This wide-ranging yet detailed study describes and assesses the many-faceted cultural achievement of an area remote from Athens, the Dorian islands. Elizabeth Craik’s scholarship sets this lively outlying region of the ancient Greek world – which included Rhodes, Kos, Karpathos, Melos, and Thera – in the perspective of Greek civilization as a whole, demonstrating that excessive emphasis on the Athenian advancements of the fifth century BC tends to obscure the contribution of other regions. Beginning with a discussion of the geographical setting, natural resources and historical development of the area, The Dorian Aegean goes on to survey linguistic usage and local scripts, and to examine the regional contribution to literature, medicine and science. In the final three chapters, the religious traditions and practices of the islands are discussed, in terms of myths, cults and administration. This work will appeal to students of the classical world, archaeology, and cultural history.

This wide-ranging yet detailed study describes and assesses the many-faceted cultural achievement of an area remote from Athens, the Dorian islands. Elizabeth Craik’s scholarship sets this lively outlying region of the ancient Greek world – which included Rhodes, Kos, Karpathos, Melos, and Thera – in the perspective of Greek civilization as a whole, demonstrating that excessive emphasis on the Athenian advancements of the fifth century BC tends to obscure the contribution of other regions. Beginning with a discussion of the geographical setting, natural resources and historical development of the area, The Dorian Aegean goes on to survey linguistic usage and local scripts, and to examine the regional contribution to literature, medicine and science. In the final three chapters, the religious traditions and practices of the islands are discussed, in terms of myths, cults and administration. This work will appeal to students of the classical world, archaeology, and cultural history.

Professor Sanders’ full-length study of Dionysius I, one of the most powerful figures of fourth-century BC Greece, is the first to appear in English, and marks an important reassessment of the ‘tyrant’ of Syracuse. Dionysius I regularly appears in the surviving historical accounts as a tyrant in the worst – modern – sense of the word: cruelty, intransigence, arrogance are all part of this stereotype. Yet here is a ruler who, according to the ancient testimony, was deeply concerned with the establishment of a just regime and to whom Plato turned to found the ideal Republic. The hostile picture of Dionysius that has come down to us is basically Athenian, Sanders argues, deriving from political circles engaged in propaganda aimed at tarnishing the tyrant’s reputation. Dionysius I of Syracuse and Greek Tyranny will be of interest to those engaged with the history, historiography and political practice of the ancient world.

Argos and the Argolid, first published in 1972, presents a study of the history and achievements of the Argives, who have hitherto been largely neglected: partly because Classical Argos is overshadowed by the legends of an earlier millennium, and partly because many of her monuments and records have been lost. Richard Tomlinson describes the region, and considers the relationship between the Argives who claimed Dorian descent and those whose ancestors were in all probability the inhabitants of the region during the Bronze Age. In particular, he emphasises the Argives’ role as a ‘third force’ in mainland Greek history, where they challenged the supremacy of the Spartans in Peloponnesian affairs. This thorough treatment is intended to correct the usual bias in favour of the better documented affairs of Athens and Sparta. It includes an assessment of Argive military and political organisation, and of their contribution to the arts of Ancient Greece.

Mycenaean Greece, first published in 1976, investigates from an historical point of view some of the crucial periods in the Greek Bronze Age. The principal subject is the so-called ‘Mycenaean’ culture which arose during the sixteenth century BC, as assimilation of the previous ‘Helladic’ culture of mainland Greece with some of the developments of Minoan Crete. Many of the material aspects of the Mycenaean civilisation are examined, as are the extent of Mycenaean expansion overseas and the eventual destruction of Mycenaean sites which marked the end of their civilisation. The author also considers the evidence relating to the religious beliefs of the Mycenaeans and their social, political and economic organisations, and he relates the Mycenaean culture to the later civilisation of Archaic and Classical Greece. There is an Appendix containing a list of Mycenaean sites, with reference to excavation reports, and a full bibliography.

Mr. Casson's book is designed to show that the prehistoric and Hellenic sites in the island deserve much more notice than they have received. Mr. Casson emphasises the peculiarities of Cypriote art and usage; the Greeks evidently had reason to regard the Cypriote " character " or style as exceptional. Mr. Casson's illustrations of sculptures at Nicosia and in London show that his tempered praise of Cypriote art is justified.