Central Greece and the Politics of Power in the Fourth Century BC

Approaches fourth-century Greek history from the perspective of Thebes and neighbouring Phocis.

John Buckler (Author), Hans Beck (Author)

9781009113861, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 October 2021

329 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.486 kg

'Well-written and carefully researched, the volume offers many novel and interesting insights into the nature of Roman imperialism and hegemony in Italy as well as into local conditions in the southern parts of the peninsula, along with ample demonstration of relevant research.' De novis libris iudicia

The streams of Greek history in the fourth century are highly controversial. Sandwiched between the Classical fifth century and the Hellenistic period, the era has invited various readings, most prominently the verdict of decrepitude and decline. Recent discoveries, however, indicate that the period was not simply illustrative of the political, social, and economic weaknesses of the Greek city-state. This book examines the fourth century from an area with its own regional dynamics: central Greece, a region often considered as a backwater for macro-politics. The authors disclose a vivid tension between regional politics in Boeotia and its adjacent territories and Greek affairs. They provide a meticulous and, at times, microscopic investigation into the region's military and political history, together with detailed analyses of the topography of the places 'where history was made.' The result is a dazzling account of Greece's power transition crisis on the eve of the Macedonian conquest.

Prologue: power politics in fourth-century Greece
Part I. Alliance: 1. A survey of Theban and Athenian relations between 403 and 371 BC
2. The incident at Mt. Parnassus, 395 BC
3. The Battle of Coronea and its historiographical legacy
4. The King's Peace, alliance, and Phoebidas' strike (382 BC)
5. Sphodrias' raid and the evolution of the Athenian League
Part II. Hegemony: 6. The re-establishment of the boeotarchia (378 BC)
7. The Battle of Tegyra, 375 BC
8. Plutarch on Leuctra
9. Alliance and hegemony in fourth-century Greece: the case of the Theban hegemony
10. Xenophon's speeches and the Theban hegemony
11. The phantom synedrion of the Boeotian Confederacy, 378–335 BC
12. Boeotian Aulis and Greek naval bases
13. Epaminondas and the new Inscription from Cnidus
Part III. Domination: 14. Thebes, Delphi, and the outbreak of the Sacred War
15. Pammenes, the Persians, and the Sacred War
16. Philip II, the Greeks, and the King, 346–336 BC
17. A note on the Battle of Chaeronea
18. Philip's designs on Greece
19. Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Military history [HBW], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]