Democracy beyond Athens: Popular Government in the Greek Classical Age

by Eric W. Robinson

Overview

What was ancient democracy like? Why did it spread in ancient Greece? An astonishing number of volumes have been devoted to the well-attested Athenian case, while non-Athenian democracy - for which evidence is harder to come by - has received only fleeting attention. Nevertheless, there exists a scattered body of ancient material regarding democracy beyond Athens, from ancient literary authors and epigraphic documents to archaeological evidence, out of which one can build an understanding of the phenomenon. This book presents a detailed study of ancient Greek democracy in the Classical period (480–323 BC), focusing on examples outside Athens. It has three main goals: to identify where and when democratic governments established themselves in ancient Greek city-states; to explain why democracy spread to many parts of Greece in this period; and to further our understanding of the nature of ancient democracy by studying its practices beyond Athens.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139139687
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/22/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Eric W. Robinson is Associate Professor in the Department of History, Indiana University. He has published widely on ancient democracy, and previous books include Ancient Greek Democracy: Readings and Sources (2003) and Oikistes: Studies in Constitutions, Colonies, and Military Power in the Ancient World Offered in Honor of A. J. Graham (co-edited with Vanessa Gorman, 2002).

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Classical demokratiai on the Greek mainland (central Greece and the Peloponnese); 2. Classical demokratiai in western and northwestern Greece (plus Cyrene); 3. Classical demokratiai in eastern Greece; 4. The spread of democracy in the Classical period; 5. The nature of Classical democracy outside Athens; Appendix.

Editorial Reviews

"… [an] important book … Students of history and political science will find the book highly beneficial."
Choice

"Robinson meticulously surveys the sources, literary, epigraphical, and archaeological, for cities on the Greek mainland such as Argos, in the north and west (for example, in Sicily), and in the east (for instance, Byzantium and Rhodes) and reveals how widespread dêmokratia really was … Robinson has filled out the picture of ancient democracies, their origins, varied institutions, and crises, and the results should be of interest to all."
David Konstan, Common Knowledge

From the Publisher