It's wroth reading.
and yes, i wrote wroth.
https://www.takimag.com/article/the-good-fights/
srsly worth reading.
When I first began learning about the Greeks—my great-uncle was the foremost intellectual of his time and a brilliant pedagogue—I was mystified by the collapse of Athens and Sparta. Athens under Pericles reached its cultural peak, Western man was born, whereas in Sparta the martial state came into being. No state before or after has even come close to matching the martial readiness and spirit of my grandmother’s birthplace. Just imagine what those two, Athens and Sparta, could have accomplished together, but it was yet another Greek who managed it—conquered the known world, that is.
2 comments:
I'm reasonably sure neither the Spartans nor the Athenians would've recognized the Macedonians as Greeks except in the most backhanded manner, and then only duress. But none of the Greeks could ever get together for long -- not the Corinthians, Argives, Thebans, nor any others except for the most temporary advantage. Even within their city-states, they were mostly riven by fatal divisions. It is amazing what they accomplished before destroying themselves. One wonders how much more of their accomplishments would've been lost forever had they not (unwittingly) subverted Roman civilization?
Ah, somebody else who has read Thucidyes. I pasted a map into my copy so I could keep track of all the Greeks. There were never a polity.
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