The author is a classics professor at Princeton, but has written a general social history of ancient Greece from roughly Philip II of Macedon to the Roman ruler Hadrian in the second century AD. The first half of the book covers Alexander's conquests, and the battles among his successor kingdoms and the Romans. The second half discusses the cultural, and governmental institutions of this long period. The changing religious traditions are covered in the final chapter. The book is not a quick read, but is intended for readers wishing to learn more about the interactions of different people in the ancient Greek world.
