"The inescapable truth is that a large portion of such evidence as we have [the ancients] is disconnected, late, uncritical, relentlessly anecdotal, or usually all four at once. It is in the face of these odds that our use of such evidence is understandably, if amiably, capricious." Stephen L. Glass
These are all modern authors. The list of ancient period authors for this time have been separated, as we feel that the newbie needs to be told who these people are and when they were writing, in detail. See the link at the end of this bibliography.
Anderson, John Kinloch
Ancient Greek Horsemanship **** University of California Press, Berkeley, 1961 Includes his translation of Xenophon's treatise on equitation, the opinions of others, and the analysis from art. This would be a much smaller book if he stuck to the Greek sphere, but he goes far afield into Egypt, Assyria, and the later Roman empire. T3
Blundell, Sue
Women in Ancient Greece ***
Boucher, Francois
Twenty Thousand Years of Fashion; the History of Costume and Personal Adornment ** Harry N. Abrams, 1966; 440 pg, index, glossary Weak in this period. Confusing descriptions, and better examples could have been chosen from extant art. T1
Bourliere, Francois
The Land and Wildlife of Eurasia YY Time-Life Books, NY, 1964, 2nd ed. 1974; 198 pg, index, bibliography Describes changes in climate, the spread or limitation of animals and plants, so that you don't have rabbits in ancient Greece (hares only: rabbits are still limited to southern Spain), or miss the fact that the whole Eastern Mediterranean was much greener before the Roman Empire encouraged agri-business and deforestation. T3
Brockett, Oscar G.
History of the Theatre **** Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1977 Good university-level text on the origins of theatre, staging conventions, acting styles, audience behavior, etc. T2
Brooke, Iris
Costume in Greek Classic Drama **** Greenwood Press, 1973, orig. 1962 Covers all the parts, and how to construct, which you need to know so your characters will get dressed and undressed properly. T2
Buehr, Walter
Warrior's Weapons *** Crowell, NY, 1963; illustrated by author Good on early and non-ferrous metallurgy, including forges and smelting. Simply, pleasantly written. T2
Bulfinch, Thomas
Bulfinch's Mythology * An overly nice Victorian American reference, if you are unfamiliar or need a refresher. Often quotes later poets, part of his program of showing these myths as continuing parts of our culture. Uses the Latin names, which you should shed as soon as possible. Good for the likes of the Iliad and Odyssey, but these stories often derive from Roman sources, and are not the basis of Greek religion. Can be very misleading, if you think the Greeks had such a "cute" attitude towards their relilgion. Suggest you read Graves or Hesiod instead.
Carpenter, Rhys, Edith Hamilton, William Hayes, et al
Everyday Life in Ancient Times; Highlights of the Beginnings of Western Civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome ** National Geographic Society, NY, 1964; 368 pg, index Edith Hamilton is Athenophilic to the point of silliness, such as claiming the (Athenian-style) Greeks were the only ancient people to have athletic pursuits. In this same book, the Egyptian and Mesopotamian sections show wrestling as sport, including something as playful as wrestling with a pot of water on your head. Only good for the Ionian/Attikaean culture. T3
Cartledge, Paul
Sparta and Lakonia: a Regional History, 1200-362 BC X Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & Boston, 1979 Books typeset on a typewriter are a warning that you are approaching scholarly specialist papers. Good political history, lots of archeological site discussion, but the use of this much information could have been much better. Cartledge is more interested in arguing points of disagreement for the benefit of a reader who has read those other eight books than informing the newbie, so he does not give anything like a "picture" of the area. He is excessively pedantic, never using a common word like "newborn" when he can use obscure jargon like "neonate" instead. Maps are very limited. He pays irregular attention to the passage of time, such as applying Lakonian habits of 100 CE to Lakedaemonians hundreds of years earlier, while fussing over potsherd dating, and listing, as if eternal, modern climate and rainfall when there have been several big ups and downs in the last 2000 years alone -- but then covers the extension of the lower Eurotas land! Difficult even as a reference late in your research. T4
Cumont, Franz
Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans *****! Dover Publications, Inc., NY So many writers seem to have an emotional stake in showing the Greeks as the enlightened, Vulcanoid proponents of science and logic that they entirely miss how oriented to magic, prophets, amulets, bribing the Gods, and sheer superstition most of the Greek people were. Especially, they miss detailing it for you. This book fills in a big hole. T2
Delbrueck, Hans
Warfare in Antiquity **** v. 1 of History of the Art of War, trans. by J. Renfroe, Jr.; University of Nebraska Press; 1975 trans of 1920 rev. Opens with the Persian War, as the first that can be discussed sensibly. Points out what parts of Herodotos MUST be legendry: if the Persians had nearly two million men in their army, the first companies would have reached Thermopylae while the last ones were still in sight of Susa. How could the ancient world feed them? Excellent detail on the development of warfare and tactics, including how to beat phalanxes. Find out what the trick of Salamis really was! T2
Demand, N.
Birth, Death, and Motherhood in Ancient Greece *****! Once again, Greece is really just Athens, but its coverage of the centers of female life are invaluable. T2
Durant, Will
The Life of Greece *** Simon and Schuster, now from MJF Books, rev. 1948; 898 pg, index, bibliography Based on the discussion of philosophy's development, and its cultural setting, Durant is naturally extremely Athenocentric. Gives an excellent grounding in events and culture as commonly conceived, but owes rather too much to the Victorians and too little to the spade. A nice basis, but less than authoritative nowadays. Really only good for Attika and the Hellenists, or a book about philosophers. T3 Alt. Opinion: Chapter on Sparta full of mythconstructions, based on late sources recounting Texas tales (exaggerated folk witticisms) about the level of depersonalization in old Sparta. Durant did not bother to read Xenophon or Aristotle on the subject, only Athenaeus and some muddled moderns. Makes me suspect anything except the description of philosophies in the whole thing.
Fitzhardinge, L. F.
The Spartans * Thames and Hudson, 1980 Primarily on the arts, the last section on the poets is good, but one mistake makes me doubt the surety of the art attributions. A bronze from Dodona is described as a Spartan feaster, but he has a moustache and beard, and a chignon of curls that barely covers his nape. This is not a shaved-upper-lip, loose-tresses-to-the-elbow Spartan, but some Persian or Syrian. T2
Graves, Robert
The Greek Myths **** Penguin Classics, NY, 1958 A compilation of ALL available versions of each myth, not just the neatest or most dramatic. Warnings as to which stories are merely theatrical, and probably not true myths at all. Promulgates the theory that the earliest Greeks came out of the Mideast and had a gynocratic, regicidal religion which survived in corrupt form in the later, recorded myths. Explores at length the symbolism of events and names. Whether or not you like his interpretations, he gives the most thorough collection. T1
Hale, William Harlan, and the editors of Horizon Magazine
The Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages **** American Heritage Publishing, Inc., 1968 Part One has the description of customs and habits, foods available, and some interesting art. Part Two has the tastiest recipes, done for the modern kitchen. Especially hits this period in Part One. T1
Hogg, Ian V.
The History of Fortification *** St. Martin's Press, NY, 1981 Clear, interesting and accurate overview from 7000 BC through the 1970's, well illustrated with photos and diagrams; bibliography and glossary. T1
Hope, Thomas
Costumes of the Greeks & Romans *****! 19th C.; 300 pg, 700 illus. Line drawings from period art of the rich and the poor, military and civilian, and quite a bit of household goods. T2
Ingraham, Holly
People's Names: A Cross-cultural Reference Guide to the Proper Use of Over 40,000 Personal and Familial Names in Over 100 Cultures *****! McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, NC; 1997; 613 pgs, index, select annotated bibliography Besides the whole Hellenic section, the Historical half has all your necessary foreigners: Egyptians, Phoenicians, Persians, Medes, Etruscans, etc. T1
Kazantzakis, Nikos
Journey to the Morea YY Simon and Schuster, NY, 1965; trans. F. A. Reed; photos, Alexander Artemakis These sort of books can give you an idea of the landscape, just remember to depopulate and green it. T3
Kelly, Thomas
A History of Argos to 500 BC *****! This book should be read by everybody venturing into this period, whether or not you were going anywhere near Argos or this period. Kelly discusses and therefore makes you aware of certain questionable points, like whether certain famous people ever existed, and if so, in which century. Classical studies are shakier than many would like you to believe. This is an excellent skepticism pill. T1
Keuls, Eva C.
The Reign of the Phallus: Sexual Politics in Ancient Athens **** Harper & Row, NY, 1985 Explores this extreme of male chauvinism (a.k.a. phallicism) from an objective egalitarian viewpoint, rather than being immersed in Athenophilia and Victorian attitudes towards women like most Classicists (including many female ones). T2
Kleinbaum, Abby Wettan
The War Against the Amazons **** New Press, 1983 Explores the theme of the Amazonomachy in Greek expression, and its background in experience. T2
Klepper, Erhard
Costume in Antiquity: 480 Illustrations C. N. Potter, 1964 To 500 CE in the Eastern Mediterranean. T2
Kohler, Carl
A History of Costume **** Dover Publications, Inc., NY Hand-sized, info-packed, based on surviving clothes first and artwork secondarily. Author's line drawings of construction and detail. Neophytes should use with a picture book, which it will greatly clarify. T2
Krentz, Peter
The Thirty at Athens Cornell Press, 1982 A detail exploration of the reign of the Thirty Tyrants (a junta) 404 to 403 BC. T3
Lefkowitz, Mary R. and Maureen B. Fant
Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation *****! Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1992 All the exerpts they could find in ancient literature to do with women: marriage contracts, economic documents, mentions in trial oratory, histories and legends, translated from the Greek and Latin. This is the raw material from which others' views of the period are built. T3
Levi, Peter
The Greek World *****! orig London, 1986; has been through several American publishers, but now from Facts on File (quick, look, has it changed?) Contains the first mention I ever read (in 1996) of human sacrifice by the Athenians in historical times -- right before Salamis, as no-one else ever mentions. After all, Athenians were always perfect Victorian gentlemen! Lovely pictures of artifacts and ruins, excellent plans. Maps excellent but not superb. Colours in coding often so close that you need good daylight or artist's colour-corrected lamps to distinguish them. T1
Licht, H.
Sexual Life in Ancient Greece **** Barnes & Noble, NY This has been a hot subject ever since Foucault started the big academic buzz, but this is approachable by the ordinary writer. In some 600 pages, all the variants are discussed. You have to settle your character's objects of attraction as well as marital limitations pretty early in most plots. T1
Majno, Guido, MD
The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World *****! Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1975 Heavy research and testing, too, to see how well period practices actually worked. Fascinating reading. Among others, covers classic medicine of the Ancient Near East and Egypt, and Hippocrates of Greece. T1
Macdonald, Fiona
How Would You Survive as an Ancient Greek? X F. Watts, 1995 A cute novelty for the juvenile market, now a CD-ROM game. If this is the highest level of research you can handle, you are out of your depth here: the ancient Greeks are too different from us, but too often misrepresented as lots like us, so that they require deep research. Try the Middle Ages, which can be played much closer to our culture.
McEvedy, Colin
The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History *** Penguin Books, 1967; 96 pg, index A handy, small book, showing who rules what when, in the stretch from Persia to the Atlantic, from prehistory to about 300 CE. Shows the oft-ignored Greek realms of Pontus and central Asia farther east. T1
Newark, Tim
Women Warlords: An Illustrated Military History of Female Warriors *** Blandford, NY, 1989; index; Angus McBride, illustrator Primarily useful here on Artemisia I of Halikarnassus and on the Sauromatian/Sarmatian/Scythian Amazons north of the Euxine, who enter into the legends of Alexander the Great, as well as Theseus and Herakles. T2
Osprey Military Books
The worst book out by Osprey still gets three stars. The best are five stars and a bang. These are each a dense, military monograph on weapons, tactics, strategy, and history, with some little cultural background. Rarely at libraries, you will usually find these where military miniatures are sold. T2 The Ancient Greeks; #7 Elite Series Greek & Persian Wars 500-323 BC; #69 Men-at-Arms Series
The worst book out by Osprey still gets three stars. The best are five stars and a bang. These are each a dense, military monograph on weapons, tactics, strategy, and history, with some little cultural background. Rarely at libraries, you will usually find these where military miniatures are sold. T2
Rodgers, William Ledyard, V.Adm, USN ret.
Greek and Roman Naval Warfare, A Study of Strategy, Tactics, and Ship Design from Salamis (480 BC) to Actium (31 BC) *****! 1937, 1964; now from Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD; 555 pg (thick; there are 618 pg books notably smaller), index, Authorities Consulted at the end of each chapter. Brilliant reconstructions of the ships, based on explicit engineering data, which he is used to finding "in any handbook," the like of which we have not been able to find, on use of human strength. His experience with rowed cutters, rather than power launches, is also valuable. See especially the Appendix to Chapter II, on how the three levels of the trireme/triere were really used at sea, likening the "simultaneous stroke" of all three levels to the goosestep of Prussian troops: parade use only. T3
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda
The Encyclopedia of Amazons: Women Warriors from Antiquity to the Modern Era *****! Paragon House, NY, 1991; 290 pg, no index, bibliography Warrior queens like Artemisia of Halikarnassus, whose son had to wait for her death to rule, and the female athletes add to the legends of the Amazons. Gives a corrective view of Greek religion to counteract the cute stories of Bulfinch and his Latin sources. Good bibliography, but has gotten the bizarre idea from the Classicists that the Peloponnesian Dorians were highly homosexual (quite the opposite), rather than a proper attribution of approved paederasty to the Boeotians and Attikeans. T2
Spruytte, J.
Early Harness Systems *****! J. A. Allen, London, 1977; translated by Mary Littauer Spruytte has built and driven chariots accurately based on the known artwork. Completely explodes the earlier nonsense about the horse-throttling "ancient traction system" invented by Lefebvre des Noettes and based on no actual system. Perfectly understandable to the layman. T1
Stierlin, Henri, ed.
Architecture of the World: Greece **** Taschen, 192 pg Approachable without being lightweight. T1
Stone, Merlin
When God Was a Woman **** British title: The Paradise Papers 1976; 265 pgs, index, bibliography, date chart While discussing the development of patriarchalism and patrilineal social control of women, by reconstructing the Goddess worship that went before and continued alongside these later religions, Stone gives a unique insight into life and thought of the people to whom the world had a female Creator, Lady of All, Queen of the Universe. Note that while many state cults were centered on Zeus or Apollo, Athene was the patron of both Athens and Sparta, Hera of Argos, and to many individual Greeks like Pausanias or Homer, the Goddess remained the chief Deity. T3
Time-Life Books, the editors of
TimeFrame 600-400 BC: A Soaring Spirit *** Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987 Very pictorial, good text. The air-brushed reconstructions are sometimes too in love with vast plain surfaces rather than trying to give us maximum pictorial information, and the maps, while they cover the ground, are strictly minimalist. Strictly Old World; guess the New World was on vacation. Does go nicely into the major battles of the many Greek wars. T1
Wannington, B. H.
Carthage: A History Barnes & Noble A more contemporary approach using archeological data on the Carthaginian empire would be appreciated. This owes much to Roman and Hebrew authors, who were absolutely hostile to the Carthaginians, as were the Greeks, who fought them so continually over Sicily. T2, if you are dealing with the western Mediterranean. If staying in Greece, don't bother.
Warry, John
Warfare in the Classical World **** Salamander Books, London, 1980 Excellent coverage of naval as well as land forces, including very recent reconstructions of pentekonters, triremes, etc. Covers the enemy troops, as well as the Greeks and Romans. Good to develop your mental framework before plunging into Delbrueck or Rogers. T2
Worley, Leslie J.
Hippeis, the Cavalry of Ancient Greece *****! Boulder/SF/Oxford, Westview Press, 1994 Starts in the Mykenaean period, which is normally considered chariots only. Very good collection of the rare art documents. Extreme detail on every battle or campaign where cavalry was used decisively, showing the progress up to the Macedonian "Campanian Cavalry" (s/b Companion Cavalry, from hetaroi; a spellchecker needs to be shot for this constant mispelling). T2
http://atlantic.evsc.virginia.edu/julia/AncientWorld.html
Superb linksite, which it would be silly to try and duplicate here. Especially fine for including Asian, American, and African sections, not just Europe and the Near East.
http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/intro.HTM
A very attractive site for a course based on Majno's book above. Good comments on ancient medicine from a less scientistic viewpoint, and references to sources. Includes some source documents, like "Hippocrates" on the "Illness of Maidens" which proves the writer never knew a maiden to reach puberty. T1
http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/gender.html
A guide to other web sources, also includes bibliographies and monographs of interest. The other half of the species is too often treated "like normal" (for us) or merely as "comfort women," in novels. Yet as the changing front page story here shows, it is not so simple if you are accurate..
http://promo.net/pg/
"Fine Literature Digitally Republished. Since 1971 putting classic books into electronic form." You can download all the major classics for free, each as a single big text file. MUCH better than Perseus. Burn your own reference CD-R.
http://www.ucr.edu/h-gig/topperindex.html
A thorough-going linksite maintained by the University of California at Riverside, H-GIG sorts by area, by era (ancient<yours>, Medieval, early Modern, Modern, and 20th C), or by topic (military, women, etc.). It's a good place to start a hunt for books and essays online.
http://webatomics.com/Classics/
MIT Classics department compiles the Perseus Project and other sources. Includes Hippocrates, Homer, Xenophon, and a lot of others. Each work (play, essay, epic) loads as a single page, making it easy to Search for specific words, and has a Download option. Very large works are available as one page or three, to cut time. Get the "unlimited time for $20" deal from a direct web service with a local access number for you, and you can consider this site part of your home library that doesn't have to be dusted. This is what we all hoped the Internet would be!
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/
Exceedingly large index page takes a long time to load, so you can guess how many entries it has! This is one of those online libraries, with texts in translation, not just a linksite.