The Fall of the Athenian Empire

by Donald Kagan

Overview

"The fourth volume in Kagan's history of ancient Athens, which has been called one of the major achievements of modern historical scholarship, begins with the ill-fated Sicilian expedition of 413 B.C. and ends with the surrender of Athens to Sparta in 404 B.C. Richly documented, precise in detail, it is also extremely well-written, linking it to a tradition of historical narrative that has become rare in our time."
― Virginia Quarterly Review

In the fourth and final volume of his magisterial history of the Peloponnesian War, Donald Kagan examines the period from the destruction of Athens' Sicilian expedition in September of 413 B.C. to the Athenian surrender to Sparta in the spring of 404 B.C. Through his study of this last decade of the war, Kagan evaluates the performance of the Athenian democracy as it faced its most serious challenge. At the same time, Kagan assesses Thucydides' interpretation of the reasons for Athens’ defeat and the destruction of the Athenian Empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801419355
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	10/13/1987
Series:	1/8/2004
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.44(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Donald Kagan is Sterling Professor of Classics and History at Yale University.

Table of Contents

1. After the Sicilian Disaster
2. The War in the Aegean
3. Athens Responds
4. Sparta's Riposte
5. The Revolutionary Movement
6. The Coup
7. The Four Hundred in Power
8. The Establishment of the Five Thousand
9. The War in the Hellespont
10. The Restoration
11. The Return of Alcibiades
12. Cyrus, Lysander, and the Fall of Aicibiades
13. The Battle of Arginusae
14. The Trial of the Generals
15. The Fall of Athens
16. Conclusions

Bibliography
General Index
Index of Ancient Authors and Inscriptions
Index of Modem Authors

Editorial Reviews

A profound analysis of the relation of strategy to politics, a sympathetic but searching critique of Thucydides' masterpiece, and a trenchant assessment of the voluminous modern literature on the war.

The Atlantic Monthly - Bernard Knox

With its three predecessors, this volume will long stand as the definitive work on the Peloponnesian War and the nature of the Athenian empire.

American Historical Review

The temptation to acclaim Kagan's four volumes as the foremost work of history produced in North America in the twentieth century is vivid.... Here is an achievement that not only honors the criteria of dispassion and of unstinting scruple which mark the best of modern historicism but honors its readers. To read Kagan's 'History of the Peloponnesian War' at the present hour is to be almost unbearably tested.

The New Yorker - George Steiner

The fourth volume in Kagan's history of ancient Athens, which has been called one of the major achievements of modern historical scholarship, begins with the ill-fated Sicilian expedition of 413 B.C. and ends with the surrender of Athens to Sparta in 404 B.C. Richly documented, precise in detail, it is also extremely well-written, linking it to a tradition of historical narrative that has become rare in our time.

Virginia Quarterly Review

Kagan offers political history at its best. He does a masterful job of laying out the strategic choices confronting ancient Greek statesmen and generals, then explaining why events took the course they did.... Kagan shows a remarkable gift for drawing analogies to more recent wars to illuminate this struggle between ancient great powers. These insightful analogies also help us understand better the imperial rivalries and wars of our own troubled century.

Orbis

A profound analysis of the relation of strategy to politics, a sympathetic but searching critique of Thucydides' masterpiece, and a trenchant assessment of the voluminous modern literature on the war.

--Bernard Knox "The Atlantic Monthly"

Kagan offers political history at its best. He does a masterful job of laying out the strategic choices confronting ancient Greek statesmen and generals, then explaining why events took the course they did.... Kagan shows a remarkable gift for drawing analogies to more recent wars to illuminate this struggle between ancient great powers. These insightful analogies also help us understand better the imperial rivalries and wars of our own troubled century.

-- "Orbis"

The fourth volume in Kagan's history of ancient Athens, which has been called one of the major achievements of modern historical scholarship, begins with the ill-fated Sicilian expedition of 413 B.C. and ends with the surrender of Athens to Sparta in 404 B.C. Richly documented, precise in detail, it is also extremely well-written, linking it to a tradition of historical narrative that has become rare in our time.

-- "Virginia Quarterly Review"

The temptation to acclaim Kagan's four volumes as the foremost work of history produced in North America in the twentieth century is vivid.... Here is an achievement that not only honors the criteria of dispassion and of unstinting scruple which mark the best of modern historicism but honors its readers. To read Kagan's 'History of the Peloponnesian War' at the present hour is to be almost unbearably tested.

--George Steiner "The New Yorker"

With its three predecessors, this volume will long stand as the definitive work on the Peloponnesian War and the nature of the Athenian empire.

-- "American Historical Review"

From the Publisher