Greek Wars, The: Failure Of Persia, The

Description:
The Greek Wars treats of the whole course of Persian relations with the Greeks from the coming of Cyrus in the 540s down to Alexander the Great's defeat of Darius III in 331 BC. Cawkwell discusses from a Persian perspective major questions such as why Xerxes' invasion of Greece failed, and how important a part the Great King played in Greek affairs in the fourth century. Cawkwell's views are at many points original: in particular, his explanation of how and why the Persian invasion of Greece failed challenges the prevailing orthodoxy, as does his view of the importance of Persia in Greek affairs for the two decades after the King's Peace. Persia, he concludes, was destroyed by Macedonian military might but moral decline had no part in it; the Macedonians who had subjected Greece were too good an army, but their victory was not easy.

Review:
A thorough reassessment of traditionally held beliefs about Greek-Persian relations...This work joins the serious works on Achaemenid history that scholars must consult Matthew Walters, Journal of the American Oriental Society a new book by one of the great figures of Greek history of the last half-century ... is not only highly readable but also provides bracing insights to any number of questions in Greek-Persian relations Thomas Harrison, Greece and Rome ...revisionist history at its very best...the most insightful and comprehensive analysis to date of Greek and Persian interaction John Marincola, Classical Journal

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction; 2. The subjection of the Greeks of Asia; 3. 'The lands beyond the sea'; 4. The Ionian Revolt; 5. The conquest of Greece; 6. The war in the East Aegean; 7. Peace with Athens, 449-412 BC; 8. The recovery of the Greeks of Asia; 9. From the King's Peace to the end of the Social War; 10. The end of the Achaemenids