Professor Edith Hall

He absolutely hated, and here's a word for your audience, thalasocracy. The Greek for sea is thalassa, and a thalasocracy is an empire that asserts its rule through sea power. And Thucydides tells us that the very first thalasocracy was actually Minos' in Crete. That's the society that got wiped out by cataclysm. And the thalasocracy of the Atlanteans gets wiped out

He absolutely hated, and here's a word for your audience, thalasocracy. The Greek for sea is thalassa, and a thalasocracy is an empire that asserts its rule through sea power. And Thucydides tells us that the very first thalasocracy was actually Minos' in Crete. That's the society that got wiped out by cataclysm. And the thalasocracy of the Atlanteans gets wiped out

And Plato is writing at a time when I guess he's very worried that Athens might become a thalassocracy again.

And Plato is writing at a time when I guess he's very worried that Athens might become a thalassocracy again.

And Plato is writing at a time when I guess he's very worried that Athens might become a thalassocracy again.

Well, he doesn't address that practical problem. How are we going to make Athens a non-thalassocracy? Given the shortage of resources in the land of Attica, which is quite barren, they simply couldn't fit. That's why they invaded Sicily. The greatest disaster that lay behind their eventual loss of the war was the 413 catastrophic attempt to annex Sicily.

Well, he doesn't address that practical problem. How are we going to make Athens a non-thalassocracy? Given the shortage of resources in the land of Attica, which is quite barren, they simply couldn't fit. That's why they invaded Sicily. The greatest disaster that lay behind their eventual loss of the war was the 413 catastrophic attempt to annex Sicily.

Well, he doesn't address that practical problem. How are we going to make Athens a non-thalassocracy? Given the shortage of resources in the land of Attica, which is quite barren, they simply couldn't fit. That's why they invaded Sicily. The greatest disaster that lay behind their eventual loss of the war was the 413 catastrophic attempt to annex Sicily.

which is hard to believe now because it's so hot and dry, but was an incredible bread basket. The Romans knew that. They had these huge latifundia in the central plains of Sicily behind the mountains. You know, these are the bread baskets. That's why they went there. That's why they needed to go to Egypt all the time for various different things to eat.

which is hard to believe now because it's so hot and dry, but was an incredible bread basket. The Romans knew that. They had these huge latifundia in the central plains of Sicily behind the mountains. You know, these are the bread baskets. That's why they went there. That's why they needed to go to Egypt all the time for various different things to eat.

which is hard to believe now because it's so hot and dry, but was an incredible bread basket. The Romans knew that. They had these huge latifundia in the central plains of Sicily behind the mountains. You know, these are the bread baskets. That's why they went there. That's why they needed to go to Egypt all the time for various different things to eat.

And absolutely, that's why the Black Sea became so important. So Plato doesn't address this, which might be a good moment to move on to his description through Critias of the Aboriginal Athenian society.

And absolutely, that's why the Black Sea became so important. So Plato doesn't address this, which might be a good moment to move on to his description through Critias of the Aboriginal Athenian society.

And absolutely, that's why the Black Sea became so important. So Plato doesn't address this, which might be a good moment to move on to his description through Critias of the Aboriginal Athenian society.

He actually says that there's been a very great deal of land erosion. Athens used to be much further from the sea, right? The peripheral coastlines have contracted and contracted and contracted. We used to be an agrarian inland country. There is some truth in that, that is environmental degradation, the coasts of Greece, but nothing like what he's saying.

He actually says that there's been a very great deal of land erosion. Athens used to be much further from the sea, right? The peripheral coastlines have contracted and contracted and contracted. We used to be an agrarian inland country. There is some truth in that, that is environmental degradation, the coasts of Greece, but nothing like what he's saying.

He actually says that there's been a very great deal of land erosion. Athens used to be much further from the sea, right? The peripheral coastlines have contracted and contracted and contracted. We used to be an agrarian inland country. There is some truth in that, that is environmental degradation, the coasts of Greece, but nothing like what he's saying.

And so his original Athens, it's emphatically mountain men who work very hard, unlike the Atlanteans, but in a noble way. It's noble labour and eat a living with their goats and their flocks and their harvests. from they are self-sufficient, they have enough because A, they've got more land, hasn't been eroded, and B, they work very hard.

And so his original Athens, it's emphatically mountain men who work very hard, unlike the Atlanteans, but in a noble way. It's noble labour and eat a living with their goats and their flocks and their harvests. from they are self-sufficient, they have enough because A, they've got more land, hasn't been eroded, and B, they work very hard.

And so his original Athens, it's emphatically mountain men who work very hard, unlike the Atlanteans, but in a noble way. It's noble labour and eat a living with their goats and their flocks and their harvests. from they are self-sufficient, they have enough because A, they've got more land, hasn't been eroded, and B, they work very hard.