The Battle of Arginusae
— Tim Morris, Lection
About the book
A pivotal skirmish involving nearly three hundred Athenian and Spartan ships toward the end of the Peloponnesian War, the Battle of Arginusae was at the time the largest naval battle ever fought between warring Greeks. It was a crucial win for the Athenians, since losing the battle would have led to their total defeat by Sparta and, perhaps, the slaughter and enslavement of their entire population. Paradoxically, the win at Arginusae resulted in one of the worst disasters to befall the Athenians during the brutal twenty-seven-year war. In The Battle of Arginusae, Hamel unfolds the process that turned this naval victory into one of the most infamous chapters in the city-state's history. Aimed at classics students and general readers, the book also provides an in-depth examination of the fraught relationship between Athens' military commanders and its vaunted sovereign democracy.
Reviews
Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"The book is lively, accessible, interesting, and it will, no coubt, be well received by the popular audience for which it is intended. The scholarly rigour with which the book is written, as well as the valuable discussions about evidence, naval warfare, and particularly the complexities of democratic command, however, will also make it extremely useful for undergraduates. Certainly, it is now on my reading lists, and I suspect my students will, like me, very much enjoy reading it."
Lection
"Hamel combines hip writing for the general reader with a scholar's ability to size up the sources of our knowledge of the past. For instance, a key witness back in Athens was a guy who had escaped the battle scene by floating off on a tub of barley; so naturally Hamel keeps referring to him as 'the guy on the barley tub'"
"The Battle of Arginusae makes exceptionally good use of maps. There are only a couple, in the front of the book, and they're just line drawings, but if Hamel mentions a place, you can look right at the map and be sure to find it. This seems simple, but it's the rare history book that's well-enough produced and edited that its maps are ideally integrated with its text. It may just be that I'm a visual learner, but I found Debra Hamel an excellent teacher."
Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d'histoire
"The book is a welcome addition to the extensive literature on the Peloponnesian War — which surprisingly lacks such a detailed account of this critical aspect of the war — and also a key event surrounding the trial of Socrates. The text is ideal for any upper division undergraduate course or graduate seminar that deals with either the Great War between Athens and Sparta or the trial of Socrates, as well as Athenian political thought and its legal system. Specialists in the field will enjoy the original reconstruction and interpretation of the battle and the various legal procedures. But the book should also be welcome to the general reader, including non-specialist classicists."
From the Back Cover
Lawrence A. Tritle, Loyola Marymount University
"A captivating account of the battle of Arginusae and its fateful consequences for the Athenians in their great struggle with Sparta. Hamel is well-versed in Greek (and Athenian) history of the classical era and is an authority on the Athenian strategia, the board of generals who commanded armies and fleets. The Battle of Arginusae is a gripping read."