Front cover image for Athenian democracy

Athenian democracy

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 means 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 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 a 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 maneuverings 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 analyze a particular body of evidence in detail. Use is made of archeology, 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. -- Back cover
Print Book, English, ©2004
Oxford University Press, New York, ©2004
History
xiv, 358 pages : maps ; 24 cm
9780195221398, 9780195221404, 9780748616862, 9780748616879, 0195221397, 0195221400, 0748616861, 074861687X
53912566
Prefacevii
Note to the Readerviii
Abbreviationsx
Mapsxv
General Introduction1(14)
PART I POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Introduction to Part I
15(146)
1 Athenian Citizenship: The Descent Group and the Alternatives
18(22)
John K. Davies
2 How Did the Athenian Ecclesia Vote?
40(22)
Mogens Herman Hansen
3 Aristotle, the Kleroteria, and the Courts
62(33)
Sterling Dow
4 Jury Pay and Assembly Pay at Athens
95(37)
M.M. Markle
5 Capital Punishment
132(29)
Louis Gernet
PART II POLITICAL ACTIVITY
Introduction to Part II
161(78)
6 Athenian Demagogues
163(22)
M.I. Finley
7 Political Activity in Classical Athens
185(22)
P.J. Rhodes
8 Competitive Festivals and the Polis: A Context for Dramatic Festivals at Athens
207(18)
Robin Osborne
9 Public and Private Interests in Classical Athens
225
S.C. Humphreys
PART III MOMENTS IN HISTORY
Introduction to Part III
239(3)
10 How a Political Myth Takes Shape: Solon, 'Founding Father' of the Athenian Democracy
242(18)
Claude Moss��
11 The Athenian Revolution of 508/7 B.C.: Violence, Authority, and the Origins of Democracy
260(27)
Josiah Ober
12 Cleisthenes and Attica
287(23)
David M. Lewis
13 Ephialtes, Eisangelia, and the Council
310(17)
Raphael Sealey
PART IV A VIEW OF DEMOCRACY
Introduction to Part IV
327(1)
14 The Greeks: The Political Revolution in World History
328(21)
Christian Meier
Intellectual Chronology349(1)
Guide to Further Reading350(2)
Bibliography352(4)
Index356