Richard A. Billows's Books

The Spear, the Scroll, and the Pebble

How the Greek City-State Developed as a Male Warrior-Citizen Collective

By: Richard A. Billows

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The Spear, the Scroll, and the Pebble

How the Greek City-State Developed as a Male Warrior-Citizen Collective

By: Richard A. Billows

This book presents a powerful new argument for how and why the Greek city-states, including their distinctive society and culture, came to be - and why they had the highly unusual and influential form they took. After reviewing early city-state formation, and the economic underpinnings of city-state society, three key chapters examine the way the Greeks developed their unique society. The spear, scroll and pebble encapsulate the book's core ideas. The Spear: city-state Greeks developed a citizen-militia military system that gave relatively equal importance to each citizen-warrior, thereby emboldening the citizen-warriors to demand political rights. The Pebble: the resultant growth of collective political systems of oligarchy and democracy led to thousands of citizens forming the sovereign element of the state; they made political decisions through communal debate and voting. The Scroll: in order for such systems to function, a shared information base had to be created, and this was done by setting up public notices of laws, proposed policies, public meeting agendas, and a host of other information. To access this information, these military and political citizens had to be able to read. Billows examines the spread of schools and literacy throughout the Greek world, showing that the male city-state Greeks formed the world's first-known mass literate society. He concludes by showing that it was the mass-literate nature of the Greek city-state society that explains the remarkable and influential culture the classical Greeks produced.

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Page Count

289

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350289221

ISBN 13

9781350289222

Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State

By: Richard A. Billows

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Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State

By: Richard A. Billows

Called by Plutarch "the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors," Antigonos the One-Eyed (382-301 BC) was the dominant figure during the first half of the Diadoch period, ruling most of the Asian territory conquered by the Macedonians during his final twenty years. Billows provides the first detailed study of this great general and administrator, establishing him as a key contributor to the Hellenistic monarchy and state. After a successful career under Philip and Alexander, Antigonos rose to power over the Asian portion of Alexander's conquests. Embittered by the persistent hostility of those who controlled the European and Egyptian parts of the empire, he tried to eliminate these opponents, an ambition which led to his final defeat in 301. In a corrective to the standard explanations of his aims, Billows shows that Antigonos was scarcely influenced by Alexander, seeking to rule West Asia and the Aegean, rather than the whole of Alexander's Empire.

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Page Count

539

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520919041

ISBN 13

9780520919044

Kings and Colonists

Aspects of Macedonian Imperialism

By: Richard A. Billows

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Kings and Colonists

Aspects of Macedonian Imperialism

By: Richard A. Billows

This book on Macedonian imperialism in the 4th-2nd centuries BCE looks at the nature and origin of that imperialism, and for the first time examines closely the personnel of imperial control to see what the empire meant to them.

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Page Count

276

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

9004101772

ISBN 13

9789004101777

Marathon

How One Battle Changed Western Civilization

By: Richard A. Billows

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Marathon

How One Battle Changed Western Civilization

By: Richard A. Billows

This lively ancient history demonstrates how the Athenian victory against Persian invaders was critical to the development of Western society. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is widely considered the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians. In Marathon, historian Richard Billows goes further, arguing that it was also the most significant moment in our collective history. As 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000, Greek victory appeared impossible. But the men of Athens were tenacious and the Persians were defeated. Following the battle, the Athenian hoplite army ran 26.5 miles from Marathon to Athens to defend their port from the Persian navy. Greek freedom ensued and the achievements of the culture became much of the basis for Western civilization.

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Page Count

244

Publisher

Abrams

Published Date

ISBN 10

1468303066

ISBN 13

9781468303063

Julius Caesar

The Colossus of Rome

By: Richard A. Billows

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Julius Caesar

The Colossus of Rome

By: Richard A. Billows

This thoroughly up to date English biography provides an account of Caesar’s life it is both lively and engaging, offering an imaginative recounting of actions and events, while giving a thorough coverage and analysis.

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Page Count

335

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134318332

ISBN 13

9781134318339

Before and After Alexander

The Legend and Legacy of Alexander the Great

By: Richard A. Billows

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Before and After Alexander

The Legend and Legacy of Alexander the Great

By: Richard A. Billows

In the arc of western history, Ancient Greece is at the apex, owing to its grandeur, its culture, and an intellectual renaissance to rival that of Europe. So important is Greece to history that figures such as Plato and Socrates are still household names, and the works of Homer are regularly adapted into movies. The most acclaimed hero of all, though, is Alexander the Great.While historians have studied Alexander’s achievements at length, author and professor Richard A. Billows delves deeper into the obscure periods of Alexander’s life before and after his reign. In the definitive Before and After Alexander, Billows explores the years preceding Alexander, who, Billows argues, without the foundation laid by his father, Philip II of Macedon. would not have had the resources or influence to develop one of the greatest empires in history. Alexander was groomed from a young age to succeed his father, and by the time Philip was assassinated in 336 BC, his great empire was already well underway.The years following Alexander's death were even more momentous. In this ambitious new work, Richard Billows robustly challenges the notion that the political strife that followed was for lack of a leader as competent as Alexander, pointing out instead that there were too many extremely capable leaders who exploited the power vacuum created by Alexander's death to carve out kingdoms for themselves.Above all, in Before and After Alexander, Billows eloquently and convincingly posits a complex view of one of the greatest empires in history, framing it not as the achievement of one man, but the culmination of several generations of aggressive expansion toward a unified purpose.

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Page Count

309

Publisher

Abrams

Published Date

ISBN 10

1468316419

ISBN 13

9781468316414

Marathon

How One Battle Changed Western Civilization

By: Richard A. Billows

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Marathon

How One Battle Changed Western Civilization

By: Richard A. Billows

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244

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Abrams

Published Date

ISBN 10

1468303066

ISBN 13

9781468303063

Before and After Alexander

The Legend and Legacy of Alexander the Great

By: Richard A. Billows

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Before and After Alexander

The Legend and Legacy of Alexander the Great

By: Richard A. Billows

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309

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Abrams

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ISBN 10

1468316419

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9781468316414

The Spear, the Scroll, and the Pebble

How the Greek City-State Developed as a Male Warrior-Citizen Collective

By: Richard A. Billows

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The Spear, the Scroll, and the Pebble

How the Greek City-State Developed as a Male Warrior-Citizen Collective

By: Richard A. Billows

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289

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350289213

ISBN 13

9781350289215

Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State

By: Richard A. Billows

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Antigonos the One-Eyed and the Creation of the Hellenistic State

By: Richard A. Billows

With meticulous and wide-ranging scholarship, Professor Billows gives this vigorous, huge, and hugely ambitious figure his just deserts. A well-paced narrative of Antigonos's career, culminating in his disastrous bid for empire at Ipsus (301 B.C.), is followed by masterly analyses of his administrative, economic, and cultural policies. The result fills, with distinction, a notable gap in both Hellenistic history and biography."—Peter Green, author of Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age

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539

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520208803

ISBN 13

9780520208803

The Practical Works of Richard Baxter: With a Life of the Author and a Critical Examination of His Writings by William Orme;

By: Richard Baxter

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The Practical Works of Richard Baxter: With a Life of the Author and a Critical Examination of His Writings by William Orme;

By: Richard Baxter

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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Page Count

602

Publisher

Palala Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1378585453

ISBN 13

9781378585450

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