• The meetings will be held on Thursdays 7-9.30 pm in the Departmental Library. This late time seemed suitable for everyone. Distance students living nearby are most welcome to come and join us in the class, whenever you feel like getting into a car and coming to Gainesville for the evening.
• This Thursday (March 17), the meeting will be online only. We will not have a meeting on Campus, but still you can find the lecture online in the usual place. The lecture is entitled 'The Decline of Sparta'. In addition to the lecture you need to read Olmstead (pp. 387-405) and Bury (pp. 549-74 and 591-78).

• Recommended Books
• J.B. Bury History of Greece
• A.T. Olmstead History of the Persian Empire
• A couple of acceptable alternatives (Greece)
• A.R. Burn The Penguin History of Greece
• A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture, by Sarah B. Pomeroy, et al (Paperback - February 1, 2004)
• A couple of acceptable alternatives (Persia)
• From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire, by Pierre Briant (More recent but expensive).
• The Cambridge Ancient History series, the volume on Persi

• I have placed on the Syllabus the readings for last and this week. I was unable to do it last week due to widespread failures on the University Servers
• The following link is to a handout which contains the very basics which we covered in Week 1.
• Week 1 Handout
• Here is a powerpoint with maps and images of Persia
• Persia Images
• Herodotos online in Perseus (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html#text1).
• Map of the Persian Wars
• Map of the Delian League (and the Peloponnesian alliance in the time of the Peloponnesian wars)
• From the Royal Achaemenid Inscriptions, I have just picked a few samples from the site of the Oriental Institute. You will find the link and references on the syllabus. I explain briefly the reference system: The first part refers to the inscription itself (named after the king), and the second to the section. E.G. a3pa02 needs to be split into a3pa (text), and 02 (section). To read them open the website of the Oriental Institute, go to BROWSE BY SECTION, then pick the text on the left-hand form and the section on the right-hand form. Before you proceed make sure that you have ticked all three versions (Old Persian, Elamite, Accadian). Then click Submit Query and you will see the insription in a transliteration of the original language and English translation.
• If you want to see pictures of the Persepolis tablets, just to get an idea what they look like, go to Google, enquire 'Persepolis Tablets' and open the first two sites that it gives you. They are neat pictures (unfortunately no text or translation).
• The Peloponnesian War (An old powerpoint of mine, but still useful for the dates and outline of the facts).