V. 2 provides illustrations to accompany v. 5-6 of the Cambridge Ancient History, which focuses on Greece and the Mediterranean world of the fourth and fifth centuries, B.C.; v. 3 provides illustrations to accompany v. 7-8 of the Cambridge Ancient History, which focuses on the areas conquered by Alexander the Great and by Rome; v. 4 focuse upon the Roman Empire.
The publication of the Plates Volume to accompany the Cambridge Ancient History Volume III and that for Volume II part I inaugurates a new style and format for these books. The illustrations are now presented with a descriptive text and commentary, so that each chapter is a self-contained account of matters of archaeological and art-historical interest, relevant to the history of a period and place. The order of illustration is not always that of the chapters in the text volumes, but is determined by the material illustrated and the principal subjects it suggests. The intention is thus both to complement the text volumes and to provide an independent commentary on the material evidence of antiquity. The Plates for Volume III covers the prehistory of the Balkans, the Near Eastern kingdoms and Egypt, the rise of the Greek States in the period of colonisation and of their 'Archaic' art and culture, down to the later part of the sixth century BC. The narrative draws upon the evidence of topography, excavation and art history to demonstrate how these studies have succeeded in both illustrating and supplementing our knowledge of antiquity, won mainly from written sources.
The vast empire that Alexander the Great left at his death in 323 BC has few parallels. For the next three hundred years the Greeks controlled a complex of monarchies and city-states that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to India. F. W. Walbank's lucid and authoritative history of that Hellenistic world examines political events, describes the different social systems and mores of the people under Greek rule, traces important developments in literature and science, and discusses the new religious movements.
