Thucydides, Pericles, and the Idea of Athens in the Peloponnesian War

by Martha Taylor

Overview

Thucydides, Pericles, and the Idea of Athens in the Peloponnesian War is the first comprehensive study of Thucydides' presentation of Pericles' radical redefinition of the city of Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Martha Taylor argues that Thucydides subtly critiques Pericles' vision of Athens as a city divorced from the territory of Attica and focused, instead, on the sea and the empire. Thucydides shows that Pericles' reconceputalization of the city led the Athenians both to Melos and to Sicily. Toward the end of his work, Thucydides demonstrates that flexible thinking about the city exacerbated the Athenians' civil war. Providing a thorough critique and analysis of Thucydides' neglected book 8, Taylor shows that Thucydides praises political compromise centered around the traditional city in Attica. In doing so, he implicitly censures both Pericles and the Athenian imperial project itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780511700248
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/26/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Martha Taylor is Associate Professor of Classics at Loyola University, Maryland. A Fellow of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, she is the author of Salamis and the Salaminioi: The History of an Unofficial Athenian Demos.

Table of Contents

1. Foundation levels; 2. Pericles' city; 3. The sea and the city; 4. The city sets sail; 5. The oligarchic city; 6. The city on Samos.

Editorial Reviews

"...a solid contribution to Thucydidean scholarship..." —BMCR

"...this is a thought-provoking book with many valuable insights and individual readings. Just as importantly, Taylor successfully demonstrates that the city is a key concept for understanding Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian War. Highly recommended." —Choice

In this interesting and original book, Taylor argues that Thucydides offers an extensive critique of Pericles' "radical redefinition" of the city of Athens, by which she means his vision of the city as divorced from its physical entity and re-conceptualized as the empire, dependent on its fleet."
— Frances Pownall, Mouseion

From the Publisher