Ancient Greece in Fifty Monuments

“We have provided . . . monuments that those alive today look on with wonder, as those in generations still to come will wonder, too.” More than 2,000 years later, the words uttered by the Athenian politician Pericles have been proven correct many times over. Ancient Greece continues to captivate, and its monuments still inspire awe. But what is it that makes something “Greek?”

How did a diverse and often opposing group of city-states create a culture whose influence has reverberated across millennia? Exploring Ancient Greece through its monuments—from the Parthenon in Athens to the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia— classicist David Stuttard reveals the values that united the disparate Greek world and made their mark on history. New digital reconstructions bring ancient Greece to life via buildings and monuments that still survive and can be visited today.

Ancient Greece in Fifty Monuments takes readers on a visual tour of these monuments to explore Greek identity and how leaders and states used their buildings to project power or piety; to celebrate the arts and sport; and to communicate contemporary values to future generations. Encompassing such iconic sites as the Acropolis and Knossos Palace, this book traces the development of Greek monuments from the Bronze Age, through the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, charting how they have influenced subsequent ages, from Rome to the Renaissance to the present day.