Acquisitions (47): The Landmark Ancient Histories

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Andrew Hamilton: Robert B. Strassler (2014)

The Landmark Ancient Histories
(1996- ):

When I first discovered the Landmark Thucydides (1996), I have to admit that it really blew my mind. For years I'd been trying to make some headway into his history of the Peloponnesian war, but had found it impossibly dry by comparison with Herodotus, whom I first started reading as a teenager.

The Landmark Thucydides

I guess what made it so good were the detailed maps and frequent cross-references, which made it possible to follow the various campaigns and get some sense of their relative strategic importance. Without a comprehensive knowledge of Greek geography, it's hard to know how else one could really understand what was actually going on in each battle.

The Landmark Historians

It was eventually followed by an edition of Herodotus, almost as good; then Xenophon's continuation of Thucydides, the Hellenika; then Arrian's Campaigns of Alexander; and finally Julius Caesar's Commentaries.

Here, then, is the series as far as it's gone:

The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War (1996)

Robert B. Strassler, ed. The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to The Peloponnesian War. Trans. Richard Crawley. 1874. Introduction by Victor Davis Hanson. 1996. Free Press. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2008.

The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories (2007)

Robert Strassler, ed. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Trans. Andrea L. Purvis. Introduction by Rosalind Thomas. Pantheon Books. New York: Random House, Inc., 2007.

The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika (2009)

Robert B. Strassler, ed. The Landmark Xenophon’s Hellenika. Trans. John Marincola. Introduction by David Thomas. 2009. Anchor Books. New York: Random House, Inc., 2010.

The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander (2010)

James Romm, ed. The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander / Anabasis Alexandrou. Trans. Pamela Mensch. Introduction by Paul Cartledge. Series Editor: Robert B. Strassler. Pantheon Books. New York: Random House, Inc., 2010.

The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works (2017)

Kurt A. Raaflaub, ed. & trans. The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works: Gallic War, Civil War, Alexandrian War, African War, and Spanish War. Series editor: Robert A. Strassler. Pantheon Books. New York: Random House, Inc., 2017

The Landmark Xenophon's Anabasis (2021)

Thomas, David, trans. The Landmark Xenophon’s Anabasis. Ed. Shane Brennan & David Thomas. Series Editor: Robert Strassler. Pantheon Books. New York: Penguin Random House LLC, 2021.

We're promised at least a couple more volumes if the series continues:

1. Polybius' Histories
2. Ammianus Marcellinus' Res Gestae

I have quite a few of these works in other editions, along with many supplementary historical (and fictional) accompaniments, but I do find the Landmark editions irresistible, even if the last couple in the series lack some of the pizazz which made them so illuminating in the first place.

No doubt specialists can manage without them, but I'm a long country mile from being even averagely knowledgeable in this field.

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Ammianus Marcellinus: The Later Roman Empire (1986)

Ancient Historians

Authors & Works:


• Ammianus Marcellinus (c.330-c.391-400 CE)
• Arrian (c.86-160 CE)
• Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE)
• Herodotus (c.484-c.425 BCE)
• Polybius (c. 200 – c. 118 BCE)
• Thucydides (c.460–c.395 BCE)
• Xenophon (c.430-354 BCE)



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Ammianus Marcellinus (c.330-c.391-400 CE)


1. Ammianus Marcellinus. The Later Roman Empire: (A.D. 354-378). Trans Walter Hamilton. Introduction by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986.


Lucius Flavius Arrianus [Arrian of Nicomedia] (c.86-160 CE)


2. Arrian. The Life of Alexander the Great. Trans Aubrey de Sélincourt. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1958.


3. Rufus, Quintus Curtius. The History of Alexander. Trans. John Yardley. Ed. Waldemar Heckel. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984.


4. Gergel, Tania, ed. Alexander: Selected Texts from Arrian, Curtius and Plutarch. Introduction by Michael Wood. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2004.


5. Fox, Robin Lane. Alexander the Great. 1973. An Omega Book. London: Futura, 1978.


6. Plutarch. The Age of Alexander. Trans. Ian Scott-Kilvert. Introduction by G. T. Griffith. 1973. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1986.


7. Renault, Mary. The Alexander Trilogy: Fire from Heaven; The Persian Boy; Funeral Games. 1970, 1972, 1981. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984.


8. Renault, Mary. The Nature of Alexander. 1975. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.


Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE)


9. Caesar. War Commentaries. Trans. Rex Warner. Mentor Books. New York: New American Library, 1960.


10. Warner, Rex. Julius Caesar: A One-Volume Edition of the Two Novels The Young Caesar and Imperial Caesar. 1958 & 1960. London: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1967.


Herodotus [Hēródotos] (c.484-c.425 BCE)


11. Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. 1954. Ed. A. R. Burn. 1972. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974.


12. Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. 1954. Rev. John Marincola. 1996. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003.


13. Herodotus. The Histories. Trans. Tom Holland. 2013. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin, 2014.


14. de Selincourt, Aubrey. The World of Herodotus. London: Secker & Warburg, 1962.


15. Kapuściński, Ryszard. Travels with Herodotus. 2004. Trans. Klara Glowczewska. 2007. London: Penguin, 2008.


Polybius (c.200 – c.118 BCE)


16. Polybius. The Histories. Trans. W. R. Paton. Introduction by Col. H. J. Edwards. 6 vols. 1922, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, 1968, 1972.


Thucydides [Thoukydídēs] (c.460–c.395 BCE)


17. Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Trans. Rex Warner. 1954. Ed. M. I. Finley. 1972. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975.


18. Warner, Rex. Pericles the Athenian. London: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1963.


Xenophon of Athens (c.430-354 BCE)


19. Xenophon. The Complete Works: A New Edition. Trans. Ashley, Spelman, Smith, Fielding, and Others. Edinburgh: William P. Nimmo & Co., 1881.


20. Xenophon. A History of My Times (Hellenica). Trans. Rex Warner. 1966. Ed. George Cawkwell. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.


21. Xenophon. The Persian Expedition. Trans. Rex Warner. 1949. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1952.

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• category - A Gentle Madness: Classical Literature

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