Xerxes at Salamis by Peter GreenReview by: Donald KaganThe American Historical Review, Vol. 76, No. 3 (Jun., 1971), pp. 750-751Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1851640 .

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750 Reviews of Books

architectural, military, and naval technology. The author's task of interpreting the remains of ancient technology is always difficult, yet Mr. Hodges seldom goes beyond the bounds of reasonable speculation in his explanations. The few inaccuracies found in the narrative are minor and pardonable in a general book such as this. Finally, excellent quality photo- graphs and illustrations are liberally em- ployed to ease the burden of protracted ex- planation in this fine little book.

RICHARD NELSON

Augsburg College

DANIEL BABUT. Plutarque et le stoicisme. (Pub- lications de l'Universit6 de Lyon.) Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. 1969. Pp. 598. 6o fr.

It may very well be that Plutarque et le stoicisme will be of much more interest to the student of ancient religion and philosophy than to the historian, but it is not a book that can be readily ignored since it constitutes an ex- haustive study of one aspect of an author who is a major source for our knowledge of the Hellenistic world. Though studies exist about the relation of Platonism and Epicureanism to Plutarch, no study like Babut's discusses exhaustively the place of Stoicism and the Stoics in the works of Plutarch. The book under review is in fact more than just a study of Plutarch and his philological use of Stoicism; rather, it becomes a valuable critique of Stoi- cism as seen and used by Plutarch, who ob- viously knew this important school intimately, both as a philosophical tradition and as a liv- ing contemporary philosophy, in original texts and in representative persons of that school. Professor Babut examines every single instance of Stoic word and thought that can be found in the works of Plutarch and distinguishes three different periods and use: first, a youth- ful period in which his own philosophy was being formed, during which he borrowed from Stoicism, but in no significant degree and with a hostile position initially to that philosophy; second, a period of great confrontation with Stoic tlhought as evidenced by numerous polem- ical writings; and third, a less aggressive period in which his own thought is not much modified but in which he acknowledges cer- tain partial agreements with Stoicism. Babut

shows vividly that Plutarch did not hesitate to appropriate Stoic ideas that fitted in with his own vision of things. Stoic Einfluss can be seen in common links, in adaptations to Plutarchian use, and in incorrect usage.

Basic to Babut's approach throughout the study is the attempt to resolve the apparent contradiction in Plutarch as a thinker. Ab- solutely clear is the fact that Plutarch knew hiis Stoicism and criticized it severely as a philosophy, though this did not necessarily color his consideration of the men who prac- ticed Stoicism and in whom he saw spiritual affinities, even recognizing in them what might be called a community of beliefs and ideas. Pro- fessor Babut reviews every aspect of Stoicism itself, its basic principles, ethics, religion (in- cluding allegorical interpretation and demonol- ogy), and the Stoic concept of God and the world. The two major divisions of the book, "Plutarch and the Stoa" and "Plutarch and the Stoic Vision of the World," provide the astute reader with a comprehensive posing of the apparent anti-Stoicism of Plutarch and a fully documented answer that claims the solu- tion in his opposition to eclecticism, not in eclecticism itself. Babut insists that Stoic thought played for Plutarch le ro'le d'un revela- teur.

The reader can learn a great deal about Plutarch and about Stoicism from this sub- stantial book, but he may wonder whether the author's main thesis is not a bit over- worked and even self-evident. Still, Professor Babut has given us a formidable study that will undoubtedly become a source of invaluable information for both students of Plutarch and students of Stoicism.

JOHN E. REXINE

Colgate University

PETER GREEN. Xerxes at Salamis. New York: Praeger Publishers. 1970. Pp. xv, 326. $io.oo.

Peter Green has written a brilliant piece of popular scholarship, popular because it is engagingly and excitingly written, has few footnotes and no Greek, scholarly because it is based on the results of a useful and insight- ful reading of the sources, a comprehensive grasp of modern scholarship, and a first-hand knowledge of the land and battlefields he de- scribes. He has chosen a perfect time to write

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Ancient 751

such an account of the Persian invasion of Greece, for he has profited from the impor- tant works of Burn and Hegnett and the es- sential topographical essays of Pritchett, all of which have appeared in the last decade. Green is wise in following Burn more closely than Hignett, whose misguided idolatry of Herodotus leads him to ignore or discredit such important sources as Plutarch and Diod- orus-Ephorus.

While his debts are clear and generously acknowledged, Green exercises independent judgment and offers many new insights. The book's greatest strength is in the realm of military and naval history. The exposition of strategy and tactics on both sides is master- ful. I have read no account of Salamis so clear and so persuasive. The explanation of Thermopylae and Artemisium, which argues that the main battle was meant to be fought on land, does not convince me, but it is clearly and intelligently presented and superior to most. Plataea is impossible to reconstruct from the unsatisfactory evidence, but Green's version has the merit of indicating what the problems are and offers a reasonable, if nec- essarily incomplete, account. Details aside, the military narrative is scholarly, clear, and often exciting.

On the political side I find more to quarrel with. Themistocles is Green's hero, and he is right to see many Churchillian parallels. I think, however, that the class basis of Athenian politics is drawn too sharply and so, too, is the political structure itself. There was no two-party system with Themistocles and the radical, sea-going democrats on one side and Cimon, Aristides, Xanthippus, and the conser- vative, agrarian Tories on the other. The situation was far less organized and more com- plicated. All three opponents of Themisto- cles favored the naval policy and the Delian League. No one was more popular with the demos than Cimon. None of the objections are weighty. This book should be read by scholars who will profit from its originality and by anyone interested in the Greeks, Herod- otus, military history, or an exciting, well- written story. Certainly no visitor to Greece should be without it.

DONALD KAGAN

Yale University

A. R. W. HARRISON. The Law of A thens: The Family and Property. New York: Oxford Uni- versity Press. 1968. Pp. xix, 346. $io.1o.

Demosthenes' oratorical ability has been much admired, but the greater part of his work is seldom or ever read. His political speeches are much studied, but those written for the courtroom either for himself or for others rarely draw attention. They are difficult to understand and of small historical significance as they present only one side of a case and their partisan pleading hinders interpreta- tion. The greatest difficulty in understanding, however, arises because we have no contempo- rary guide to the Athenian law of this period; hence the subject matter is frequently ob- scure. A. R. W. Harrison set out to remedy this by providing a two-volume work on the law of Athens in the fourth century. This volume is the first and will be followed by a second. Unfortunately Harrison died before completing his work, but he left manuscript and notes in an advanced state of preparation, and D. M. Macdowell has undertaken the responsibility for editing and preparing the second volume for the press.

In this first volume Harrison discusses the law of property and the law of persons with various subdivisions in each category. He has gathered his material from Demosthenes, from the other fourth-century orators and writers, and from notices in later scholiasts and lexicographers. He has then arranged the information according to various cate- gories of the law conventional among jurists and legal scholars. The result is highly suc- cessful and as far as is possible provides a work- ing handbook for fourth-century Athenian law. It strikingly illuminates the fundamental importance of the oikos (family, household) as the basic institution in the structure of the Athenian polis.

Harrison does not try to avoid the great difficulties and problems that arise at almost every point. Generally he presents a descrip- tive narrative and keeps argumentation in the footnotes, which consequently are long, learned, and often complex. The narrative itself is pragmatic, presenting case law and avoiding theory. The result is an old-fashioned work of scholarship with the strengths and weaknesses of that genre. On the one hand, the

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