Peter Connolly (1) (1935–)

Unique. Covers three periods: the defeat of the Macedonian army under Perseus by a republican army, Caesar's Gallic wars during the late Republic, and the post-Nero civil wars and capture of Jerusalem under Vespasian and Titus.

The final illustration is of a triumph in imperial Rome. Titus is being driven in a chariot, booty from the temple at Jerusalem is being displayed, a captive is being led away to be slaughtered while others are paraded in chains.

As ever, my favorite part of the book is show more relating Connolly's reconstructions to his meticulous renderings of the archaeological evidence. show less

Interweaves the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey with the archaeological background of the same. Connolly's lively and violent illustrations accompany the stories. The archaeological discussions have many photographs of artifacts. It is enjoyable to page between the two, seeing how Connolly's artistic reconstructions are derived from the paintings and inlays and funeral masks and sculptures found by the archaeologists. The cover illustration for my edition is from the Iliad; Ajax defends show more the Greek ships from the furious attacks of the Trojans, especially Hector. The other principal illustration is from the Odyssey: a storm tossed ship.

It seems very odd to me that any culture would prefer wheels with just four spokes.

Those Greek gods were such cheats! show less

Thoroughly and meticulously illustrated. It is really enjoyable to build maps between Connolly's illustrations of ancient art and archaeological finds, and his reconstructions based on them. And there is an actual evolutionary tree of helmet types.

Divided into three sections: Mycenaean Greece, Classical Greece, and Hellenistic Greece. Discusses the evolution of tactics as well as siege weaponry and fortification.

A few illustrations from "The Ancient Greece of Odysseus" are reused.

This was Connolly's next book after his "Ancient Armies" series. He reused quite a few of the illustrations, but I would say the text of this book is more scholarly than that of the previous series and there is a larger proportion of text to illustration. The books of the "Ancient Armies" series could be classified as YA, but this book is for adults.