Aspects of Antiquity: Discoveries and Controversies
by M. I. Finley
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In this collection of fifteen essays the author of The Ancient Greeks and The World of Odysseus highlights aspects of the ancient world ranging from Minoan Crete to the decline of the Roman Empire twenty centuries later. He describes recent archaeological discoveries which have made the lost civilization of Crete more accessible, argues that the Greeks may never have taken Troy, and discusses the trial of Socrates in 399 B.C. Whether he is reconstructing the life of a peasant shouldering the show more tax burden of expanding the Roman army, a freed slave turning slave-trader, or an upper-class Roman woman with no individual name to distinguish her in public from her sisters, M.I. Finley unfailingly combines up-to-date scholarship with a vivid historical imagination to continue the dialogue between past and present 'in a modern way'. show lessTags
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This book contains a collection of essays on the ancient world, from Minoan Crete to the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. This book is still a good read and was a relevant and scholarly work when I read it. Now decade’s later new information has come to light. But Finely method of writing makes this publication still worth reading. For his methods would not allow him to speculate without sufficient factual data so you can be assured of his stated historical facts in the small book as they were known at time of original publication. He wrote a book that would lead the reader in a direction to seek answer to those areas that they found interesting. I still find this to be a good introductory book.
collection of essays on topics that intrigued Prof. Finley. The book is still in print today, and the questions continue to invite investigation.
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Author Information

49+ Works 5,122 Members
M. I. Finley, FBA, (1912-1986), was a major scholar of classics and ancient history. He taught at Columbia University and the City College of New York, where he was influenced by exiled members of the Frankfurt School, before taking a position at Rutgers University. Finley moved to England in 1955, taught classics at Cambridge, and became a master show more at Darwin College. His numerous works include the classic texts Aspects of Antiquity and The Ancient Economy. Finley was knighted by the queen for his contributions to scholarship in 1979. show less
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Aspects of Antiquity, Discoveries and Controversies
- Original publication date
- 1968
- People/Characters
- Alexander the Great; Aristotle; Augustus Caesar; Marcus Aurelius; Hannibal; Herod the Great (show all 9); Homer; Plato; Socrates
- Important places
- Athens, Greece; Carthage; Mycenae, Argolis, Greece; Rome, Roman Empire; Sparta, Greece; Troy
- Important events
- Trojan War
- Dedication
- To J. H. Plumb
- First words
- Introduction: Desperately Foreign -- In the couse of a very long passage midway through Oedipus the King the chorus of Theban elders says: I will go no more to Apollo's inviolate shrine... The old prophecies about Laius are... (show all) losing their power; already men are dismissing them from mind, and Apollo is no longer glorified with honours.
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Statistics
- Members
- 249
- Popularity
- 131,122
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 7



























































