Kostas Vlassopoulos

Kostas Vlassopoulos has written a provocative and polemical work of comparative history and historiography. He rejects the truism that the History of Ancient Greece is the antecedent to Modern European History and denies the validity of the traditional periodization of Greek history. Vlassopoulos argues for a new interpretation, away from a focus on the rise and fall of supposedly autonomous Greek poleis and toward an insertion of Greek history into the history of the wider Mediterranean and Near East.

Vlassopoulos’ historiographical review is fascinating, tracing the shifting perceptions and interpretations of Greek history from the ancient Greeks themselves to the formation of a late-20th century orthodoxy that posits the classical Greek polis as a community of citizens, in contrast to the Oriental despotisms of the East. Vlassopoulos claims to be working in the (M.I.) Finleyan tradition of questioning presumptions and rethinking methods, then directs some of his sharpest critiques at Finley himself for insisting that, before the Greeks, peoples of the Near East had no experience with politics. On the contrary, writes Vlassopoulos, evidence for self-government among non-Greeks—political deliberation and the administration of city life, the settlement of disputes and the representation of the community to higher authorities—is abundant and persuasive. Likewise, Finley’s reduction of all ancient Greek cities into isolated, ideal economic types (‘the consumer city’) ignores the whole complex of relations, processes, and functions within which ancient cities were situated.

This is a scholarly work, with copious references and notes, but the arguments and evidence are clearly laid out. Vlassopoulos calls for a rewriting of Greek history from a different perspective, but he does not write it himself. What he does do is reveal the historiographical problems inherent in teleological Occidentalism and the ‘traditional’ narrative of ancient Greek history. Anyone interested in ancient history will find this a stimulating, thought-provoking book.… (more)