This week we'll finish off the Persian wars, hopefully begin to talk about the growth of Athenian power in the aftermath, and on Friday have our first exam.

1. Required Reading:

For Monday, please read Hdt. VIII.113-IX.121, paying special attention to the accounts of Plataea and Mycale at IX.7-107

For Wednesday, please read Thuc. 1.89-117. This is the so-called 'Pentecontaetia', Thucydides' account of Athens during the 50 (or so) year period between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. The account is highly compressed (it's provided as mainly as background to the Peloponnesian War) and there seems to be some chronological confusion and important omissions. Still, it's our best literary source on this important phase in Athens' development as an imperial power, and combined with contemporary epigraphical evidence gives us a good idea of what's going on. We'll continue to talk about the so-called Athenian Empire into next week as a prelude to our discussion of the Peloponnesian War.

For Friday, see the separate study guide to help you prepare for our first exam.

2. Recommended Reading:

Burn pp. 193-237. As usual, reading this before you read Thucydides should help you make sense of the ancient sources.

3. Suggestions for further study:

The standard book-length treatment of the growth of Athenian power after the Persian Wars is R. Meiggs, The Athenian Empire (Oxford 1975) DF 285 M43 1975 Classics Lib Reference. It's a good place to start for information on any aspect of the growth of Athenian imperialism.