Phocion : Good Citizen in a Divided Democracy / Thomas R. Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martin, Thomas R., 1947- author.

Series:

Ancient Lives Series

Ancient Lives

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Phocion, -318 B.C.

Phocion.

Generals--Greece--Biography.

Generals.

Statesmen--Greece--Biography.

Statesmen.

Athens (Greece)--Politics and government.

Athens (Greece).

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.) : 1 b-w illus.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New Haven, Connecticut : Yale University Press, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Thomas R. Martin recounts the unmatched political and military career of Phocion of Athens, and his tragic downfall Phocion (402–318 BCE) won Athens’s highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a “Useful Citizen.” A student at Plato’s Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia’s emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens’s defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand “undesirable” Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, dispossessed Athenians took out their volcanic anger on Phocion, who throughout his career had often been a harsh critic of the citizens’ political decisions. His inflammatory rhetoric contributed to the popular conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he wished so desperately to preserve. When he was eighty-four, the Athenians convicted him of treason and condemned him to die by hemlock. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin explores how and why Phocion ultimately failed as a citizen and as a leader. His story offers unsetting lessons for citizens in democracies today.

Contents:

Phocion and the Ruin of Athenian Democracy

Discovering a Dangerous World

Meeting Expectations as a Teenage Boy

Training for the Military

Learning About Athenian Democracy

Starting a Public Career

Winning Glory as a Young Naval Commander

Facing Midlife Challenges

Dealing with Macedon

Enduring a Catastrophe

Approaching the Beginning of the End

Confronting Disaster and Revenge

The Memory of Phocion, Ten, Later, Now

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2024)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780300280555

OCLC:

1451659868