Classical World

What was it like to live in a time best known for its epic wars, generations of heroic and villainous leaders, and world-spanning conquests? That is the question one would best keep in mind when reading this volume, however much the high politics of the "Long Hellenistic Age" might appeal. Taking a cue from the title, one might assume that this book focuses on the uniqueness of treating all of post-Classical Greek political history together, from Alexander's adventures through to the regime of philhellene Hadrian. Actually, you can get more out of it than a periodization-busting treatment of conquerors and ancient imperialisms. The best parts of the book, in this reviewer's opinion, are the chapters on social, economic, and religious conditions in the world of the conquered.

This is the kind of big Hellenistic history that showcases why the period can be so fascinating: prolific evidence, rich personal stories, long sweeps of massive changes and continuities. Angelos Chaniotis has put a seasoned pen to paper, and presents an authoritative and readable book that could be both a popular history and a scholarly introduction. For students new to the topic, much of this volume is salutary—a vivid picture of the Greeks' life under different rulers—and relevant, as they read about people also grappling with questions of global migration, refugees, the meaning of citizenship and borders, populist and authoritarian leaders, and a huge gap between haves and have-nots.

Researchers familiar with the subject matter will appreciate seeing how Chaniotis juxtaposes different topics and examples, in particular those that fall right in the period border-zone between Hellenistic and Roman. Here they are together as part of the longue durée of Greek polis civilization, and it is immensely satisfying to read through the Greeks' approaches to public life without stopping halfway simply because their homelands had now become Roman provinces.

One of the more stand-out moments in the book is the brief discussion of what new "buzzwords" in Hellenistic religion—zelos ("emulation of glory") or epekoos ("the one who listens to prayers")—suggest about the "zeitgeist" and (one understands) the long-term effects of conquests, imperialistic leadership, and broad economic unsettledness on people (348). The desire for "protection" and "connection" is an undercurrent playing into the larger sections on elite patronage in the poleis, seen in the politicization of festivals (349–354), or the plutocratization of public service (137–143). At various points Chaniotis refers [End Page 109] to the debt-ridden and demographically and economically depressed plight of those living in Hellenistic Greece, encapsulated by Polybius' famous assessment at 36.17.5 (246). He spends a good amount of space throughout detailing how this situation related to the wars for supremacy as well as the slow process of transformation into Roman provinces after the conquests were finished.

The volume contains eight maps and thirty-eight black-and-white figures, and the presentation is high quality. The references are all grouped together by chapter at the back and augmented by a bibliography. A republished thesis this is not, nor is it an exhaustively footnoted monograph. This will frustrate researchers looking for details on many of the items presented, but the format is accessible for those outside academia.

Ten of the sixteen chapters cover the eponymous conquests, in terms of their chronology, warfare, and political decisions. Although most of the sections are necessarily brief, one highlight is the way that smaller powers are still included in the narrative, at least as symptomatic examples of the prevailing political culture. Romanists might appreciate the two chapters on kings, rulership, and polis-life that serve as a prelude to the discussion of "entanglement" with Rome. As already noted, the final four chapters on socio-economics, religion, and the continuity of Greekness ground one's sense of the conquests in the insecurities, aspirations, and tenacity of the Greek communities.