Athenian DemocracyPeter John Rhodes Oxford University Press, 2004 - 358 pages 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. |
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Page 218
... political ' the contents of the earliest tragedies was , but it is clear that by the time of Phrynikhos ' Capture of Miletos the contents of a play might be very overtly of political interest . Given the implicit political claims that ...
... political ' the contents of the earliest tragedies was , but it is clear that by the time of Phrynikhos ' Capture of Miletos the contents of a play might be very overtly of political interest . Given the implicit political claims that ...
Page 219
... political effects of promoting certain issues can be controlled . All festival competitions threaten to overturn the ... political access , whether because it has been previously restricted by law or because it has previously been ...
... political effects of promoting certain issues can be controlled . All festival competitions threaten to overturn the ... political access , whether because it has been previously restricted by law or because it has previously been ...
Page 228
... political decisions in extra - political contexts remained . ) Marriage and divorce have their inconveniences as modes of political manipulation . The conditions in which one would expect to find marriage playing an important part in ...
... political decisions in extra - political contexts remained . ) Marriage and divorce have their inconveniences as modes of political manipulation . The conditions in which one would expect to find marriage playing an important part in ...
Contents
Introduction to Part I | 15 |
How Did the Athenian Ecclesia Vote? | 40 |
Aristotle the Kleroteria and the Courts | 62 |
Copyright | |
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Acropolis Aeschin allotment rooms ancient apagōgē apotumpanismos archon Areopagus argues Arist Aristophanes Aristotle Aristotle's assembly Athenian democracy Athenian Ecclesia Athenian politics Attica boule Brauron century B.C. cheirotonia choinikes citizens citizenship Classical Athens Cleisthenes Cleomenes competition Constitution of Athens Council courts decree deme democratic demos Demosthenes dikasterion dikasts drachmas eisangelia Ephialtes evidence festival fifth century fourth century Greece Greek Hansen Heliaia Herodotus Hesperia hoplite Hypereides IG ii² important Isagoras jurors jury kanonides Keramopoullos kleroteria leaders Lysias medimnos obols offences officials oligarchic orators Oxford P. J. Rhodes Panathenaia Peisistratid Pericles phratry Plato Plut Plutarch polis Politeia politicians poor procedure proedroi Prytaneis psephoi punishment reforms Revolution says seems show of hands slaves slots Solon Solonian Spartans speech Thuc Thucydides ticket-inserters tickets tribe trittyes trittys tyrants University Press vote wheat word δὲ καὶ τὰ τὴν τῶν