Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day (Traveling on 5) [Paperback]

Philip Matyszak (Author)

Book Description

Series: Traveling on 5 | Publication Date: October 17, 2008

A time-traveler's guide to sightseeing, shopping, and survival in the city of gods and geniuses.

Welcome to Athens in 431 BC! This entertaining guide provides all the information a tourist needs for a journey back in time to ancient Athens at its pinnacle of greatness more than 2000 years ago. Travel via Thermopylae, the Oracle at Delphi, and the site of the epic Battle of Marathon to the city of Athena, goddess of wisdom. Meet Socrates, Thucydides, Phidias, and others who are among the greatest philosophers, writers, and artists who ever lived. Encounter ordinary Athenians in the marketplace and at the theater and learn the true character of one of the most extraordinary cities of any age.

Of course, ancient Athens was not all art, intellect, and politics. This well-researched yet irreverently unacademic guide also plunges gleefully into the hedonistic side of Athenian life with wine-sodden symposiums, brothels, and brawls, advising the reader to avoid slatternly prostitutes and inns where the beds are infested with bugs, and warning that both torches and an escort are needed to avoid muggers after an evening on the town.

Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day takes you through the raucous city crowds to the serene heights of the Parthenon and evokes the wonder of a city where the monuments and ideas that form the bedrock of Western culture are as fresh and new as the garlands of flowers on Athena's altar. 40 illustrations, 12 in color

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Matyszak has a doctorate in Roman history from St. John’s College, Oxford. His books include Legionary, Gladiator, Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day, Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day, The Classical Compendium, Chronicle of the Roman Republic, and The Greek and Roman Myths. He lives in British Columbia, Canada.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (October 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500287651
• ISBN-13: 978-0500287651
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fun gem from Maty, December 6, 2008

By 

J. Baer (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day (Traveling on 5) (Paperback)

As one might expect, the book is similar in scope to Matyszak's "Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day." Rather than the standard dry academic format, the book's conceit is that is written from the perspective of a narrator who serves as tour guide to a living, breathing ancient city.

The time frame is a generation after the Persian Wars and just prior to the start of the wars with Sparta, though the omniscient narrator has knowledge of events in both the near and distant futures. The period was chosen because it offered a glimpse of Athenian culture near the height of its golden era, but before (as the author states) a "certain innocence was lost" through the later greed and depravations of an empire destined to be overthrown.

A variety of illustrations and stunning color photographs are included to good effect. With almost each page one is also treated to quotes from primary sources relevant to the topic being discussed. Side bars also provide interesting "fun facts" on a given subject. The book itself is small and easy to carry about, the ideal companion on a flight or train ride.

Matyszak writes intelligently yet clearly for the general reader, and his quirky sense of humor will greatly endear many to the subject at hand. There is a surprising amount of information crammed into such a little book. Even though I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in the classics, I learned some new things (did you know that "obscene" originated from the Greek word for offstage, where sex and violence in a Greek drama took place so as not to offend the audience?).

In short, this inexpensive book is a treat to read for both diehard classics buffs and more casual students of history.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Browsing for the Historical Traveler, April 14, 2009

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day (Traveling on 5) (Paperback)

A companion to Matyszak's earlier "Ancient Rome on 5 Denarii a Day", the present volume is written in the form of a guidebook for an ancient tourist -- in this case, a visitor to 431 BC Athens, on the eve of the Peloponnesian War. It is filled with authentic advice on what to see and do in Classical Athens, and sprinkled with sometimes startling advice, such as avoiding a particular public well that has water with a high lead content because it is frequently used as a dump for old records insribed on lead strips. It is a humorous, irreverant, but nonetheless historically accurate look at Ancient Greece, presented in an uncommonly lively fashion.

Although this Athens guide is perhaps not quite as detailed as the earlier Rome guid (reflecting a difference in the detail of the archaeological and written records, I suppose), it is still about as close to really "being there" in Ancient Athens as most of us can hope to get. The book makes for hours of interesting browsing.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Beginner's Guide, April 26, 2009

By 

Michael Gunther (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Athens on 5 Drachmas a Day (Traveling on 5) (Paperback)

I have to rate Matyszak's beginner's guide to Ancient Athens less highly than his similar guide to Ancient Rome, just because there is less detail in his Athens book and it is somehow much "thinner" (even though the same length in number of pages). Unless you are an absolute beginner, you will not find anything new in the Athens book; it's just a bunch of sound bites.

On the positive side, readers who like Matyszak's Ancient Rome will also like his Ancient Athens, because it is written in the same breezy style. If you do decide to read this book, and it gets you all excited to read more about ancient Greece in other and better books, then it will definitely be worth it.