Archaic Eretria A Political and Social History from the Earliest Times to 490 BC

This is the first detailed history of one of the most prosperous and important Greek cities of the pre-classical period; Eretria was the moving spirit in Greek resistance to Persia dominance, and a significant overseas colonizer.
Keith Walker's stimulating and thoughtful work weaves together evidence from archaeology, philology, textual research, epigraphy and numismatics. It begins by examining the period from the later Neolithic to the early Iron Age. The latter chapters cover the city's rise to prominence in the Archaic era, with skilful reconstruction of the complex alliances and enmities of the Greek cities.

This book presents for the first time a history of Eretria during the Archaic Era, the city's most notable period of political importance and Keith Walker examines all the major elements of the city's success. One of the key factors explored is Eretria's role as a pioneer coloniser in both the Levant and the West - its early Aegaen 'island empire' anticipates that of Athens by more than a century, and Eretrian shipping and trade was similarly widespread. Eretria's major, indeed dominant, role in the events of central Greece in the last half of the sixth century, and in the events of the Ionian Revolt to 490 is clearly demonstrated, and the tyranny of Diagoras (c.538-509), perhaps the golden age of the city, is fully examined. Full documentation of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources (most of which has previously been inaccessible to an English speaking-audience) is provided, creating a fascinating history and valuable resource for the Greek historian.