Customer Reviews

Hellenistic Phoenicia

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The Phoenician cities were situated on the coast of what today is mainly Lebanon, the major cities being Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, Tripolis and Arados. The book is a narrative history of the cities and their relationships with each other and the ruling powers of the hinterlands, from the time of the Macedonian conquest up to the triumph of Augustus and the final "Hellenization" of the eastern Mediterranean.

I have just read the author's "Seleukos Nikator", published in the previous year to this book, and this is almost a sequel, as Seleukos is a major player in the first chapter - "The Time of Troubles 360-287BC". Seleukos, Ptolemy and their successors wander in and out of the story, as their campaigns take them from Syria to Palestine and back. There are 6 narrative chapters, taking the story down to Augustus, and a seventh, on "The Phoenicians Overseas" looking at their activities to the east and west, for there were Phoenician traders operating in the Gulf and India.

The author, as seen in his book on Seleukos, is a master of the sources, and is able to examine various authorities' interpretations of the patchy evidence from the period, dismissing some theories, expanding on others, and offering a few interpretations of his own, while carefully pointing out areas where nothing is currently known.

The Phoenician cities can be likened to Greek city states, rivals jostling with each other for dominance and status, interested mainly in gaining control of their hinterlands, maintaining their independence from the great powers of the day, and trying not to be on the wrong side when the music stopped at the end of a war or revolt in the latest empire to be passing by. The author estimates the joint population of the main cities to be roughly equivalent of Athens at its height, so the individual cities are not contenders as major powers themselves, but their fleets would make a big contribution to any contending power. Hence their constant attempts to gain local rights and local territory in exchange for their aid, but to keep out of the way of sieges. Occasionally, of course, they meet someone who doesn't take "can we talk about this" for an answer. The author has commented on Alexander's lack of a sense of humour in his previous book.

This is a readable and erudite book, but it is about the Phoenician cities, and not an account of the campaigns, battles and conquerors, who only appear as and when they impact on the cities. If you know a little about the period, then you'll be able to follow the story without trouble, although due to the fragmentary sources, even general histories of the period can be confusing, as characters come and go, with little more than their names known to us. The author however, does try to explain who everyone is, and what they are up to when they appear.

Note - I borrowed this book from a library; make your taxes work for you!

Further recommended reading by John D. Grainger:
The League of Aitolians (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
The Syrian Wars (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
The Roman War of Antiochos the Great (Mnemosyne, Supplements)
Hellenistic and Roman Naval Warfare 336BC - 31BC
Alexander the Great Failure: The Collapse of the Macedonian Empire (Hambledon Continuum)
Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom