ASPECTS OF ANTIQUITY.

by M. I. Finley ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1968

Usually classicists are busy mending icons, but M. I. Finley. Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, has a fine time breaking them in this provocative compendium of essays. Finley's sharp tongue and skeptical mind range over many popularly held notions about ancient civilizations. He has decided that maybe Schliemann's Troy isn't Homer's Troy after all, and that the latter could be just a poem and not history. He discusses Socrates' trial and the background for the jury's verdict. (His opinion: the death of Socrates was a mistake, but an isolated one, not an example of the tyranny of the majority.) Other essays discuss Plato and practical polities, the character of Diogenes (rather prolligate), Diocletian's bureaucratic ability to keep the empire going, the Year One (A.D. that is).... The essays are presented in chronological order, generally, ending with a series on Rome: the beginnings, the position of women, the attitude toward slavery, the rise of Christianity, the decline and fall. For the most part Finley exhorts the reader not to judge ancient societies by contemporary standards. He berates Etruscan scholars who are enthusiasts, and writers about Rome who are steeped in pious condemnations. If the essays sometimes repeat facts (most were published in shorter versions in several magazines), or if sometimes the enemy is made of straw, his points are still well taken. In particular the chapters on slavery and on population decline and manpower shortage as factors in the fall of Rome are very good reading indeed.

Pub Date: April 1, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION