Bücher der Reihe Oxford Classical Monographs

The aim of this treatise is to explain the singular fascination ancient Greek tragedians felt for the non-Greek, "barbaric" world. It sets Greek drama against the historical background of the Panhellenic wars with Persia and the establishment of an Athenian empire based on democracy and slavery.

Thomas Harrison presents a study of the religious beliefs of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus - his beliefs in divine retribution, in oracles and divination, in miracles or in fate. The author shows not only how such beliefs were central to his work, but also how they were compatible with lived experience.

The transformation of human beings into animals, plants and stones is one of the most characteristic themes of Greek mythology. This study argues that attempts to explain away these myths as relics of long-forgotten rituals ignores their most interesting trait - their appeal as stories.

Adrian Goldsworthy examines how the Roman army operated on campaign and in battle. He compares the army's organization and strategic doctrine with those of its chief opponents and explores in detail the reality of battle: tactics, weaponry, leadership, and, most of all, the important issue of morale.

This book examines the government of the Roman empire at an important period of administrative and religious change. Drawing together material from a wide variety of sources, the book studies the vast range of documents issued by the emperors and their officials, and assesses how effectively the machinery of government matched imperial ambitions.

This book explores three authors who wrote about the rise of the Roman Empire: Polybius, Posidonius, and Strabo. It examines the overlap between geography and history in their works, and considers the way in which pre-existing traditions were used but transformed in order to describe the new world of Rome.

This is the first major commentary on the tenth book of Vergil's Aeneid, the national epic of Rome and one of the great poems of world literature. Vergil's text, with a facing translation, is explained for the modern reader and its literary qualities are fully assessed.

This book analyses the narrative technique of Thucydides, the historian of the war between Athens and Sparta in the fifth century BC. It relates his shifting uses of various techniques to his explanatory aims, and shows how he narrates the progression of one war and at the same time exposes various truths about the human condition.

This study seeks to make the "Meditations" more approachable to the modern reader by explaining their historical and philosophical background, charting the main currents of Marcus Aurelius' thought, and relating stylistic detail to his intellectual and moral outlook.

The first book to reveal the fascinating picture of women and their economic and political importance in the Persian empire. Xerxes' exploits are famous, but what about Irdabama, a successful landowner who controlled her own wine and grain business? Or the ruthless queen Parysatis who murdered her enemy after a game of dice?

The play with linguistic styles constitutes an important ingredient of Aristophanic humour. This work uses the stylistic diversity as a source to reconstruct the 'real' styles upon which Aristophanes based his text.

This is the only available modern, comprehensive analysis of the practice of warfare in Europe at the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire and barbarian invasions. It analyses the military practices and capabilities of the Romans and their northern enemies at policy, strategic, operational, and tactical levels, and covers civil wars, sieges, and naval warfare.

This study explores how Christian women of the classical world initiated ascetic ways of living, and how these practices were then institutionalized. The author demonstrates that - in direct contrast to later conceptions - asceticism began primarly as an urban movement.

An examination of the complex inter-relationships between the Roman and Sasanid Empires, and some of their Arab allies and neighbours, during the last century before the emergence of Islam. Greg Fisher stresses the importance of a Near East dominated by Rome and Iran for the formation of early concepts of Arab identity.