Kurt A. Raaflaub is David Herlihy University Professor and Professor of Classics and History, Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence (2005-8) and Director of the Program in Ancient Studies at Brown University. His recent publications include The Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece (2004), Social Struggles in Archaic Rome (Blackwell, 2005) and War and Peace in the Ancient World (Blackwell, 2006).

Hans van Wees is Professor of Ancient History at University College London. His publications include Status Warriors: War, Violence and Society in Homer and History (1992) and Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities (2004), and he has co-edited four volumes on archaic Greece, war and violence, and Herodotus.

A systematic survey of archaic Greek society and culture which introduces the reader to a wide range of new approaches to the period.
* The first comprehensive and accessible survey of developments in the study of archaic Greece
* Places Greek society of c.750-480 BCE in its chronological and geographical context
* Gives equal emphasis to established topics such as tyranny and political reform and newer subjects like gender and ethnicity
* Combines accounts of historical developments with regional surveys of archaeological evidence and in-depth treatments of selected themes
* Explores the impact of Eastern and other non-Greek cultures in the development of Greece
* Uses archaeological and literary evidence to reconstruct broad patterns of social and cultural development

List of Illustrations viii
Notes on Contributors xii
Preface xx
List of Abbreviations xxiii
Maps xxiv
Part I Introduction 1
1 The Historiography of Archaic Greece 3
John K. Davies
2 The Mediterranean World in the Early Iron Age 22
Carol G. Thomas
Part II Histories 41
3 The Early Iron Age 43
Catherine Morgan
4 The Eighth-century Revolution 64
Ian Morris
5 The World of Homer and Hesiod 81
Christoph Ulf
6 The Tyrants 100
Elke Stein-Hölkeskamp
7 Sparta 117
Massimo Nafissi
8 Athens 138
Michael Stahl and Uwe Walter
9 Greeks and Persians 162
Josef Wiesehöfer
Part III Regions 187
10 Attica: A View from the Sea 189
Sanne Houby-Nielsen
11 The Aegean 212
Alexander Mazarakis Ainian and Iphigenia Leventi
12 Laconia and Messenia 239
Nigel Kennell and Nino Luraghi
13 The Peloponnese 255
Thomas Heine Nielsen and James Roy
14 Crete 273
James Whitley
15 Northern Greece 294
Zosia Halina Archibald
16 The Western Mediterranean 314
Carla M. Antonaccio
17 The Black Sea 330
Gocha R. Tsetskhladze
Part IV Themes 347
18 Cities 349
Jan Paul Crielaard
19 Foundations 373
Irad Malkin
20 States 395
Hans-Joachim Gehrke
21 Charismatic Leaders 411
Robert W. Wallace
22 Sanctuaries and Festivals 427
François de Polignac
23 The Economy 444
Hans van Wees
24 Class 468
Peter W. Rose
25 Gender 483
Lin Foxhall
26 The Culture of the Symposion 508
Oswyn Murray
27 The Culture of Competition 524
Nick Fisher
28 Literacy 542
John-Paul Wilson
29 Intellectual Achievements 564
Kurt A. Raaflaub
30 War and International Relations 585
Henk Singor
31 Ethnicity and Cultural Exchange 604
Jonathan M. Hall
Bibliography 618
Indices 713