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The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine

The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine

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  • Create Date：2021-11-13 09:54:28
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Simon Price
  • ISBN：014312045X
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Summary

An innovative and intriguing look at the foundations of Western civilization from two leading historians; the first volume in the Penguin History of Europe



The influence of ancient Greece and Rome can be seen in every aspect of our lives。 From calendars to democracy to the very languages we speak， Western civilization owes a debt to these classical societies。 Yet the Greeks and Romans did not emerge fully formed; their culture grew from an active engagement with a deeper past， drawing on ancient myths and figures to shape vibrant civilizations。

In The Birth of Classical Europe， the latest entry in the much-acclaimed Penguin History of Europe， historians Simon Price and Peter Thonemann present a fresh perspective on classical culture in a book full of revelations about civilizations we thought we knew。 In this impeccably researched and immensely readable history we see the ancient world unfold before us， with its grand cast of characters stretching from the great Greeks of myth to the world-shaping Caesars。 A landmark achievement， The Birth of Classical Europe provides insight into an epoch that is both incredibly foreign and surprisingly familiar。

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Reviews

James McGhee ，

I liked this book a lot。 It’s not a story of what happened。 The phrase the book uses is it tells the “memories of the past。” So not what happened， exactly， but how the people at the time interpreted themselves and their society’s place in the larger world， with reference to their own understandings of their past， whether true or not。 There are inset boxes where more modern times have interpreted their relationship to the classical world， by claiming some inheritance from it。 It was interesting t I liked this book a lot。 It’s not a story of what happened。 The phrase the book uses is it tells the “memories of the past。” So not what happened， exactly， but how the people at the time interpreted themselves and their society’s place in the larger world， with reference to their own understandings of their past， whether true or not。 There are inset boxes where more modern times have interpreted their relationship to the classical world， by claiming some inheritance from it。 It was interesting to see how people over time have reinterpreted the past for their own purposes。 It’s not the great and marvelous deeds of the Hellenes and barbarians， nor the cause of their war on each other， so I’m sure you can ask， is this even a classical history？ But it does excel at trying to understand the mindset of these people， so we can better understand them， without trying to portray them as either just like us or as totally alien。 Final point， but the book seemed anti-Gracchi， which， why？ 。。。more

Tobias ，

Phenomenally learned， compulsively readable and immensely informative。

Sverre ，

Interesting and informative， albeit a somewhat dryly written account of the early history of Classical Europe。 I found some facts to be simplified， as one would reasonably expect from a book dealing with material of this magnitude。 One of the book's strengths is its frequent drawing of parallels between the periods， distinguishing the work from other books on the subject。 I recommend this for more intermediate Classical readers， as it can come across as quite inaccessible at first reading。 Interesting and informative， albeit a somewhat dryly written account of the early history of Classical Europe。 I found some facts to be simplified， as one would reasonably expect from a book dealing with material of this magnitude。 One of the book's strengths is its frequent drawing of parallels between the periods， distinguishing the work from other books on the subject。 I recommend this for more intermediate Classical readers， as it can come across as quite inaccessible at first reading。 。。。more

Roniius ，

A very good history of Europe in antiquity。 I don't remember much of it， which speaks to its complexity （and also how long I took a break between the Greek and Roman sections）。 Tends to focus on historical processes， with case studies of them， rather than put names and dates everywhere。 Doesn't explain， say， the crisis of the third century， but does explain how what happened after impacted the cultural divide within the Roman Empire。 A very good history of Europe in antiquity。 I don't remember much of it， which speaks to its complexity （and also how long I took a break between the Greek and Roman sections）。 Tends to focus on historical processes， with case studies of them， rather than put names and dates everywhere。 Doesn't explain， say， the crisis of the third century， but does explain how what happened after impacted the cultural divide within the Roman Empire。 。。。more

Sarah Bigelow ，

3。5， round down to 3。

Claire‏‏‎ ‎‎‏‏‎ ，

extremely disappointing downgrade from the 2nd volume （which was published first）。 it does not even have notes， but it has a list of recommended reading that it admits doesn't include the work used to write the book， but finds pertinent to add historical fiction extremely disappointing downgrade from the 2nd volume （which was published first）。 it does not even have notes， but it has a list of recommended reading that it admits doesn't include the work used to write the book， but finds pertinent to add historical fiction 。。。more

Lance Johnson ，

It is generally a good read and serves as a nice entry point to the Penguin History of Europe series。 I particularly enjoyed the coverage of the Greeks in the first half of the book。 However， the second half of the book left a lot to be desired， especially the coverage of the Roman empire。 The sections on the later Roman empire jumped around chronologically which made it hard to keep track of what was going on。 The collapse of the western empire recieved only a few scattered paragraphs and passi It is generally a good read and serves as a nice entry point to the Penguin History of Europe series。 I particularly enjoyed the coverage of the Greeks in the first half of the book。 However， the second half of the book left a lot to be desired， especially the coverage of the Roman empire。 The sections on the later Roman empire jumped around chronologically which made it hard to keep track of what was going on。 The collapse of the western empire recieved only a few scattered paragraphs and passing mentions。 Perhaps the next book will cover it a bit more thoroughly。 。。。more

Allee ，

Well written book that retains its focus by telling the story of history from the interesting perspective of cultural memory。 Emphasizing how the founding myths of the ancient Greek and Roman world tied these cultures together， and separated them where cultural memory diverged， serves as a nice anchor point for discussion of religious， cultural， and political developments throughout the period/region。My only complaint would be the way the authors occassionally discuss Christianity。 They make the Well written book that retains its focus by telling the story of history from the interesting perspective of cultural memory。 Emphasizing how the founding myths of the ancient Greek and Roman world tied these cultures together， and separated them where cultural memory diverged， serves as a nice anchor point for discussion of religious， cultural， and political developments throughout the period/region。My only complaint would be the way the authors occassionally discuss Christianity。 They make the mistake common to secular academics of fundamentally misunderstanding the nature of Christianity on it's own terms。An otherwise splendid overview of ancient Greek/Roman history。 。。。more

Caitlin ，

Would give it a 3。5 if I could。

Maria ，

Daily life still has significant traces of things that are over 2，000 years old。 Democracy， public roads， calendars， and even the languages of European countries and their colonies started in the classical societies of ancient Greece and Rome。 But these societies also had significant elements from cultures that came before them。 This is their stories and histories。Why I started this book: I was in the thick of it with Fed Up: Emotional Labor， Women， and the Way Forward and I wanted a no stress n Daily life still has significant traces of things that are over 2，000 years old。 Democracy， public roads， calendars， and even the languages of European countries and their colonies started in the classical societies of ancient Greece and Rome。 But these societies also had significant elements from cultures that came before them。 This is their stories and histories。Why I started this book: I was in the thick of it with Fed Up: Emotional Labor， Women， and the Way Forward and I wanted a no stress nonfiction audio book to balance myself。Why I finished it: Solid foundation but classical history of Greece and Rome has never been my jam。 And it was very interesting reading it after Christendom Destroyed: Europe 1517-1648 （instead of before） as defining Europe has frequently been more about ideas and ideals than geography。 And European society has returned again and again to the ideas of citizenship， freedom， alliance and dominance that was raised in this period。 Not the mention the art， language， philosophy， and politics。 。。。more

Edward Edwards ，

This book served well as a semi-historiographical analysis of the classical period。 The theme of the book was comparing how the iron age greek and Romans viewed their bronze age history and how it shaped their own understanding of their world。 The authors compared this against archeological data to get a better understanding of what happened and why the collective narrative didn't match the past events。 The book also had plentiful asides to how classical history has influenced the modern day。Wha This book served well as a semi-historiographical analysis of the classical period。 The theme of the book was comparing how the iron age greek and Romans viewed their bronze age history and how it shaped their own understanding of their world。 The authors compared this against archeological data to get a better understanding of what happened and why the collective narrative didn't match the past events。 The book also had plentiful asides to how classical history has influenced the modern day。What this book is not is a general survey of the period。 For readers who know little about the chronology of the time， or want to know more about the key events or developments， I would recommend a different volume。 While I applaud the authors for their efforts in a powerful and interesting project， I feel penguin marketed this book poorly by shoehorning it into a survey series on Europe。 。。。more

Victor Sonkin ，

An absolutely excellent history of Classical Europe; more like a sequence of separate stories about different strands of the phenomenon。

Illiterate ，

This overview nicely stresses identities and memories， their artificiality， and yet their real effects。

Felix ，

首先要说明，原谅我自己是个历史小白，而这套书明显不是针对普通大众读者，而是已经有些基础的、想要深入了解的读者，所以我自己读来比较吃力，甚至有想放弃的愿望。但是我很欣赏作者严谨地治学态度已经新颖的史学视角。事实上，这本书对我的影响在史观上要大于史实，其对于历史对于后阶段社会发展、现代的一些价值观的形成有所呼应，并且屡次从考古学的方面讨论史料的可信度，是让我大开眼界。同时思想文化的变迁作为驱动力也被强调，而不是一味地堆叠史实，真的让人耳目一新。除了作为读者自身的不足以外，唯一的遗憾大概就是没有地图，我只能不停地google earth和wiki。如果能有地图这本书应该就不会这么难读了吧。作为《企鹅欧洲史》的第一部确实开了一个好头，但也竖起了门槛。我对后面的书有很高的期望，也希望自己能坚持读完，补充自己知识的空白区域。

Henry Gao ，

20年第三本。本是查漏补缺的书，结果却有意想不到的收获。作者反复在强调政治人物是如何在现实的基础上扭曲历史和神话传说的，这一点在历史学习中很重要

人傑 劉 ，

wonderful work。

Goo ，

Okay - fine for night time reading。

Dennis Murphy ，

The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann is a good survey， but feels more than a little crippled by its length。 There's not a lot of page space here to really get into any details， and I was often left baffled by some omissions and some inclusions into the text。 I'm used to reading substantially longer texts recounting a much narrower band of time and space than this text。 It is also not helped that it is half the size of many of the othe The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann is a good survey， but feels more than a little crippled by its length。 There's not a lot of page space here to really get into any details， and I was often left baffled by some omissions and some inclusions into the text。 I'm used to reading substantially longer texts recounting a much narrower band of time and space than this text。 It is also not helped that it is half the size of many of the other books in the series - this being the first of seven or eight books on European history。 The rushed nature of the narrative feels like this text has a set of obligatory milestones it must acknowledge and some debates it must reference to justify an inclusion here or another omission there。 There's a lot that can be learned， but I never am left feeling satisfied with what I'm reading either。 Probably the most useful and engaging sections were actually a series of boxes with information relating more modern periods to the classical past。 It wouldn't be fair to be too critical of it though。 The book is what it is， and there are some very cogent points in the text worth remembering: the many different interpretations of Julius Caesar offered the crown， the narrative history as political tool in the Greek world， and so on。 This book isn't bad， and I appreciate the efforts of the authors in hoe they framed some of the debates， but I wish it were more。85/100 。。。more

Sidney ，

I had a relatively hard time reading this， and did spend a large amount of time doing it， despite all the effort trying to read just a bit faster。 Two things that slowed me down:1。 Novel names of places or people。 There are simply so many of them， you can simply find dozens just denoting those tiny islands in the Aegean Sea。 And that's not all， most of them are either Greek or stemming from even more unfamiliar languages， which drives me crazy whenever I see a super-long name that's essentially I had a relatively hard time reading this， and did spend a large amount of time doing it， despite all the effort trying to read just a bit faster。 Two things that slowed me down:1。 Novel names of places or people。 There are simply so many of them， you can simply find dozens just denoting those tiny islands in the Aegean Sea。 And that's not all， most of them are either Greek or stemming from even more unfamiliar languages， which drives me crazy whenever I see a super-long name that's essentially jibberish to me， for I can neither pronounce nor remember。2。 I don't know if I'm not skilled in reading history books， but this book just made it even harder for me because I'm quite certain that it's a scholarly work。 It's simply crammed with facts and dates and names that I didn't know whether to toil through this paragraph or simply just skim through or even skip it。Overall， I'm not satisfied。 。。。more

Inkspill ，

When I started to read works by Homer it was because I have always daunted by it – I just never expected to enjoy it。 The translations I read were packed with helpful notes but these also got me thinking – why are we still drawn to these and similar old stories？ My first real clues appeared in Troy。 Simon Price and Peter Thomann’s book goes further， starting with the Aegean and the Trojans and working its way to end of the Roman Empire and the beginnings of Christianity。 Big subjects， where I wa When I started to read works by Homer it was because I have always daunted by it – I just never expected to enjoy it。 The translations I read were packed with helpful notes but these also got me thinking – why are we still drawn to these and similar old stories？ My first real clues appeared in Troy。 Simon Price and Peter Thomann’s book goes further， starting with the Aegean and the Trojans and working its way to end of the Roman Empire and the beginnings of Christianity。 Big subjects， where I was expecting this book to be daunting， but instead I really enjoyed reading it。In reading this， I have discovered a bit more about the wars between Athena and Sparta。 Also， the only thing I knew about Alexander the Great was his name， but now I have a better understanding of who he is， what he achieved and how it was a touch tricky because he wasn’t really Greek。 I was also expecting to feel overwhelmed by Rome’s early history， but it was explained so well that I just about managed to follow it; I especially enjoyed reading about Julius Caesar and the people involved in his murder as I had recently read Julius Caesar by Shakespeare。 I also liked the care put into its kindle edition when formatting the book（other books I’ve read where the styles switch back and forth are messy， making it harder to follow it）。 I also found the number of maps included generous。 All this gets 5 stars， but for me it’s also worth these stars for making reads like this easier than I imagined they would be。 。。。more

Julian Ramos ，

Simon Price does a fantastical job of retelling classical history in the first volume of Penguin's History of Europe。 Though， it doesn't dabble on more specific subjects about the period and ends up being an overview of classical antiquity without any flavour。 This is a must-read for all Ancient Greece and Rome lovers。 5 out of 5。 Simon Price does a fantastical job of retelling classical history in the first volume of Penguin's History of Europe。 Though， it doesn't dabble on more specific subjects about the period and ends up being an overview of classical antiquity without any flavour。 This is a must-read for all Ancient Greece and Rome lovers。 5 out of 5。 。。。more

Justin Godwin ，

I’ve got mixed feelings about this book。 At times， this book dishes out some nourishing nuggets of information， other times it has a bad case of a little thing called “the tangent。”The Birth of Classical Europe can look deep into the logistics of a war or a development in classical history。 The authors sometimes have a clear focus on what they want to tell。 They gave me riveting accounts of Athens’ rise to as a cultural and maritime power and its reverberations in the Persian and Peloponnesian w I’ve got mixed feelings about this book。 At times， this book dishes out some nourishing nuggets of information， other times it has a bad case of a little thing called “the tangent。”The Birth of Classical Europe can look deep into the logistics of a war or a development in classical history。 The authors sometimes have a clear focus on what they want to tell。 They gave me riveting accounts of Athens’ rise to as a cultural and maritime power and its reverberations in the Persian and Peloponnesian war。 In these rare deep dives， they explore riveting stories about some of the major events of the classical world。 Where this book excels is in its broadness in that it talks about the entirety of Europe。 Whereas most books might focus solely on Rome or Greece during the classical era， The Birth of Classical Europe covers events happening across the entirety of Europe as well as parts of Europe’s neighbour， Asia。 I’ve learnt thing which would otherwise be hard to come by。 This book taught me a little about everything concentrating on the cultures spread throughout Europe。 It’s also interesting to learn how much major powers such as Greece and Rome influenced other civilisations。But this book’s broadness has its downside。 Often， there is a lack of historical analysis and there are regular gaps in the history of Europe。 The authors jump decades， sometimes centuries without any consideration for the developments between those times， even in Greece and Rome。While this book has gaping holes in its documentation of European history， the authors’ exhaustive tangents are the heart of this book’s problems。 While they are informative about the culture of a given society， they drag on far longer than they need to。 They go on for paragraphs on end， leaving little thought for the events going on around those time。 These tangents become increasingly worse when the authors switch their focus to the Romans。 There is an extremely limited dive into many major historical events around these times。 In fact， it gets so bad that the authors spend the final chapter talking almost exclusively about the rise of Christianity， placing frustratingly heavy prejudice on pagan worship。 The chapter barely spares much thought for the rest of the history of which the chapter concerns。 There are little more than a handful of paragraphs describing the rise of Constantine and the Vandal’s sacking of Rome。 That is over a century of Roman history glossed over for the sake of religious conversation。While The Birth of Classical Europe has taught me a little about the culture behind Rome， Greece and many more obscure settlements， its weak historical analysis and its exhaustive tangents leave little to be desired about this book。 Its broad topics have taught me much about the lesser-known civilisations but without any descent historical analysis， the authors leave me with a vague idea of the history of classical Europe。 。。。more

Arup Guha ，

The birth of classical Europe， first volume of the penguin histories of Europe is a very interesting flowing read。 No clunky writing here。 Also， throughout the book the authors have inserted short discussions on interesting events and phenomena related to the main text which are a great read。 The book starts from the Mycenaean civilization on Create and continues till the late Roman or the Christian Roman Empire。 It analyses the events using a 3d construct of memory， communal and spatial identit The birth of classical Europe， first volume of the penguin histories of Europe is a very interesting flowing read。 No clunky writing here。 Also， throughout the book the authors have inserted short discussions on interesting events and phenomena related to the main text which are a great read。 The book starts from the Mycenaean civilization on Create and continues till the late Roman or the Christian Roman Empire。 It analyses the events using a 3d construct of memory， communal and spatial identity which form a critical template to explain the birth of Europe as a geopolitical entity or more， from merely a kidnapping legend。 It is by building identities along these three dimensions that Europe gradually took shape。 For instance， one of the most interesting themes that run through the book is the continuous attempt by new people to connect with the ancient， sometimes through manufactured history。 So the early greek connected with the Minoans， the later greek connected with early greek heroes， Macedonians connected with the Greeks and the Romans connected with troy。 Another interesting theme that needs to be explained more is the contribution of the near eastern and Egyptian civilizations towards the greek。 This has been neglected by nationalistic historians and is being corrected now。 The near eastern powers were already massive matured entities when the greek city states were starting to take shape and there had to be a lot of cultural and technical imports， but this side has been glossed over in past histories。 All credit to the authors for touching on this theme。 Few open questions remain as perplexing as ever: Who were the etruscans or the phoenicians？ How did the Romans become so strong and how did they establish such a vast and long lasting empire？ One can only theorize。The canvas of the book is too large （1700 BC-400 AD） for any topic to be dealt with in great detail。 So thankfully the authors provide a helpful bibliography for every period。 Overall it's a rivetting read， go for it。 I am onto the next volume by Chris Wickham。 。。。more

Jeff ，

A solid survey of the Classical World。

Zach ，

For a survey of such a broad time period， this was surprisingly technical （and kinda dry if I'm honest。） Normally I would have appreciated the more detailed look at this period （if you read a bit of ancient history， you come across many of the same examples and case studies just in different works）， but I listened to the audio book and found it a little hard to focus on。 If I try this again， which I'd like to eventually， I'll read it and see if it is easier to focus on。 I did enjoy the interesti For a survey of such a broad time period， this was surprisingly technical （and kinda dry if I'm honest。） Normally I would have appreciated the more detailed look at this period （if you read a bit of ancient history， you come across many of the same examples and case studies just in different works）， but I listened to the audio book and found it a little hard to focus on。 If I try this again， which I'd like to eventually， I'll read it and see if it is easier to focus on。 I did enjoy the interesting tangents the author takes in the inset boxes。So ultimately I can't recommend this as an introduction to the time period， but if you're already comfortable with ancient Western history， then this is a good bridge between introductory surveys and more narrow academic titles。 。。。more

John Albers ，

Comprehensive， if somewhat dry， history of Europe from the bronze age to the fall of the Roman Empire in the west。 The authors focus on the developments of Greek and Roman culture， skipping over wars of conquest and political history which I like since it covers a lot of territory in less than 350 pages of text。

Brad Marshall ，

Very good overview， with a neat line on how civilisations use their stories of the past to justify the present。

Ryan Lininger ，

Skimmed

Juan Serenellini ，

Se necesita mucha cultura para entender y disfrutar de este libro y no es soberbia。 Podés quedar afuera rápido en las referencias。Podría resumirse como la historia de como los pueblos se recuerdan a sí mismos y la influencia que tiene en el desarrollo de esa sociedad que， en este caso， es la antigüedad clásica。

Jacob van Berkel ，

Solidly informative but （too） dry。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0