tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-649431201703508681.post6850445525614140411..comments2023-11-02T10:22:20.717-04:00Comments on Mike Anderson's Ancient History Blog: Education and its Roots in AntiquityMike Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02072553719998549925noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-649431201703508681.post-90399226888900438342011-03-06T14:58:22.634-05:002011-03-06T14:58:22.634-05:00Just to clarify things in my mind the other day I ...Just to clarify things in my mind the other day I drew up a rough timeline of personalities and events and Greece between the Battle of Salamis and the death of Alexander. This includes the lifetimes of Plato, Thucydides, Aristotle, Herodotus, Xenophon, Socrates, Euripides, Sophocles, and Aristophanes, and adds up to a period of a mere 157 years. Right in the middle is the Peloponnesian War. Put in perspective (as if 2011 was 323 BC) that would be to us as if it took place between 1904 and 1930. The Battle of Salamis would have taken place in 1854, two years before my great grandfather was born. During that time the entire foundation of western civilization was laid. The first true historians, the first true philosophers, the first true dramatists, geometers, and more. Alexander's conquest brought Greek thought into contact with Jerusalem, and the succeeding Roman Empire provided a geopolitical space into which Christianity spread. For those historians who claim battles don't matter, Salamis and Charonea are proof that they do, because none of this would have happened without them.<br />And when you think of how much has happened since 1854, it's hard not to think that we are experiencing in our lifetimes one of those pivotal historical moments.<br />By the way, have you ever taken an interest in who the Trojans were? I don't know of any modern researchers who have taken up this question, which is surprising since they figured so powerfully in Roman tradition. And we need not forget that they loomed large in some British traditions as well.Barry Brummethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18368177520598939198noreply@blogger.com