Diodorus Siculus, the Persian Wars to the Fall of Athens: Books 11-14. 34 (480-401 BCE) »

PETER GREEN is James R. Dougherty, Jr., Centennial Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin. Currently he serves as Adjunct Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa. He has authored, edited, and translated over thirty books, including Diodorus Siculus, Books 11-12.37.1: Greek History, 480-431 BC--the Alternative Version; From Ikaria to the Stars: Classical Mythification, Ancient and Modern; Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age; The Greco-Persian Wars; and Apollonios Rhodios: The Argonautika.

Only one surviving source provides a continuous narrative of Greek history from Xerxes' invasion to the Wars of the Successors following the death of Alexander the Great--the Bibliotheke, or "Library," produced by Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus (ca. 90-30 BCE). Yet generations of scholars have disdained Diodorus as a spectacularly unintelligent copyist who only reproduced, and often mangled, the works of earlier historians. Arguing for a thorough critical reappraisal of Diodorus as a minor but far from idiotic historian himself, Peter Green published Diodorus Siculus, Books 11-12.37.1, a fresh translation, with extensive commentary, of the portion of Diodorus's history dealing with the period 480-431 BCE, the so-called "Golden Age" of Athens.

This is the only recent modern English translation of the Bibliotheke in existence. In the present volume--the first of two covering Diodorus's text up to the death of Alexander--Green expands his translation of Diodorus up to Athens' defeat after the Peloponnesian War. In contrast to the full scholarly apparatus in his earlier volume (the translation of which is incorporated) the present volume's purpose is to give students, teachers, and general readers an accessible version of Diodorus's history. Its introduction and notes are especially designed for this audience and provide an up-to-date overview of fifth-century Greece during the years that saw the unparalleled flowering of drama, architecture, philosophy, historiography, and the visual arts for which Greece still remains famous.

Diodorus Siculus: The Bibliothêkê
Book 11: 480-451 BCE Book 12: 450-415 BCE Book 13: 415-405 BCE Book 14.1-34: 404-401 BCE

Bibliography Index