Customer Reviews

Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (Hellenistic Culture & Society)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is one of the very finest works of history I have ever read. It is not only a ground-breaking piece of research and historical synthesis, but it is a terrific pleasure to read. Green is an eloquent and graceful writer, whose text is further enlivened by his dry English wit and acute moral judgments. Even more remarkably, Green appears to be equally at home in writing about political history, literature, science, mathematics, philosophy, and art history. The range and diversity of his research is astonishing, and the footnotes will suggest to you many interesting avenues for further reading on those topics that fascinate you the most. Finally, the hardcover edition is quite simply one of the most beautiful examples of the bookmaker's art to emerge from an American publisher in a long, long time. The text is lavishly illustrated with a profusion of maps, art works, and strikingly revealing coin portraits of dozens of Hellenistic rulers. It will take you a while to work your way through this book, but you'll enjoy every minute of it -- and you'll regret it when you get to the end. I can't wait to come back and read it again a few years down the road.

I was a student of Green's Greek Civilization 3-semester sequence at the University of Texas. This work is clearly related to his lecture style and thorough style of documentation.

One comment by the other readers concerns me. In my view, based on my background in the sciences and his own comments, Green is, above all, a scientist, believing that every item in historical analysis is subject to criticism and refutation. There's little in this text (and it IS a text--not casual reading) that suggests it is in any way "subjective." He was also, in my mind, a great teacher, providing a last gasp of academic brilliance into what's become a polytechnic degree mill.

Green is a master of the discipline, and this tome represents a lifetime of work. I doubt if it's meant to be "enjoyed." It is meant to be read and to be understood, and hopefully to serve as a reference for further investigation.

He's certainly written other books that are far more succinct and accessible. This one is for true students of Hellenistic Greece.

I would highly recommend this book to any student of the Hellenism, or antiquities. Mr. Green writes engagingly. While parading you the history of the period, he displays a simply astonishing depth of knowledge of the culture, science, techne, and customs of the period. At the same time, he engages you into debate with his opinions and observations. He is never reluctant to take a clever if somewhat sarcastic posture on any issue. This is part of the charm of the book.

My only question is would he be as critical of our mainstream culture as he is of the Greeks in the Hellenistic period. Would he be as critical of Thomas Aquinas's "long perspective gambit" as he is of the Stoic's? Would he criticize Buddha's teaching of the "connectedness of all things," as he does the Stoic's? My guess is that we would thrill in "slicing and dicing" them as well, although it comes closer to home for us all.

When you read this book, note chapter 11 "Critic as Poet." Peter Green's daimon is Callimachus of Alexandria: clever, sharply witty, and extremely familiar with his material.

Having known very little about the Hellenistic period beyond what I picked up from Will Durant (who I still love, in spite of his ill repute among professional historians), I must say Mr. Green has pretty much filled in all the gaps with his exhaustive history. Yes, you have to battle your way through a host of historical figures and the innumerable power plays of the post-Alexander disentegration. And yes, I needed to pull out my dictionary on occasion. (Although my Webster's New World Dictionary doesn't include 'protreptics'.) Also, Mr. Green is way too fond of certain words and phrases, such as 'inter alia' and (especially) 'banausic'. But these are very minor complaints from a non-scholar. Frankly, I wish I knew this much. Had this much culture. Mr. Green is as familiar with modern poetry as with the ancient classics, and often draws comparisons. This is history as I like it: opinionated. Not biased, however. There's a difference. Mr. Green tells you in detail about the Cynics and Epicureans, and then follows that with his opinion. But you are given plenty of information with which to make up your own mind. (I get the impression he doesn't think much of the Cynics, thinks a little better of Epicurus, and thinks even better of the Stoics, though with major reservations.) I don't know if Mr. Green has a 'circular' view of history, but this is the kind of book that (for me at least) reinforces that view. Plus ça change... This isn't the easiest of books to read, especially when wading through the names of so many unfamiliar characters. But stick with it. Your brain will feel better in the end. A most excellent volume.

This is a wonderful overview of Hellenism and the effects of Greek culture on the Mediterranean after Alexander the Great. It's enlivened by Dr. Green's witty prose and intelligent opinions. Anyone who enjoys reading about history and culture should have this book on their shelves.

This book is indeed 'magisterial'. Over 945 pages long, thoroughly annotated, and heavy enough to use as a weapon.

It covers the period of time referred to as 'Hellenic'; When the Greeks finally had it with the burden of freedom. After Alexander forced his troops to kneel to him in worship, murdered his closest asociates, and subsequently dropped dead himself.

Alongside palace murders and dynastic wars, Green gives us a detailed account of a Greek-centered world after the suicide of Greek liberty, integrity and brilliance. Such are the pitfalls of conquering the world. A geographical expansion concurrent with a contraction of genius.

Now, everybody and his cousin is Hellenized. It's the in thing to be since Alexander's generals have become kings in their own right. They may lack his courage and military genius but not his megalomania, tyranny or paranoia. And their princely offspring are generally inclined to be either half-witted or even more vicious.

No matter how much history may have romanticized Themistocles, Pericles, Socrates, and the rest of the boys in the previous 'golden age,' the Hellenic period is such a fall from grace that the reader can hardly wait for a sane and efficiently corrupt Rome to wipe them out in the final chapters.

Green's style may be too breezy and ironic for some readers who prefer their scholarly works dry.

As an example, Green mentions that Cleopatra respected Caesar while Mark Antony "nearly drove her nuts."

Above all, it's in the area of philosophy that Green show his most original or, to some, annoyingly cute writing.

Philosophy, far from being a rarified persuit of academics, is the central spirit of the culture and times. And the times were tough.

This is why Cynics, who would normally be considered parasites or simply nuts, flourished and why Skeptics often brought men toward rather than away from religion. After all, if nothing can be proven with certainty, why not go for the afterlife with gusto?

For those of us who are inclined to think of Stoics as heroes or of Epicureans as noble, Green rounds out the portrait unflatteringly.

Epicurus was, according to Green, a cult leader who was able to live placidly in his 'garden' thanks to the generous donations of rich dilettantes. Working for a living does not enter into his philosophy. A dogmatist who shunned debate and anathematized all 'heretics' in his polemics, he was probably suffering from bulemia. Hence, his constant emphasis on avoiding pain as the greatest of virtues.

In this 'monastic life' his followers engaged in friendly conversation trying to convince themselves that all careers were uselesss and death was not such a big deal.

Stoicism also takes a beating. We're told it was a pop philosophy, logically suspect in its premises, a consolation for a once free people who were now politically powerless.

Stoics became vastly more influential than Epicureans, not because their message was more profound than, 'Gather your rosebuds while ye may,' but because it provided a cosmological support to astrology, an increasingly popular fad among the powerless as well as an incentive to the ambitious that they were fulfilling the destiny of the living universe as they strove for their goals by hook or by crook.

Therefore, it could be all things to all people, producing such unlikely bedfellows as Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca.

Bottom line? For anyone intersted in the Hellenic period, this is THE book.

Peter Green's volume is, I will admit one of my favorite books. While I do not agree with all of his interpretations, I have never seen a single volume that has dealt with such a vast subject so well. I am deeply envious of his command of the source material and bow to him. This is, however, not a book for casual reading. It is for the interested amature. It helps if you are familiar with the basic narative history, although it is presented in the work as well. This book does for the Hellenistic world what A.H.M. Jones two volumes did for the later Roman Empire.

This is and likely will be the standard work on the Hellenistic Age for some time. It is a very well written book that covers nearly every aspect of an age that has more than its share of problems in trying to reconstruct. The book is huge, and when attempting to read it cover to cover many will think there is too much information inside. Professor Green is one of the better authors on ancient Greek history because he writes his books very objectively. That is no different here, as he does not try to gloss over the details of some of the less savory issues of this time, such as the incest prevalent in the court of Ptolemaic Egypt, in an effort to try to make Hellenistic society "ideal". Highly recommended for anyone looking to read a very detailed and very balanced account of the Greek world after Alexander.

If you are interested in the Hellenistic Era, this ONE book has it all. Theres actually 3 books in this one. Each era is startlingly new, with entire 200 page units with headings like "Alexander's Funeral Games", which details the opening decades of the period. And than, Green spends chapters talking about Intellectual, Scientific and Cultural developments of each period. As Rome enters, everything changed, first as intervention in "Phalanx and Legion", and than full scale conquest and the Fall of Hellenistic Empires in "The Breaking of Nations". Again, the philosophy, art, and literature chapters are mixed in when Green talks of each era, self contained within the larger picture that the book is all about. It can be skipped around, but eventually, your curiosity will find you finishing every chapter.
This is of course, a book for you if your into Classical or Roman history, you probably have a gaping hole in your knowledge base about what happened after Alexander and before Ceasar in Greece and the Middle East. For me, this book has made the Hellenistic era and Middle and Late Roman Republic a particular fascination for me. Too bad there isn't more books like this out there. Maybe if Victor Davis Hanson got off the ridiculously right wing rant circuit, and sat down and wrote another good military history book that starts where his other stuff ends, The Peloponesian War. Hanson's last book on Greek Warfare in the Smithsonian history of warfare series ended with fantastically cynical view on Alexander's Conquests and the Hellenistic War that was so good, it reminded me of Green at his best when he was writing the cynical Alexander the Great Biography book we've all read. If you haven't read Green's Alexander bio, please do so immediately, its like a required pre-req if your going to go full blast into this book, A 1000 page Hellenistic age book. Definitely, before you decide to read this book, read Peter Green's other work.
I notice a few Slavic Macedonians who probably didn't read this book are giving it bad ratings because they believe Macedonia and Alexander wasn't Greek. Well, he certainly wasn't Slavic either, but there's a modern attempt from F.Y.R.O.M. to claim Alexander as their own. If you believe that school of thought, you also have to deny all the extant sources which were written by Romans and inform us he had Aristotle as a tutor and read Illiad religiously, while the dynasty that ended with the death of his siblings and heirs kept claiming kinship with Argos' royal family. Also your going to have to ignore the fact that the Hellenistic Era is essentially the spread of Greek through Alexander's conquests. Not only do we have absolutely no written "Macedonian" language during this era, but Greek is the language of Hellenistic literature, Science, philosophy from Antioch to Alexandria and Seluecia. If Macedonia had any non-Greekness to it, Alexander is the point at which that dissipates. The fact that Greeks referred to Macedonians as Barbarians notwithstanding, that kind of talk would have gotten a Greek person killed in the Antigonid, Seluecid, Ptolemaic kingdoms with their dynasties originating from Macedonian lieutenants of Alexander.
Its important to realize how much Greeks resented losing their freedom to Macedonian dynasties, which is why we have so much less extant sources for this fascinating period: The Greeks themselves thought of this period as a bad time compared to the glory days of the 400's BC when each Greek Polis decided its own affairs without being pawns of the 3 empires. And than of course, pawns and than subjects of Rome.

From Alexander to Actium is in many ways a remarkable book. It is normal for historians to fall in love with their time and to present their subject as important or of particualar worth. This book is unusual in that the writer is aware of the weaknesses of Greek Culture in the successor kingdoms. The fact that manual work and commerce were frowned upon, the lack of development of science, the represive nature of the Greek Monarchies and the lack of any conception of government being for the broad welfare of the subjects. Yet at the same time he has an interest in his subject which makes the book readable and ineresting.

Tom Munro