The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World - (World History) by G E M Ste Croix (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World is an original and provocative reconstruction of 1,400 years of classical antiquity. Sharply written, it is a major intervention in Marxist theories of class, seeking to explain and illustrate the value of Marx's general analysis of society to ancient Greek studies. G. E. M. de Ste. Croix makes slavery central to the achievements of the Greek city-states and wider classical civilisation. He traces the social origins of Athenian democracy and advances an innovative explanation for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Comparing the late Roman political system to a 'vampire bat', Ste. Croix argues that serfdom and a tightening fiscal screw left the peasant masses indifferent to the Empire's fate.

Widely reviewed and debated, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World was hailed by the New York Review of Books as 'the only work in a Western language that has ever attempted to tell the story of the greatest part of the ancient world with the interests of the lower classes as its central theme'.

Review Quotes

"The one systematic and large-scale effort to study antiquity from a Marxist point of view. An essential port of call ... Stimulating and valuable"
--Kostas Vlassopoulos, Jacobin

"An astonishing achievement"
--Sunday Times

"A landmark in the field of ancient history"
--New Republic

"Provides the kind of satisfaction one gets from watching a skilled craftsman at work. The reader's curiosity is constantly whetted - what is he going to say next?"
--Past and Present

About the Author

Geoffrey de Ste. Croix (1910-2000) was a Fellow of New College, Oxford and one of the most distinguished ancient historians of his generation. He is the author of The Origins of the Peloponnesian War and The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, winner of the Deutscher Memorial Prize.