Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient HistorianIs it possible to trace the footprints of the historical Sokrates in Athens? Was there really an individual named Romulus, and if so, when did he found Rome? Is the tomb beneath the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica home to the apostle Peter? To answer these questions, we need both dirt and words—that is, archaeology and history. Bringing the two fields into conversation, Artifact and Artifice offers an exciting excursion into the relationship between ancient history and archaeology and reveals the possibilities and limitations of using archaeological evidence in writing about the past. Jonathan M. Hall employs a series of well-known cases to investigate how historians may ignore or minimize material evidence that contributes to our knowledge of antiquity unless it correlates with information gleaned from texts. Dismantling the myth that archaeological evidence cannot impart information on its own, he illuminates the methodological and political principles at stake in using such evidence and describes how the disciplines of history and classical archaeology may be enlisted to work together. He also provides a brief sketch of how the discipline of classical archaeology evolved and considers its present and future role in historical approaches to antiquity. Written in clear prose and packed with maps, photos, and drawings, Artifact and Artifice will be an essential book for undergraduates in the humanities. |
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Contents
| 1 | |
2 Delphic Vapours | 17 |
3 The Persian Destruction of Eretria | 35 |
4 Eleusis the Oath of Plataia and the Peace of Kallias | 55 |
5 Sokrates in the Athenian Agora | 77 |
6 The Tombs at Vergina | 97 |
7 The City of Romulus | 119 |
8 The Birth of the Roman Republic | 145 |
The House of Augustus | 167 |
10 The Bones of St Peter | 187 |
Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian | 207 |
List of Ancient Authors | 221 |
Glossary | 225 |
| 231 | |
| 249 | |
Common terms and phrases
adyton aedicula Aeneas Aigeai ancient historians Andronikos apostles archaeology Archaic argued Arrhidaios Athenian agora Athens Attic Augustus beneath Borza burial buried Capitoline Carandini and Bruno Carettoni House century BCE classical archaeology construction Cornell cremation cult Delphi Diodoros Dionysios of Halikarnassos document Dyson earlier early Eleusis Eretria Etruscan evidence excavations FGrH fifth century Finley Fontenrose 1978 foundation fourth century Francis and Vickers frieze Greece Greek Heliaia Herodotos Iacopi and Tedone identified inscription king late later Latial Livy Macedonian marble ment metres Oath of Plataia Octavian ofthe oracle originally Palatine Pausanias Peace of Kallias pediment peristyle Persian Peter phase Philip Plutarch Poros Poros Building Pythia remains Rex Sacrorum Roman Rome Rome’s Romulus sanctuary scholars sculpture Servius Servius Tullius shrine sixth Sokrates Spartans Strabo Suetonius suggested Tarquinius Telesterion temple of Apollo temple of Jupiter third century Thucydides tion Tomb tradition Vatican Vergina Wiseman
Bibliographic information
| Title | Artifact and Artifice: Classical Archaeology and the Ancient Historian |
| Author | Jonathan M. Hall |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press, 2014 |
| ISBN | 022608096X, 9780226080963 |
| Length | 256 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Ancient / General Literary Criticism / Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism / General Social Science / Archaeology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |