 338 - 276 for the old city states and details the ways which Cities and Kings found of co existing. It questions the received wisdom that the polis met its end at Chaironeia in 338 and shows how the Ptolemaic and Antigouid power relied on keeping cities contented. There are chapters on Macedonia and Greece, the Seleukid Kindom and Pergamon and Ptolemaic Egypt. These are comprehensive and the chapter on Ptolemaic Egypt draws a lot on papyrological evidence and re examines the conclusions reached by conventional wisdom on Ptolemaic Egypt viz that it had a highly interventionist administration or had a very bereaucratic and rational state economy . It also guards against temptations to interpret difficulties in late Ptolemaic Egypt in context of reinterpretation of 20th Century empire by Said and others as a result of `native resistance'. Other chapters are on religion and philosophy, literature and social identity and on Greek 'Science' after Aristotle. The book concludes with the coming of the colossus of north - Rome. The book has large number of maps and line diagrams and the text is supported by copious amount of notes and bibliography (150 pages to 400 of text) Overall the approach is refreshingly non-judgemental and allows the diversity of cultures, social forms, and landscapes to emerge. The important topic of Religion and Philosophy though is very summarily treated but that is a minor quibble. It's other competitiors in this field viz Peter Greens `Alexander to Actium - The historical evolution of the Hellenustic Age' falls firmly in the `degenerate' camp and doesn't take into account the recent scholarship. The `Hellenstic World' by F.W. Walbank is dated. All in all this book will be a standard introduction to the Hellenistic Age for quite some time to come.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good job, shipley!, November 4, 2006

By 

EKML - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Greek World After Alexander 323-30 BC (The Routledge History of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

while the market is full of excellent treatments of archaic and classical greek history, hellenistic history has been a difficult and hairy part of history, at least from a scholarly point of view. treatments like f. w. walbank's "the hellenistic world" have attempted to map the history of the eastern mediterranean from the death of alexander the great in 323 BC to the battle of actium, but not until shipley's "the greek world 323-30 BC" has this been fully realized. hellenistic history has traditionally dealt with concubines, consorts, murders, incest and conspiracies. shipley's treatment illustrates with great clarity that the hellenistic period was not a soap opera at all.

this volume is of fundamental importance to any student of hellenistic history. it is both in-depth and easy-going. both a more advanced student and a beginner will benefit from reading this book, and I recommend it whole-heartedly. the chapters on ptolemaic egypt and the seleucid empire are particularly good. good job, shipley!