MEIDANI Katerina: Archaic Greece and War (Αρχαϊκή Ελλάδα και πόλεμος),

Kardamitsa Publications, Athens, p.p. 310, cart. bibl., ind. ISBN 978-960-354-218-6,
Εur 22(In Greek).

Ancient History 10th – early 5th centuries B.C.

Greece Mediterranean, Europe

Archaic Period, Ancient Greece, Causes of War

MEIDANI Katerina

kmeidani@yahoo.gr

Kardamitsa Publications

8 Hippokratous Str., 10679, Athens, Greece

Kleanthis Zouboulakis

9 Odessou Str., 11525, Red Cross, Athens, Greece

Archaic Greece and War is the revised version of the author’s doctoral
dissertation at the University of Athens. The book has a specific focus: the causes of
select offensive wars, their outcome and their impact on the formation of foreign
policy of the communities involved. It covers a crucial period of Greek history, the
biggest part of the Archaic age (10th Cent. B.C. until about 490 B.C.). These times can
decisively contribute to understanding the formation of Greece that won the
subsequent Persian Wars.
The book is divided into four thematic chapters, offering respective case-studies,
and a concluding chapter. Chapter I (“Wars for Boundary Delimitation and Land
Acquisition”) examines three subjects: the territorial expansion of Sparta, including
the Messenian Wars; the territorial expansion of Corinth, especially at the expense of
Megara; the Lelantine War between Chalkis and Eretria. In Chapter II (“Conquest and
Occupation Wars”) the author examines the Second Messenian War, war in the
Argolid, and the wars conducted by Cleisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon. Here the focus is
primarily on policies and strategies of territorial consolidation. Chapter III (“Wars
Aimed at Safeguarding Commercial Interests”) is divided into three segments dealing
with Corinth, Megara and Aegina. Chapter IV (“Wars and Alliances of Boeotian
Cities and Sparta from the Sixth Century BC Until the Battle of Marathon”) begins
with a section which examines the mutual relationships of Boeotian cities (especially
Thebes and Plataea) during the sixth century BC and continues with a detailed
account of the problems related to sixth century BC Spartan alliances as well as the
attested Spartan campaigns to overthrow tyrannies in Corinth, Ambracia, Samos,
Naxos, Sicyon and, the latest example, Athens. The final segment of Chapter IV
analyses the causes of the Spartan campaign against Argos in 494 BC. It is followed
by a short Chapter V (“General Conclusions”) where the main points raised in the
book are summarized.
The book is in Greek but it also provides extensive summaries of the Introduction
and Conclusions in English and French. It also contains a general index, an index
locorum, a chronological table and several maps.
This is a well-focused book that deserves the attention of scholars working on
issues related to war in archaic Greece. Meidani deals successfully with the delicate
task of discussing particular events while keeping an eye on aspects of the whole
picture. To be sure, many topics tackled by the author are, and no doubt will continue
to be, controversial, as acknowledged by the author herself in the selective but
scrupulous discussion of modern scholarship. Nonetheless, and regardless of which
arguments advanced by the author one might take issue with, readers of this
monograph will benefit from the author’s systematic discussion of ancient sources
and her straightforward style of presenting her arguments and conclusions about the
classification of war causes during the examined, critical period of Ancient Greece.

Kleanthis Zouboulakis

Phd Candidate of Ancient History, University of Athens