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In the 19th-century classic, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, Alfred Thayer Mahan argued the paramount importance of naval superiority in peace and war. This work is still considered definitive today, but as Chester Starr, eminent historian of antiquity, points out in this thought-provoking volume, Mahan's theories have led to serious distortions in the way historians interpret the role of naval power in antiquity.
Trade by sea was always important in providing raw materials as well as luxuries, but only rarely was it protected by an established navy. As Starr reveals, two nations that did protect their trade routes--Athens and Carthage--both fell after long duels with land-based forces, Sparta and Rome. And though Rome went on to create the most perfected and widely based naval structure in antiquity, when Rome fell it was due to invasions by land, not by sea.
Starr describes major naval battles in fascinating detail, and he examines technological developments as they help to illuminate the limitations of galleys in warfare. Ranging from the Bronze Age to the fall of the Roman Empire, this innovative study provides an important corrective to Mahan's thesis, both as applied to ancient history and to modern strategic thinking.

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• Preface(p. vii)
• Introduction(p. 3)
• Chapter I Ships and Seas(p. 7)
• Chapter II Prelude to Thalassocracy(p. 15)
• Chapter III Athens on the Sea(p. 29)
• Chapter IV the Age of Monster Fleets(p. 50)
• Chapter V the Roman Imperial Peace(p. 67)
• Epilogue(p. 83)
• Notes(p. 85)
• Bibliography(p. 101)
• Index(p. 103)

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CHOICE Review

A curious work, interesting but somewhat disappointing. From the title and from the author's words in the introduction we are led to expect a treatment "analytical rather than narrative" and intended to test the applicability of Admiral A.T. Mahan's thesis to antiquity (in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, 1890). We are then given a very brief, basically narrative, treatment of the thalassocracies of Athens, Carthage, and Imperial Rome. Starr does point out the limitations of sea power in a largely agricultural and village world and reminds us that in the two great tiger-and-shark conflicts--Athens/Sparta and Carthage/Rome--it was the land power which won, though in both cases that power had to produce a navy to do so. He describes Rome's use of ships to patrol the Mediterranean and to protect river frontiers. Finally, suddenly, in the epilogue we are told of Sir Halford Mackinder's theory that dominance rests on control of the Eurasian heartland (in Democratic Ideals and Reality, 1919); furthermore, Starr cautions us to remember this when we think of the ancient world. Only then are readers told that this work has in mind two rival theories; it would have been better had Mackinder been mentioned earlier. Starr's general picture appears to be just and will interest those with some knowledge of ancient civilization or naval history. Bibliography very selective but well chosen and up-to-date. -E. W. Davis, formerly Trinity College (CT)

Booklist Review

Starr is a historian of the ancient period and a prolific writer. His latest book, a small, brilliant essay, is an analysis of the importance of commanding the seas in the exertion of power over neighboring states in the Mediterranean area during ancient times. In charting who was the dominant power at any given point and explaining the reasons for this or that particular state being able to hold such dominance, Starr insists that sea power was not as vastly important as might be imagined in determining who could control whom. ``Instead of viewing sea power as an important element in the course of ancient history, we must expect it to be a spasmodic factor, though at points it does indeed become a critical factor.'' His conclusion is that to have been a power on the high seas in the ancient world, a state also had to be a considerable military power on land. For serious-minded readers of history. Notes, bibliography; to be indexed. BH.

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About the Author:
Chester G. Starr is Bentley Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Michigan. The founding president of the Association of Ancient Historians, he is the author of the highly acclaimed A History of the Ancient World and over a dozen other books on the classical world.