Athens Burning: The Persian Invasion of Greece and the Evacuation of Attica

by Robert Garland

Overview

“A fresh approach to the Greco-Persian wars focusing on Athens’s evacuation, Persian occupation, and rebuilding . . . [a] compelling book.” —John O. Hyland, Christopher Newport University

Winner of the Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Between June 480 and August 479 BC, tens of thousands of Athenians evacuated, following King Xerxes’ victory at the Battle of Thermopylae. Abandoning their homes and ancestral tombs in the wake of the invading Persian army, they sought refuge abroad. During this difficult year of exile, the city of Athens was set on fire not once, but twice. In Athens Burning, Robert Garland explores the reasons behind the decision to abandon Attica, the peninsular region of Greece that includes Athens, while analyzing the consequences, both material and psychological, of the resulting invasion.

Taking its inspiration from the sufferings of civilians, Athens Burning also works to dispel the image of the Persians as ruthless barbarians. Addressing questions that are largely ignored in other accounts of the conflict, including how the evacuation was organized and what kind of facilities were available to the refugees along the way, Garland demonstrates the relevance of ancient history to the contemporary world. This compelling story is especially resonant in a time when the news is filled with the suffering of nearly 5 million people driven by civil war from their homes in Syria. Aimed at students and scholars of ancient history, this highly accessible book will also fascinate anyone interested in the burgeoning fields of refugee and diaspora studies.

“The fullest account of the Persian sack of Athens in September 480 and in June 479 BCE available in English.” —Canadian Journal of History

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421421971
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	02/16/2022
Series:	Witness to Ancient History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	186
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert Garland is the Roy D. and Margaret B. Wooster Professor of the Classics at Colgate University. He is the author of Wandering Greeks: The Ancient Greek Diaspora from the Age of Homer to the Death of Alexander the Great and The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Prologue
I The Origins
II The Evacuation
III The First Burning
IV The Second Burning
V The Post-War Period
Epilogue
Afterlife
A Note on the Sources
Chronology
Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggested Further Reading

What People are Saying About This

John O. Hyland

A fresh approach to the Greco-Persian wars focusing on Athens's evacuation, Persian occupation, and rebuilding, this compelling book is accessible to undergraduate students, and deserves the attention of scholars and non-specialists alike.

From the Publisher

A fresh approach to the Greco-Persian wars focusing on Athens's evacuation, Persian occupation, and rebuilding, this compelling book is accessible to undergraduate students, and deserves the attention of scholars and non-specialists alike.
—John O. Hyland, Christopher Newport University

Editorial Reviews

. . . the attempt to humanize ancient warfare is a worthy endeavor and Garland is to be commended for managing this effort well, painting a vivid and universalizing picture of the human causes and consequences of war with which we can, sadly, too easily relate.
—Bryn Mawr Classical Review

. . . no book has been devoted primarily to the civilian aspect of the war—in particular, to the advance evacuation and unexamined emotional suffering of thousands upon thousands of refugees. Put like that, the scene is immediately relevant today, and Garland’s narrative well gauges the kind of hysterical anxiety and ultimate misery that surely accompanied the mass displacement and bleak destruction to which the refugees twice returned. . . Essential.
—Choice

Garland's account of the burning and rebuilding of Athens is another of his finely nuanced reimaginations of the bare documentary and material record.
—Lection

Garland hat insgesamt eine Studie vorgelegt, die vor allem durch die Wahl ihrer Perspektive überzeugt.
—Ancient History Bulletin

Athens Burning is the fullest account of the Persian sack of Athens in September 480 and in June 479 bce available in English . . . What stands out in this book is Garland's creative imagination. He works harder than most to imagine what it must have been like to make drastic decisions, to imagine the political pressures the leaders felt and the psychological effects of breaking up families and abandoning one's city to the enemy. The book is immersive in this way and transforms a dramatic episode of ancient history into a human-interest story.
—Kevin Solez, MacEwan University, Canadian Journal of History

From the Publisher

Athens Burning is the fullest account of the Persian sack of Athens in September 480 and in June 479 bce available in English . . . What stands out in this book is Garland's creative imagination. He works harder than most to imagine what it must have been like to make drastic decisions, to imagine the political pressures the leaders felt and the psychological effects of breaking up families and abandoning one's city to the enemy. The book is immersive in this way and transforms a dramatic episode of ancient history into a human-interest story.

Canadian Journal of History - Kevin Solez

Garland hat insgesamt eine Studie vorgelegt, die vor allem durch die Wahl ihrer Perspektive überzeugt.

Ancient History Bulletin

Garland's account of the burning and rebuilding of Athens is another of his finely nuanced reimaginations of the bare documentary and material record.

Lection

. . . no book has been devoted primarily to the civilian aspect of the war—in particular, to the advance evacuation and unexamined emotional suffering of thousands upon thousands of refugees. Put like that, the scene is immediately relevant today, and Garland’s narrative well gauges the kind of hysterical anxiety and ultimate misery that surely accompanied the mass displacement and bleak destruction to which the refugees twice returned. . . Essential.

Choice

. . . the attempt to humanize ancient warfare is a worthy endeavor and Garland is to be commended for managing this effort well, painting a vivid and universalizing picture of the human causes and consequences of war with which we can, sadly, too easily relate.

Bryn Mawr Classical Review