History / Ancient Books

Virgil's Homeric epic was not quite completed when he died suddenly in 19 B.C. However, against Virgil's expressed wishes, the emperor Augustus decreed that it be published. It traces the journey of Aeneas to Italy after the Trojan War, where (according to Homer) he was instrumental in the founding of Rome. His voyage is a sequence of reversals and triumphs: great storms, the meeting with Dido, the visit to the underworld. Virgil celebrates the people and places of the Mediterranean, as well as the emperor Augustus and the empire. Written in hexameters, "The Aeneid" is a synthesis of tales and legends from Homer, Greek tragedy, and various Latin poets into a patriotic epic that remains stirring today for its humanity and strong feeling.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and military historian who has written on wars both ancient and modern. (He is also said to be a Washington insider and Bushcon.) In A WAR LIKE NO OTHER he tells the story of the long war between Athens and Sparta, which we know about primarily from the great historian Thucydides. Applying contemporary terms such as "superpower" to Athens and Sparta, Hanson highlights how issues such as imperialism, militarism, and the desire to spread democracy were key factors in the conflict. He also tells tales of intense battles, on land and sea, showing the great variety of strategy over three decades from precise planning to terror tactics. With the intention of drawing parallels between then and now, Davis compares the devastating loss of life in the Peloponnesian War with that in the American Civil War and World War II, and writes vividly of the debilitating effects of the long war on Athenian life. The lessons of history are many in A WAR LIKE NO OTHER. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 2005.

In this accessible and often entertaining survey, historian Thomas Cahill reviews the achievements of Classical Greece and its huge influence on Western civilization. Beginning with an overview of Greek history--partly as Homer presented it in the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY--he goes on to focus on the other early figures who have most influenced Greek civilization (including Sophocles, Sappho, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) and to explore their contributions to modern attitudes toward, for example, war, philosophy, literature, government, and religion. He also writes about the interrelationships between Greek and Roman ways of thinking, and the influence of Christianity on the Greeks, and vice versa.

A three-volume Modern Library edition.

Much of our knowledge of the Peloponnesian Wars--the 27-year conflict between Athens and Sparta--is derived from this classic text. Sparta emerged victorious, and it dominated Greece for several decades afterward.

Sparta vs. Athens, 5th century B.C., by a modern-day Thucydides. Historian Kagan covers history, military strategy and tactics, leadership psychology, and the human toll of war. This one-volume work is based somewhat on the author's four-volume HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.