BARTHÉLEMY, Jean Jacques
Jean Jacques Barthélemy (1716-1795), also known as Abbé Barthélemy, was born into a well-to-do family in the South of France. Literatus, numismatist and author, he studied Philosophy, Theology and Classical Archaeology. Following a journey to Italy, he was inspired to write a novel whose main character is a young Scythian who wanders through the ancient Greek world of the fourth century BC, with flashbacks to the Archaic and Classical periods.
Barthélemy started studying and writing on Antiquity in 1757 and his first book was published in 1788. He died at the age of 80, while working on the fourth edition of this remarkable literary work.
Abbé Barthélemy studied the works of Greek and Roman authors and meticulously annotated on his maps the information he extracted. He relied too on the well-documented investigations that J. Foucherot and M.G.F.A. Choiseul-Gouffier had made on the spot, thus complementing his fictional work with accurate representations of the most important locations and battlefields.
This multi-volume work – both a fictional recreation of an era and a travel narrative presenting an idyllic panorama of the ancient world, illustrated with maps and drawings by Barbié de Bocage – fuelled the public's interest in ancient scholarship. Thus it became a best-seller of the time, and was republished repeatedly into the nineteenth century.
Written by Ioli Vingopoulou
BARTHÉLEMY, Jean Jacques - Piraeus
BARTHÉLEMY, Jean Jacques - Rest Images
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Map of Marathon showing the disposition of the troops in the battle of 490 BCE.
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Ancient Greek coins from the collection of the king of France.
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The pediments of the Parthenon as they were in 1674. Eastern pediment.
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View and plan of the Propylaea of the Acropolis (reconstruction).
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Map of the Hellespont, the Thracian peninsula and part of the Troad.
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Map of the Bosphorus strait and Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul).
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Map of the battlefield of Plataeae based on ancient sources.
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Map of the Cyclades. Map of Delos and part of Rineia and Myconos.
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Map of Argolis, Epidaurus, Troezen, Hermionis, Aegina and Kynouria.
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Map of Aetolia and Acarnania, Lefkada, Cephalonia and Ithaca.
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Map of Greek territories, including the ancient Greek colonies of Southern Italy and Asia Minor.