Athenian Democracy

P. J. Rhodes

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2004

Athenian Democracy

P. J. Rhodes

In the series Edinburgh Readings on the Ancient World

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474471985

Overview
Contents

About this book

Athens' democracy developed during the sixth and fifth centuries and continued into the fourth; Athens' defeat by Macedon in 322 began a series of alternations between democracy and oligarchy. The democracy was inseparably bound up with the ideals of liberty and equality, the rule of law, and the direct government of the people by the people. Liberty meant above all freedom of speech, the right to be heard in the public assembly and the right to speak one's mind in private. Equality meant the equal right of the male citizens (perhaps 60,000 in the fifth century, 30,000 in the fourth) to participate in the government of the state and the administration of the law. Disapproved of as mob rule until the nineteenth century, the institutions of Athenian democracy have become an inspiration for modern democratic politics and political philosophy.

P. J. Rhodes's reader focuses on the political institutions, political activity, history, and nature of Athenian democracy and introduces some of the best British, American, German and French scholarship on its origins, theory and practice. Part I is devoted to political institutions: citizenship, the assembly, the law-courts, and capital punishment. Part II explores aspects of political activity: the demagogues and their relationship with the assembly, the manoeuvrings of the politicians, competitive festivals, and the separation of public from private life. Part III looks at three crucial points in the development of the democracy: the reforms of Solon, Cleisthenes and Ephialtes. Part IV considers what it was in Greek life that led to the development of democracy. Some of the authors adopt broad-brush approaches to major questions; others analyse a particular body of evidence in detail. Use is made of archaeology, comparison with other societies, the location of festivals in their civic context, and the need to penetrate behind what the classical Athenians made of their past.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Note to the Reader Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Maps Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
General Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I Political Institutions
Introduction to Part I Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
1 Athenian Citizenship: The Descent Group and the Alternatives John K. Davies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
2 How Did the Athenian Ecclesia Vote? Mogens Herman Hansen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3 Aristotle, the Kleroteria, and the Courts Sterling Dow Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	62
4 Jury Pay and Assembly Pay at Athens M. M. Markle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
5 Capital Punishment Louis Gernet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
PART II Political Activity
Introduction to Part II Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
6 Athenian Demagogues M. I. Finley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
7 Political Activity in Classical Athens P. J. Rhodes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
8 Competitive Festivals and the Polis: A Context for Dramatic Festivals at Athens Robin Osborne Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
9 Public and Private Interests in Classical Athens S. C. Humphreys Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
PART III Moments in History
Introduction to Part III Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
10 How a Political Myth Takes Shape: Solon, ‘Founding Father’ of the Athenian Democracy Claude Mossé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
11 The Athenian Revolution of 508/7 B.C.: Violence, Authority, and the Origins of Democracy Josiah Ober Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
12 Cleisthenes and Attica David M. Lewis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287
13 Ephialtes, Eisangelia, and the Council Raphael Sealey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	310
PART IV A View of Democracy
Introduction to Part IV Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
14 The Greeks: The Political Revolution in World History Christian Meier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	328
Intellectual Chronology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349
Guide to Further Reading Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	350
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	352
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	356

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 304
Keywords: Classics & Ancient History

eBook

Published: March 15, 2004
ISBN: 9781474471985