The Destruction of Cities in the Ancient Greek World: Integrating the Archaeological and Literary Evidence

From the Trojan War to the sack of Rome, from the fall of Constantinople to the bombings of World War II and the recent devastation of Syrian towns, the destruction of cities and the slaughter of civilian populations are among the most dramatic events in world history. But how reliable are literary sources for these events? Did ancient authors exaggerate the scale of destruction to create sensational narratives? This volume reassesses the impact of physical destruction on ancient Greek cities and its demographic and economic implications. Addressing methodological issues of interpreting the archaeological evidence for destructions, the volume examines the evidence for the destruction, survival, and recovery of Greek cities. The studies, written by an international group of specialists in archaeology, ancient history, and numismatic, range from Sicily to Asia Minor and Aegean Thrace, and include Athens, Corinth, and Eretria. They highlight the resilience of ancient populations and the recovery of cities in the long term.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: destruction, survival, and recovery in the ancient Greek world Sylvian Fachard and Edward M. Harris; 2. Destruction, abandon, reoccupation: What Microstratigraphy and Micromorphology tell us Panagiotis Karkanas; 3. Miletus after the disaster of 494 B.C.: Refoundation or recovery? Hans Lohmann; 4. The Persian destruction of Athens: Sources and Archaeology John Mckesson Camp; 5. The Carthaginian conquest and destruction of Selinus in 409 B.C.: Diodorus and archaeology Clemente Marconi; 6. Ancient methone (354 B.C.): Destruction and abandonment Manthos Bessios, Athina Athanassiadou, and Konstantinos Noulas; 7. The destruction of cities in Northern Greece during the Classical and Hellenistic periods: The numismatic evidence Christos Gatzolis and Selene Psoma; 8. Eretria's “destructions” during the Hellenistic period and their impact on the city's development Guy Ackermann (translated by E. M. Harris and S. Fachard); 9. Rhodes ca. 227 B.C.: Destruction and recovery Alain Bresson; 10. Destruction, survival and colonisation: Effects of the Roman arrival to Epirus Björn Forsén; 11. From the destruction of Corinth to Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis Charles K. Williams, Nancy Bookidis, Kathleen W. Slane, and with Stephen Tracy; 12. Sulla and the siege of Athens: Reconsidering crisis, survival, and recovery in the 1st B.C. Dylan K. Rogers; 13. The Herulian invasion in Athens (A.D 267): The archaeological evidence Lamprini Chioti; 14. Epilogue. The survival of cities after military devastation: Comparing the classical Greek and Roman experience John Bintliff; 15. Appendix. The destruction and survival of cities.

About the Author :
Sylvian Fachard is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Lausanne and Director of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece. He was the A.W. Mellon Professor at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (2017–2020). He has conducted extensive archaeological research in Euboea, Attica, and Argos. Edward M. Harris is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Durham University and Honorary Professorial Fellow at Edinburgh University. He is the author of Democracy and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens and co-editor of The Ancient Greek Economy and Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome.

Review :
'… a must-read for both historians interested in the impact of war on cities and archaeologists who are dealing with the material remains of such events.' Alaya Palamidis, Bryn Mawr Classical Review '[The essays offer] fine methodological contributions to the integration of literary and archaeological evidence for the study of a single phenomenon; at the same time, they offer excellent overviews of the history of important sites like Athens, Corinth, Eretria, and Selinus, while introducing the readers to important newly-excavated sites like Methone.' Kostas Vlassopoulos, Greece & Rome