The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian [Hardcover]

Robin Lane Fox (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0465024963 | ISBN-13: 978-0465024964 | Publication Date: October 9, 2006 | Edition: 2ND

The classical civilizations of Greece and Rome once dominated the world, and they continue to fascinate and inspire us. Classical art and architecture, drama and epic, philosophy and politics--these are the foundations of Western civilization. In The Classical World, eminent classicist Robin Lane Fox brilliantly chronicles this vast sweep of history from Homer to the reign of Augustus. From the Peloponnesian War through the creation of Athenian democracy, from the turbulent empire of Alexander the Great to the creation of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Christianity, Robin Lane Fox serves as our witty and trenchant guide. He introduces us to extraordinary heroes and horrific villains, great thinkers and blood-thirsty tyrants. Throughout this vivid tour of two of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known, we remain in the hands of a great master.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Framing this history of the classical world as he imagines the second-century Emperor Hadrian (who traveled the classical world and had a "classicizing mind") would have done, this scintillating survey seeks to understand Greek and Roman civilizations on their own terms. Oxford historian Fox (Alexander the Great) structures his study around the ancient concepts of freedom, justice and luxury, as they evolved from Homeric literature onward. The story arranges itself around two poles: democratic Athens, of which, for all its flaws, Fox is an unabashed partisan, and Rome, whose fatally unequal republic declined into the grotesque tyranny of the early empire. This intellectual framework provides an interpretive skeleton for a loosely structured, well-paced narrative history. (One disappointment, a major one for an "epic history," is Fox's sketchy, montage-like treatment of military campaigns.) Into the story the author weaves insightful passages on art, religion, technology, marriage and the prominent role of homosexuality in classical culture, along with set-piece profiles of statesmen and thinkers from Pericles to Plato to Pliny. Fox is a fluent, perceptive color commentator on the pageant of ancient history, while giving readers some idea of where the parade was headed. 71 b&w illus.; 10 maps. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

Fox, the author of numerous works on classical civilization, is a masterful writer whose elegant but highly readable prose offers an evolving portrait of Greek and Roman culture over a period of roughly 900 years. Although he utilizes a broadly chronological approach, Fox goes well beyond the usual, dreary narrative of battles, dynastic changes, and political conflicts that often characterize surveys of the period. Instead, Fox focuses on the gradual development and transformation of various cultural aspects of Greek and Roman societies, and he discusses in often fascinating detail topics that are normally given short shrift in general histories. For example, he provides an excellent analysis of the social and political conditions influencing the "overseas" Greek polities, in Sicily, southern Italy, and Ionia. He examines puzzling historical problems such as Hannibal's failure to win the support of Italian client peoples who unexpectedly remained loyal to Rome during the Second Punic War. This is an excellent work of scholarship and literature and will be a valuable addition to ancient-history collections. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 2ND edition (October 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465024963
• ISBN-13: 978-0465024964
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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116 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Study for Graeco-Romans, October 3, 2006

By 

Suzanne Cross "Bibliophilos" (Santa Fe, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian (Hardcover)

Those who study classical history know how rare it is that a scholar can take us in a consistent line from the development of classical and Hellenistic Greece to the conquering might of Rome, and illuminate both worlds.

Robin Lane Fox has pulled off this unusual achievement in his The Classical World. Taking three very ancient-world concepts - Liberty, Justice and Luxury (in its sense of extravagance, decadence) - Fox manages to walk confidently from Archaic Athens to the mid-point in the Roman Empire (the Emperor Hadrian, perhaps the most Greek-influenced of Roman Emperors, second century A.D.) and brilliantly evoke both the changes within the Greek and Roman cultures as they rose to empire and then fell from that high point, and to `compare and contrast' the two great cultures in a way that makes sense to the reader. Perhaps more importantly, this is a deeply satisfying book both for the expert scholar and the interested reader who doesn't have his M.A. in classical studies. It's amazing to see how these three `civilized' needs or qualities are dealt with in differing ways by the various cultures of Greece and Rome, and how complaints of decadence always seem to follow the cultural richness of a developing civilization.

At heart, the question is - what constitutes a civilization? How do you reconcile the needs of Liberty and Justice, and what happens to both when the rich become richer and the poor become poorer? Is wealth in and of itself a clue that a civilization that has lost its earlier energy? How did the Greeks and Romans deal with wealth and poverty, and how did they view them as influencing both liberty and justice? How did the great warrior ideals Homer exemplified influence the cultures after them, for good - or ill? Did Athens fall, in part, because of its increasing wealth drawn from its increasingly-resentful allies? Did the largesse of the Caesars do more harm than good to the average Roman citizen? These and other questions are discussed (but not intrusively) as the reader time-travels through the rise and decline of the Athenian Greeks; Fox takes his leave with the Emperor Hadrian. In his time, Rome was still the greatest, most civilized nation on earth - but the hints of the decline to come were already visible with those who had eyes to see.

Fox is best known, perhaps, for his marvelous biography of Alexander the Great (and his consulting participation in Oliver Stone's movie Alexander). Similarly, Fox was able to make Alexander both comprehensible and accessible, wading through a multitude of conflicting sources and eons of contradictory scholarship.

The Classical World feels, simply, like a labor of love from a man who finds much to love, to deprecate, and to honor in both the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome.

73 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So, is it "good" history?, December 23, 2006

By 

nicjaytee (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian (Hardcover)

Seeking to cogently summarise an incredible period of development & change - from the emergence of Greek city-states to the peaking of the Roman Empire - in just 600 pages is some challenge, but it's one that Robin Lane Fox rises to through his mastery of the subject and his ability to distil his knowledge into a manageable and highly readable format. And, as an example of making the "key facts" of complex history understandable and sufficiently succinct to capture and hold the attention of non-academic readers, it's an excellent book.

But, is it "good" history? Well that, of course, depends on how you view the subject. If it's a summary of major political & military events then you won't be disappointed for it's a fascinating period and, by the end of it all, you'll know what happened: who, where & when. But good history should be more than a mere distillation of "facts": it should explore why things happened. And, given the period being addressed - one in which the exploration of philosophy, science, politics and history itself was paramount in making it so important - Lane Fox's failure to do this is a major weakness.

For example, the reasons for the massive social & political differences in the parallel development of Athens and Sparta - two key city states only 100 miles apart - one of which pioneered philosophy & democracy, and the other of which pioneered the exact opposite, is virtually ignored other than in terms of their regular military conflicts. Or, why Athens made the most incredible intellectual advances during a period in which it was under constant military threat and in which half of its citizens were killed in wars... were they related issues? Or, the whole subject of slavery, in particular how the ever-present threat that "free" citizens in one state could rapidly find themselves slaves in another affected people's thinking. Or, how Rome controlled and administered, so effectively, such a huge empire for such a huge period of time - a subject that is not only fascinating but extremely relevant to any understanding of both the Romans and, the development of political & military science. Interesting, but largely ignored, as is the whole issue of blood sports in the Roman Empire, other than a short section summarising some of what happened without any real insights into the reasons why it was endorsed & accepted and how it was used to maintain power.

And so it goes, for as you pass through chapters filled with highly articulate and entertaining explanations of the key political & military events that shaped the "map" of the period you're left with nagging questions about what life for people outside of the often transiently dominant elite ruling class was really like: why their underlying societies developed in the way they did, what their social structures & needs were, and how these factors impacted on the seismic changes in politics, culture, the arts & science that make the period so interesting and important.

To be fair, Lane Fox has limited source material concerning the social history of the period to work off and, where this material is available (in particular in Cicero's & Pliny's letters), he does address some of these questions, but, given his exceptional knowledge of the subject and his willingness to provide his own interpretations of political & military events in other areas, he should also have allowed himself much more space to consider the wider, equally relevant issues at play here, bringing the book "alive" while adding to the reader's understanding of what was actually going on.

A tour de force in making traditional, academic level history available to the masses and a great "read" but, a lost opportunity in providing real insight into his subject matter.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweeping history of the Classical World, February 23, 2007

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian (Hardcover)

Robin Lane Fox has authored a sweeping history of what he calls "The Classical World," from Homer's Greece to Hadrian's Roman Empire. While a work of such scope means that there cannot be great depth in discussing any point in that era; on the other hand, it provides a bird's eye view of issues, themes, and change over time. The author himself notes that (page xv): "It is a challenge to be asked to write a history of some none hundred years, especially when the evidence is so scattered and diverse, but it is a challenge which I have enjoyed."

Some definitional issues. Lane defines "The Classical World" as (page 1) ". . .the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans, some forty lifetimes before our own but still able to challenge us by a humanity shared with ours." Fox ceases his narrative with the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Why? Lane says (page 2): ". . .'classical literature' ends in his reign. . . ." Even more important Page 2), ". . .is that Hadrian himself was the emperor with the most evident classicizing tastes."

First, Fox focuses on three themes across this span of history--freedom, justice, and luxury. He believes that each of these--and the changes that occurred with time--can help explain the sweep of events.

Second, he divides the time span into several eras, and treats each separately, although noting how the themes of freedom, justice, and luxury play out in each. "The Archaic Greek World" begins with Homer's Greece and concludes with the great Persian Wars. The next time period is what Fox refers to As "The Classical Greek World." This period runs from the rise of democratic Athens, the Peloponnesian War, Socrates, the rise of Philip of Macedon. The next phase is what he terms "Hellenistic Worlds," beginning with Alexander the Great's incredible success and the development of one of the world's largest empires. This frame runs until the final struggles between Carthage and Rome. Fox then moves on to a discussion of "The Roman Republic." Here, he considers the increase in luxury in Rome, the intrigues among Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Caesar's death. He follows this with a discussion "From Republic to Empire." The chapters in this segment include the rise of Octavian (to Augustus), his conflicts with Mark Antony, the Civil War against the assassins of Caesar, and so on. The last portion of the book, "An Imperial World," traces the post-Augustan period, concluding with Hadrian's rule.

Under Hadrian, according to Fox (page 571): ". . .the two worlds of this book, the classical Greek and the Roman, came closely together. Hadrian's love of Greek culture is evident in his patronage, his favours for Greek cities (especially Athens) and his personal romantic life."

In a history as large as this, one sacrifices depth for breadth. It is interesting to note Fox's rather dismissive treatment of Julius Caesar and Octavian/Augustus, as compared with more sympathetic treatments of each in the recent biographies by Goldsworthy and Everitt. Also, Everitt's biography of Cicero provides greater depth on that key figure in the period of time when the Republic was moving toward Empire. All in all, this is a well written book and worth looking at by those interested in this slice of history.