Origins of democracy in ancient Greece / Kurt A. Raaflaub, Josiah Ober, and Robert W. Wallace ; with chapters by Paul Cartledge and Cynthia Farrar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Raaflaub, Kurt A.

Contributor:

Ober, Josiah.

Wallace, Robert W., 1950-

Series:

Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature.

Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature Origins of democracy in ancient Greece

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Greece--History--To 1500.

Democracy.

Democracy--Greece--Athens--History--To 1500.

Greece--Politics and government--To 146 B.C.

Greece.

Athens (Greece)--Politics and government.

Athens (Greece).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book presents a state-of-the-art debate about the origins of Athenian democracy by five eminent scholars. The result is a stimulating, critical exploration and interpretation of the extant evidence on this intriguing and important topic. The authors address such questions as: Why was democracy first realized in ancient Greece? Was democracy "invented" or did it evolve over a long period of time? What were the conditions for democracy, the social and political foundations that made this development possible? And what factors turned the possibility of democracy into necessity and reality? The authors first examine the conditions in early Greek society that encouraged equality and "people's power." They then scrutinize, in their social and political contexts, three crucial points in the evolution of democracy: the reforms connected with the names of Solon, Cleisthenes, and Ephialtes in the early and late sixth and mid-fifth century. Finally, an ancient historian and a political scientist review the arguments presented in the previous chapters and add their own perspectives, asking what lessons we can draw today from the ancient democratic experience. Designed for a general readership as well as students and scholars, the book intends to provoke discussion by presenting side by side the evidence and arguments that support various explanations of the origins of democracy, thus enabling readers to join in the debate and draw their own conclusions.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

About the Authors

Chronology of Events

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. "People's Power" and Egalitarian Trends in Archaic Greece

3. Revolutions and a New Order in Solonian Athens and Archaic Greece

4. "I Besieged That Man": Democracy's Revolutionary Start

5. The Breakthrough of Demokratia in Mid-Fifth-Century Athens

6. Democracy, Origins of: Contribution to a Debate

7. Power to the People

Bibliography

Index of Primary Sources

General Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786611752422

9780520225541

0520225546

9780520925762

0520925769

9781281752420

1281752428

9781429440097

1429440090

9780520932173

052093217X

9781433700019

1433700018

OCLC:

609987997