Paul Rahe’s newest book will be available Nov. 19.
Gemma Flores | Collegian
“I feel just like a real scholar now,” I thought, snuggling into seat 29D with a paperback advance copy of Professor of History Paul A. Rahe’s “Sparta’s Third Attic War.” “Dr. Rahe should write these things more often.”
As the sixth and latest addition to a series on Spartan grand strategy, Rahe’s tome was surprisingly accessible. His prologue, “Sparta’s Enduring Strategic Dilemma,” proves to be an erudite, informative introduction to the military, political, social, and economic factors in the ancient Spartan regime leading up to the Third Attic War in the years 412-405 B.C. — the book’s focus.
Rahe gives a highly intelligent — yet highly intelligible — crash course on Spartan and Greek history contextualizes the work before delving into the world of ancient Mediterranean politics with the Persian ruler Darius II. The book is interwoven with aptly chosen quotes from a variety of authors, ranging from Plutarch to Thucydides to Churchill. Rahe skillfully introduces and explains Greek terms, offices, and politics to create a work which is as edifying to the casual aficionado of Greek history as it is useful to a classics scholar.
“Sparta’s Third Attic War” touches upon a wealth of subject matter in the course of its narrative: Rahe deftly splices explanations of the Spartan order with discussions of Persian internal and foreign relations alongside recountings of the (often risqué) escapades of Alcibiades. One of these areas alone could provide subject matter enough for plenty of books himself.
The smooth-talking, wildly-popular, always-perfidious “Athenian with a Spartan name who had an interest in turning everything upside down,” as Rahe describes him, plays a key role throughout the events described in the book. He flits all about the world of the ancient Near East, chameleon-like, able to instantly adopt the customs and win the hearts of whichever polity whose services he happens to need most at a given time.
Rahe introduces a whole host of other fascinating players throughout history: Cyrus and Agis, Tissaphernes and Peisander, Darius II and Lysander. The feint and thrust of their blockades, sea battles, alliances, and other military and political maneuvers are judiciously interspersed. Rahe shares the background on everything: the reduced force of ancient shock cavalry due to a lack of stirrups, the eventual pairing of barbarian cavalry with the heavily armored Greek hoplite formation, and even the saga of British explorer Tim Severin’s 1984 attempt to duplicate the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts from Volos to Georgia.
After Rahe’s prose narrative, about 140 pages of notes provide helpful references to primary and secondary sources for further study. The appendices are short and sweet — just about everything that one can ask for from an appendix.
In general, the style of Rahe’s prose is elaborate but eminently readable. The book is enjoyable to read as a story, not just as a collection of historical happenstances. By the time Rahe closes the volume with the surrender of Athens, the razing of the Long Walls, and the Athenians’ alliance with the Spartans, the reader is ready to draw a long breath of satisfaction, not unlike that which follows the first steaming sip of coffee on a frosty morning, or perhaps a Sunday afternoon nap.
So, whether you’re obsessed with the ancient world or you’ve developed a hankering for military history — if you’re one of those undaunted souls who can look on four-syllable-long patronymics and laugh — whenever you find yourself in the mood for a quiet evening with ancient grand strategy, military tactics, and filthy turncoats — if you’ve got a thing for occasional epigraphs from Yeats and Bob Dylan — give “Sparta’s Third Attic War” a whirl.
After all, they say the third time’s a charm.