Book Review - From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization during the Sixth and Fifth Centuries by Victor Ehrenberg

From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization during the Sixth and Fifth Centuries by Victor Ehrenberg

London: Methuen, 1973                                                            ISBN 0416777600

Ancient Greek civilization is the bedrock of culture in the Western World: our philosophy, poetry, theatre, art, democracy, medicine and science all spring from the first efforts made in those fields by the Ancient Greeks. The beginning of those beginnings occurred during the period Victor Ehrenberg focuses on in this book.

The centrepiece of this period of Greek history was what has become known as the Pelopponnesian War, which was in reality a series of wars between Athens and Sparta that raged on and off for thirty years. Ehrenberg begins his narrative with an introduction to both Sparta and Athens, setting the scene for their political development over the centuries in question. With its martial structure and perpetual risk of revolt by the helots, Sparta maintained a rigorous oligarchical structure. This contrasted to Athens, where the need for many men to serve in her navy moved the polis to democracy. The beginning of this period saw the combined might of Hellas - including Athens and Sparta - defeat the Persian invasion. This was the last time until the rule of Alexander that most Greeks joined together against a common enemy. Even though they shared a language, gods, and festivals, each Greek polis felt no need to be a part of a larger Greek state, and over the course of the period covered by Ehrenberg, there were myriad shifting alliances between and invasions of cities and states.

The two major strategic rivals were Athens and what was to become its empire, and Sparta at the head of the Peloponnesian League. The wars between these states that led to the destruction of Athens and the impoverishment of Sparta were particularly brutal. Politically Athens veered from extreme democracy - rule of the mob - to types of tyranny by one man or a group, before their final subjugation. Sparta similarly had great political upheavals, even if on the surface their political system did not change.

Ehrenberg steers a narrow course through the known facts, acknowledging the gaps and not engaging in too much speculation beyond what can be supported by what we know. We do know that the democratic states and cities could very easily fall under the sway of a demagogue, and we see the decline of the idea of the polis over this period through figures such as Pericles, Alcibiades, and Critias. Ehreneberg ties this in with developments of the mind; the development of the concept of the individual as distinct from the polis, epitomized in the life of Socrates. Democracy inherently assumes a social contract and certain rights, and the reader sees how Athens battled over the distribution of those rights between classes. Ehrenberg also shows us that the idea of democracy as a force for peace is not correct. It is Athens that is the aggressor, the imperialist power, the state unwilling to compromise. However, it is Athens that drives the Greeks forward, artistically and politically. While Sparta may have ended up victorious, they are only remembered now for the 300, and their cruel social structure. The ferment that was Athens created great misery and destruction, but also created the basis of Western Culture.

For a detailed look at how that occurred, From Solon to Socrates is worth picking up.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell