In Classic. History of the Greco-Roman World by Anton van Hooff, myths and history sometimes intertwine. But if you take that into account, the book is a beautiful and complete story about classical antiquity.
“Ancient” is a concept that actually has no fixed meaning. Usually historians mean by this a period in which the roots of a civilization were laid. The period can therefore differ per culture. The Chinese Antiquity is something very different from the European Antiquity. But antiquity is always the beginning of history, written history, in contrast to prehistory, when writing did not yet exist.
We know roughly the last thousand years of European antiquity as classical antiquity. It is the time of the Athenian democracy, the great philosophers, orators, the Roman colloseum and the emperors. It was a long period of great cultural flowering in which all kinds of concepts, stories and ideas emerged that we still regularly encounter in our time. Hence the title Classic, a word that comes from the Latin classicus. In the language of the Romans it meant "of the wealthy class", as opposed to "proletarian".
Later, in the Renaissance of the sixteenth century, the word came to denote quality. Greco-Roman culture was seen as an example or model for what Western civilization should look like. The views that the ancient Greeks and Romans had about politics and culture, although they can certainly not be traced back one to one to classical antiquity, have left a clear mark on our modern, Western culture.
Myths or history?
Until 2008, Anton van Hooff was senior lecturer in classical history at Radboud University Nijmegen. After his retirement, his enthusiasm for classical antiquity did not stop. On the contrary, he still regularly gives lessons and guest lectures and writes about his profession for various newspapers and magazines for a large audience. Previously published the books Nero &Seneca, Athens and Marcus Aurelius .
With Classic Van Hooff now presents a coherent history of the Greco-Roman world. Classical antiquity begins for him, as it does for most classicists, with Homer, the legendary writer of the Illias. and the Odyssey . Homer is of great importance because he is the first writer to emerge after the "dark ages," the period of 1150 BC. to 850 BC. when writing mysteriously disappeared from Greek culture. And then with such an extensive and beautifully written epic of heroes!
Homer's epics are about the mythical heroes Achilles and Odysseus, who fought in the equally famous Trojan War. Van Hooff clearly indicates the importance of Homer for classical history. But in this early phase of classical antiquity, it is sometimes difficult for Van Hooff to distinguish between what is history and what is myth and legend. This applies not only in the case of Homer, but also, for example, in the history of the city of Rome.
Van Hooff tells the myth of the orphans Romulus and Remus, sons of the war god Mars, who were suckled by a she-wolf (Latin:lupa). Later they were found by a shepherd who entrusted them to his wife. Van Hooff also points out with the Roman historian Livy that lupa also means whore. The whole myth can therefore also refer to the work of the shepherdess.
Seneca, Livy and Ovid
Romulus and Remus founded Rome on the seven hills along the Tiber, and Romulus becomes the first of seven kings, until the Roman Republic is established in 507. So that's the myth, but what do we know about how it really went? We also read almost nothing about the Roman royal period. We also read remarkably little about late antiquity, and the so important rise of Christianity. This approach is understandable, because Van Hooff is after all about the 'classical' of classical antiquity. But historically, the book shows some voids here and there. Moreover, the mythological and the historical sometimes get mixed up, which can be confusing here and there.
But Van Hooff presents the broad outlines of the history (with all the myths and sagas that go with it) of the Greco-Roman world in a perfectly readable story. What about Kleisthenes and Athenian democracy, the conquests of Julius Caesar, or great writers like Seneca, Livy and Ovid? Everything is clearly arranged. In the beginning, the focus is more on Greece and developments in Rome are always briefly touched upon in the background. Later, as Rome's power grows, the story is told more from a Roman perspective.
All in all, Classic an excellent book for those who want to read in a well-arranged way how things were in classical antiquity. Van Hooff regularly makes nice (cultural) bridges with our contemporary language. What does a Pyrrhic victory mean again? Where does the word Oedipus complex come from? Did the Roman orator Cato really close all his speeches or say that Carthage must be destroyed? For that you need to know the culture of classical antiquity. And for that you have to Classic by Anton van Hooff.