{"product_id":"9781804298558","title":"The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests","description":"Author:\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781804298558\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 04 Nov 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 752 Format: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World\u003c\/i\u003e is an original and influential reconstruction of Classical Antiquity through a Marxist lens. Geoffrey de Ste. Croix explores the personality of the Ancient world as a slave economy. He traces the social origins of Athenian democracy and the later decline of the Greek city-states in the Roman era, and offers an innovative class-based explanation for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Comparing the late Roman political-fiscal system to a  vampire bat , Ste. Croix argues that serfdom and a tightening fiscal screw left the peasant masses with an attitude of indifference to the Empire s fate.  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFirst published in 1981, \u003ci\u003eThe Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World \u003c\/i\u003e was recognised by Ernst Badian in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e as  The only work in a Western language that has ever attempted to tell the story of the greatest part of the ancient world with the interests of the lower classes as its central theme .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A landmark in the field of ancient history  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Republic \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e An astonishing achievement  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Few contributions to ancient history are read much longer than a generation. There are exceptions, such as Edward Gibbon and George Grote; Geoffrey, I suspect, will join that company. \u003cbr\u003eDavid Harvey, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46655874334878,"sku":"UBD-9781804298558","price":62.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781804298558.jpg?v=1774836079","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781804298558","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}