There are many wonderful sources listed below for becoming acquainted with ancient Hellas. The titles are not exhaustive. Many more fine scholarly works are out there. As a writer, I must say that I owe each and every scholar, translator, archeologist, and illustrator a debt of gratitude.  Each tiny sliver of information they dig up, ponder, write about, and illustrate opens the door of ancient Hellas just a bit wider. 

 

General:

Democracy Beyond Athens by Eric W. Robinson

Herodotus. The Histories. Penguin Classics.  (Trans. Aubre De Selincourt)

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War. Penguin Classics. (Trans. Rex Warner)

Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times by Thomas R. Martin 

Ancient Greece: Everyday Life in the Birthplace of Western Civilization. by Robert Garland

Pilgrims and Pilgrimage in Ancient Greece by Matthew Dillon 

Hellas: A Short History of Ancient Greece by C.E. Robinson

The Ancient Greeks by M.I. Finley

The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika by Robert B. Strassler 

The School of History: Athens in the Age of Socrates by Mark Munn

Travel in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson

City of Sokrates: an introduction to Classical Athens by J.W. Roberts

 

Law: 

The World of Prometheus: The Politics of Punishing in Democratic Athens by Danielle S. Allen

Law, Violence and Community in Classical Athens by David Cohen

Trials from Classical Athens by Christopher Carey

The Law of Athens Volume 1 (The Family and Property) by A.R.W. Harrison

The Law in Classical Athens by Douglas M. MacDowell

Lawyers and Litigants in Ancient Athens by Robert J. Bonner

 

 

Religion:

Ancient Greek Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

The Greek Way of Death by Robert Garland

Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion by Robert Parker

Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece by Sarah Iles Johnston

The Seer in Ancient Greece by Michael Attyah Flower

Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John G. Gager

 

 

Women:

Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society (Volume 2) by Elizabeth Meier Tetlow

Children and Childhood in Classical Athens by Mark Golden

Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah B. Pomeroy

Women's Dress in the Ancient Greek World (ed. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones)

Aphrodite's Tortoise: The Veiled Woman in Ancient Greece by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Spartan Women by Sarah B. Pomeroy

Women in Classical Athens by Sue Blundell

Women's Life in Greece and Rome by Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant

 

 

Family

The Family in Classical Greece by W.K. Lacey 

 

Athletics: 

The Ancient Olympics by Nigel Spivey

The Naked Olympics by Tony Perrottet

Ancient Greek Athletics by Stephen G. Miller

A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics by Neil Faulkner

 

 

Sparta: 

Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC by Paul Cartledge

The Spartans: The World of the Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece by Paul Cartledge

 

 

War:

The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece by Victor Davis Hanson

Spartan Warrior 735-331 BC by Duncan B. Campbell & illustrated by Steve Noon

Hoplites: The Classical Greek Battle Experience. (ed. Victor Davis Hanson)

The Spartan Army by J.F. Lazenby 

A Storm of Spears by Christopher Matthew

 

Cavalry: 

The Cavalry of Classical Greece by I.G. Spence

Hippeis: The Cavalry of Ancient Greece by Leslie J. Worley

 

Some personal favorites: 

The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics by Debra Nails

Greece in Spectacular cross-section by Stephen Biesty. 

The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome by Peter Connolly and Hazel Dodge

Ancient Greek Religion by Jon D. Mikalson

A Visitor's Guide to the Ancient Olympics by Neil Faulkner

A Storm of Spears by Christopher Matthew

 

 

Recommended suggestions from Dr. Helena Schrader:

Das Andere Sparta by Conrad Stibbe (German only)

Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300 to 362 BC by Dr. Paul Cartledge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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