Examining every aspect of the culture from antiquity to the founding of Constantinople in the early Byzantine era, this thoroughly cross-referenced and fully indexed work is written by an international group of scholars. This Encyclopedia is derived from the more broadly focused Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition, the highly praised two-volume work. Newly edited by Nigel Wilson, this single-volume reference provides a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the political, cultural, and social life of the people and to the places, ideas, periods, and events that defined ancient Greece.

A Companion to Ancient Thrace presents a series of essays that reveal the newly recognized complexity of the social and cultural phenomena of the peoples inhabiting the Balkan periphery of the Classical world. • Features a rich and detailed overview of Thracian history from the Early Iron Age to Late Antiquity • Includes contributions from leading scholars in the archaeology, art history, and general history of Thrace • Balances consideration of material evidence relating to Ancient Thrace with more traditional literary sources • Integrates a study of Thrace within a broad context that includes the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, southwest Asia, and southeast Europe/Eurasia • Reflects the impact of new theoretical approaches to economy, ethnicity, and cross-cultural interaction and hybridity in Ancient Thrace

In tracing the emergence of the Macedonian kingdom from its origins as a Balkan backwater to a major European and Asian power, Eugene Borza offers to specialists and lay readers alike a revealing account of a relatively unexplored segment of ancient history. He draws from recent archaeological discoveries and an enhanced understanding of historical geography to form a narrative that provides a material-culture setting for political events. Examining the dynamics of Macedonian relations with the Greek city-states, he suggests that the Macedonians, although they gradually incorporated aspects of Greek culture into their own society, maintained a distinct ethnicity as a Balkan people. "Borza has taken the trouble to know Macedonia: the land, its prehistory, its position in the Balkans, and its turbulent modern history. All contribute...to our understanding of the emergence of Macedon.... Borza has employed two of the historian's most valuable tools, autopsy and common sense, to produce a well-balanced introduction to the state that altered the course of Greek and Near Eastern history."--Waldemar Heckel, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

A collection of 12 essays that explore the identity of Ancient Greece as a nation of very different communities. The volume begins with a study of the continuity of Greek culture and society as shown by the ease with which Greeks identified their local deities with those in Hesiod and Homer. Other topics include: the relationship between population size and political strength in the Arkadian Poleis; the reasons for the shifting location of the city of Miletos; whether Ancient Sparta was a Polis; the political organisation of East Locris in the Classical period; the Chalcidic Peninsula and Thrace; the use of the word `Polis' in the works of Xenophon, historians, Attic orators, inscriptions and in other Archaic and Classical sources. This useful history concludes with an index of literary sources, inscriptions and names.

Hellenism is the living culture of the Greek-speaking peoples and has a continuing history of more than 3,500 years. The Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition contains approximately 900 entries devoted to people, places, periods, events, and themes, examining every aspect of that culture from the Bronze Age to the present day. The focus throughout is on the Greeks themselves, and the continuities within their own cultural tradition. Language and religion are perhaps the most obvious vehicles of continuity; but there have been many others--law, taxation, gardens, music, magic, education, shipping, and countless other elements have all played their part in maintaining this unique culture. Today, Greek arts have blossomed again; Greece has taken its place in the European Union; Greeks control a substantial proportion of the world's merchant marine; and Greek communities in the United States, Australia, and South Africa have carried the Hellenic tradition throughout the world. This is the first reference work to embrace all aspects of that tradition in every period of its existence.

The complex role warfare played in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations is examined through coverage of key wars and battles; important leaders, armies, organizations, and weapons; and other noteworthy aspects of conflict. Conflict in Ancient Greece and Rome: The Definitive Political, Social, and Military Encyclopedia is an outstandingly comprehensive reference work on its subject. Covering wars, battles, places, individuals, and themes, this thoroughly cross-referenced three-volume set provides essential support to any student or general reader investigating ancient Greek history and conflicts as well as the social and political institutions of the Roman Republic and Empire. The set covers ancient Greek history from archaic times to the Roman conquest and ancient Roman history from early Rome to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. It features a general foreword, prefaces to both sections on Greek history and Roman history, and maps and chronologies of events that precede each entry section. Each section contains alphabetically ordered articles—including ones addressing topics not traditionally considered part of military history, such as "noncombatants" and "war and gender"—followed by cross-references to related articles and suggested further reading. Also included are glossaries of Greek and Latin terms, topically organized bibliographies, and selected primary documents in translation.

Despite Alexander the Great's unprecedented accomplishments, during the last seven years of his life, this indomitable warrior became increasingly unpredictable, sporadically violent, megalomaniacal, and suspicious of friends as well as enemies. What could have caused such a lamentable transformation? This biography seeks to answer that question by assessing the role of alcohol in Alexander the Great's life, using the figure of Dionysus as a symbol of its destructive effects on his psyche. The unique methodology employed in this book explores various aspects of Alexander's life while maintaining an historical framework. The exposition of the main theme is handled in such a way that the biography will appeal to general readers as well as scholars.