Central Greece and the Politics of Power in the Fourth Century BC

Description

The streams of Greek history in the fourth century are highly controversial. Sandwiched between the Classical fifth century and the Hellenistic period, the era has invited various readings, most prominently the verdict of decrepitude and decline. Recent discoveries, however, indicate that the period was not simply illustrative of the political, social, and economic weaknesses of the Greek city-state. This book examines the fourth century from an area with its own regional dynamics: central Greece, a region often considered as a backwater for macro-politics. The authors disclose a vivid tension between regional politics in Boeotia and its adjacent territories and Greek affairs. They provide a meticulous and, at times, microscopic investigation into the region's military and political history, together with detailed analyses of the topography of the places 'where history was made.' The result is a dazzling account of Greece's power transition crisis on the eve of the Macedonian conquest.

JOHN BUCKLER is Emeritus Professor of Greek History. Selected publications include The Theban Hegemony, 371-362 B.C. (1980), Philip II and the Sacred War (1989) and Aegean Greece in the Fourth Century B.C. (2003). HANS BECK is John MacNaughton Professor of Classics at McGill University in Montreal and has published widely in the field of Greek federalism. He is the author of Polis und Koinon (1997).

'Well-written and carefully researched, the volume offers many novel and interesting insights into the nature of Roman imperialism and hegemony in Italy as well as into local conditions in the southern parts of the peninsula, along with ample demonstration of relevant research.' De novis libris iudicia