There are many handbooks about Greek history and archaeology, the material sometimes treated separately and sometimes combined, often delimited chronologically, and usually part of a larger series (a pertinent example being the Routledge History of the Ancient World series, of which O. authored Greece in the Making, 1200–479 bc [2nd ed. 2009]). What sets the new series, The Oxford History of the Archaic Greek World, apart is its narrowed chronological focus of c. 800–480/79 bce and its archaeohistorical and geographical approach. Each of the planned seven volumes tackles a different geographical region of the Greek world (encompassing 22 sites) and, in most cases, treats multiple cities within a single region, using a mixture of literary, epigraphical, archaeological and historical sources. As the series editors note, the goal is ‘to facilitate study of a broad array of Greek communities during the Archaic period’ (p. xxxii). To that end, all planned volumes will adhere to a schematic organisation of sections and subsections so that one could, for instance, pursue ‘Legal History’ across all 22 sites by reading Chapter 6 in all volumes (what the editors refer to as ‘reading horizontally’, p. xxxvi). This ability to cross-reference particular themes and topics, while hinging on the availability of all volumes, not only requires a remarkable amount of initial planning and oversight, but also underscores the fundamentally interconnected world of archaic Greece. While not all sections and subsections will be equally robust across the seven volumes, the series editors and authors deserve praise in endeavouring to create an interconnected, cross-referenceable and expansive historical overview.
The book under review, Volume II: Athens and Attica, like the planned Volume VII: Sparta, narrows the examination to a single polis and is further unique in being sole-authored. O. is more than up to the task, and the result is a sweeping and nuanced examination of the city centre and countryside of the Attic peninsula from the eighth century to the Persian Wars.
Each chapter is arranged thematically and is often organised chronologically, so that readers can easily skip around and read only sections related to the Peisistratids, for instance (sections 4.1.2, 4.4.4, 4.5.4, 5.2.3, 6.3, 7.1.1, 11.3) – what the editors refer to as ‘reading vertically’ (p. xxxvi). The text itself is replete with cross-references to direct readers easily to chronologically related subsections. The thematic divisions are often self-evident, so that there are chapters on ‘Political History’, ‘Economic History’, ‘Religious Customs and Institutions’ and so on. But there are also vaguer chapter headings, such as ‘Social Customs and Institutions’ and ‘Cultural History’. And here is a place where the schematic organisation across all volumes in the series runs into difficulties. O., in the present volume, decided that pottery should be treated in Chapter 4 ‘Material Culture’, but sculpture is discussed in Chapter 12 ‘Cultural History’, and monumental architecture (primarily temples) is in Chapter 11 ‘Religious Customs and Institutions’. Chapter 2 ‘Sources’ only covers epigraphical and literary sources, with a brief excursus on the history of excavations in Athens and Attica. The bifurcation of archaeological material, although in some ways understandable given its sheer volume, nevertheless results in a sense of fragmentation and incompleteness (O. admits that the division of media is somewhat arbitrary, p. 4). There is no easy solution to this problem, other than to put all material evidence into a single, massive chapter.
As one might expect from a volume penned by O., the sections on pottery, epigraphy, and the overall importance of the Attic demes and countryside are robust and provide wonderful counterparts to the general over-reliance in many other handbooks and histories on later literary texts and their concomitant emphases on the city centre of Athens. O.'s description of early (LBA to late eighth century) settlement patterns as ‘settlement chambers’, for instance, is useful and sets the stage for many of the political, legal and economic developments he later identifies for the seventh to sixth centuries, particularly in terms of the development and Kleisthenic (re)organisation of the demes. Contested issues, such as the start date of ostracism, are often treated so that readers are presented with both sides of the argument and then encouraged to make their own decision; when O. does tip his hand in a particular direction, it is done in a way that does not discourage counter-thinking.
The text is pitched at a level that is likely too advanced for most undergraduates, but too broad for most established scholars; graduate students seem to be the ideal audience. It may also be useful to scholars in need of a basic starting place for topics about which they might not be fluent: for instance, scholars of Herodotus looking to increase their understanding of Solonian taxation systems or historians wanting to think about what Attic pottery can tell us about import and export mechanisms of the archaic period.
There are a few places with surprising omissions, such as the lack of discussion of marble and limestone quarries in the section on natural resources (8.2) and a rather cursory discussion of the role of women in the section on demography and familial history (9.1–2). The treatment of monumental architecture overlooks important ongoing controversies and challenges. O. rightly comments on the entanglement of pottery with the socio-economic history of Athens when he says, ‘only if we give Athenian pottery production a serious place in our understanding of Athenian society in the sixth century can we understand Athenian political history’ (p. 300), but this has the result of downplaying the equally important role of sculptural and architectural production, not to mention what he deems the ‘minor arts’ of terracotta figurines and jewellery (textile production would have been a great inclusion here, too, both to illuminate another widespread form of material culture and to highlight the role of women in artistic production).
Although it is generally robust and up to date to 2021, notable omissions from the bibliography include: W.S. Bubelis, Hallowed Stewards: Solon and the Sacred Treasurers of Ancient Athens (2016; pertinent to discussion of naukraroi); various essays in M. Meyer and G. Adornato (edd.), Innovations and Inventions in Athens c. 530 to 470 bce – Two Crucial Generations (2020; enriching contributions regarding citizenship, material culture and public spaces); J. Paga, Building Democracy in Late Archaic Athens (2021; assessment of monumental public architecture). I mention these works in particular because they have critical ramifications for several of O.'s claims and observations.
Despite the editors’ commitment to cross-referencing across the seven volumes, there is not a similar insistence on standardisation of transliterations and spellings, as the section on ‘Spelling Divergences’ shows (pp. xxi–xxv). One is left wondering if each volume will have its own ‘divergences’ and, if so, why this component was not systematically addressed; indeed, cross-referencing becomes tricky when the same word is transliterated in multiple ways. Even within the present volume there are variations in spelling (e.g. kraters, krateres).
There are several places that feel like missed opportunities. An index locorum, for instance, particularly one that also contained epigraphical references, would have been beneficial. Colour images would have supplemented O.'s incisive comments about the role of colour in Attic funerary stelai and vase painting. Likewise, colour maps could have highlighted the topographical underlay. Several footnotes contain references to websites, and some are simply unwieldy long URL strings (a few of which are already broken). Online supplementary material could have made this a more usable, interactive and easily updatable feature, merging printed text with digital material in a hybrid model that is increasingly becoming common.
This review has pointed out many of the idiosyncrasies of the volume and the series as a whole, but this should not detract from the fact that O. has written a compelling, rich and nuanced presentation of Athens and Attica from the eighth century to the Persian Wars, marshalling scores of evidence and scholarship into an eminently readable survey. It is a volume worth consulting and should become mandatory reading for all graduate students preparing to take comprehensive examinations or anyone wishing to brush up on their knowledge of archaic Athens. Indeed, O.'s exploration of Athens and Attica has set a high standard for future volumes in the series.
