Athenian democracy : a sourcebook

261 Pages·2015·1.08 MB·English

by  Asmonti

Athenian Democracy: A Sourcebook
Bloomsbury Sources in Ancient History
The Bloomsbury Sources in Ancient History series presents a
definitive collection of source material in translation, combined
with expert contextual commentary and annotation to provide a
comprehensive survey of each volume’s subject. Material is drawn
from literary, as well as epigraphic, legal and religious, sources. Aimed
primarily at undergraduate students, the series will also be invaluable
for researchers, and faculty devising and teaching courses.
Women in Ancient Rome, by Bonnie MacLachlan
Greek and Roman Sexualities: A Sourcebook, by Jennifer Larson
Athenian Democracy: A Sourcebook
Luca Asmonti
Bloomsbury Sources in Ancient History
Bloomsbury Academic
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First published 2015
© Luca Asmonti 2015
Luca Asmonti has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
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the author.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-44116-531-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Asmonti, Luca.
Athenian democracy : a sourcebook / Luca Asmonti.
pages cm. -- (Bloomsbury sources in ancient history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8264-2034-3 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4411-1371-9 (paperback) -- ISBN 978-1-
4411-6531-2 (ePDF) -- ISBN 978-1-4411-4776-9 (ePub) 1. Democracy--Greece--Athens--
History. 2. Greece--Politics and government--To 146 B.C. 3. Athens (Greece)--Politics and
government. I. Title.
JC75.D36A76 2015
320.938’509014--dc23
2014017405
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
Contents
Preface viii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
I. What Do We Mean By Polis? 13
1. Polis: A definition 13
2. Origins of polis: Homer 19
3. Origins of polis: The earliest use of polis as ‘political community’ 26
2. The Birth of Athens and the Roots of Democracy 29
4. Basic elements of democracy 29
5. Athens before the polis 31
6. Theseus the democratic icon 35
7. A brief history of the Athenian constitution 41
3. Two Lawgivers: Draco and Solon 43
8. The Athenian state after the synoecism 43
9. Draco and the Athenian constitution 46
10. Solon’s reforms: Blueprint to democracy 51
4. Pisistratus: Tyranny as a Pathway to Democracy 63
11. Archaic tyrannies 63
12. Athenian politics after Solon 66
13. Tyranny in Athens 68
14. The overthrowing of a tyranny 74
5. Cleisthenes and the Birth of Democracy 81
15. Cleisthenes the aristocratic democrat 81
16. Isonomia in practice 87
6. Democracy, Empire and the Persian Wars 91
17. Democracy and maritime expansion: The effects of Cleisthenes’
isonomia 91
18. Democratic Athens and the other Aegean powers 95
vi Contents
19. Growing democracy, growing Athens: Democracy, naval mastery
and urbanization 101
7. Democracy Accomplished 113
20. Pentekontaeitia 113
21. Democracy accomplished: The reforms of Ephialtes 114
22. The new democracy on stage: Aeschylus’ Suppliant Women and
Eumenides 116
8. Building a Unique Community 121
23. Pericles’ funeral speech: A citizen’s manifesto 121
24. Defining and protecting Athenian citizenship 126
25. Athenian democracy: An exclusive community, the ephebic oath 129
26. The duties of a good citizen: Commitment and reward, the
liturgy system 131
9. Democracy and the Problem of Individual Leadership 137
27. Pericles the foremost citizen 137
28. Democracy, demagogues and adventurers: The cases of Cleon
and Alcibiades 144
10. Athens, the Democratic Empire 153
29. The nature and objectives of Athenian imperialism 153
30. Athens’ imperial democracy and the other Greek powers 161
11. Democracy and the Effects of the Peloponnesian War: Crisis and
Reconstruction 169
31. Popular criticism of democracy: The Sicilian debate 169
32. Conservative criticism of Athenian democracy: The ‘Old Oligarch’ 170
33. The Four Hundred, the oligarchic experiment and the myth of
the patrios politeia 174
34. The Arginusae scandal and the excesses of democracy 182
35. The moral crisis of Athenian democracy: Aristophanes’ Frogs 188
12. Democracy Abolished and Restored 191
36. The Thirty and the amnesty 191
37. Plato, the death of Socrates and the debate on democracy 196
38. Socrates’ trial and the power of rhetoric 198
13. Athenian Democracy in the Fourth Century 203
39. The path to a second Athenian league 203
Contents vii
40. After the empire I: Imagining Athens as a capital of trades and
peace 207
41. After the empire II: Revamping the international role of Athens 210
42. The conflict against Philip: Polis v. tyranny 211
43. Protecting democracy after Chaeronea 212
44. Athenian independence and Alexander the Great 213
45. The decline of democratic politics and the last democratic hero 215
Notes 219
Further Reading 221
Index of Passages 241
Index of Names 243
Preface
The primary scope of this book is to introduce students of ancient history to the
world of Athenian democracy and its continuing legacy in the Hellenistic and
Roman ages.
The people of classical Athens considered their city to be like no other, and
the democratic constitution the most extraordinary product of the uniqueness
of the Athenian experience, whether they liked it or not. The Greek noun
usually translated as ‘constitution’ is politeia. The term derives from the same
stem of polis, or – not very appropriately – ‘city-state’, the most typical form of
civic organization of the classical world. Politeia generally refers to the form
of government of a polis and its political institutions, but can also indicate
its members, the body of citizens, and the right to be one of its members,
citizenship. The fact that the same word signified ‘constitution’ and ‘citizenship’
(meant both as civic/political rights and body of citizens) is very important for
understanding the political mentality of the Greeks: in a society where political
participation was not a universal right, but indeed the privilege of a minority,
from which women and foreign residents were excluded, not to mention slaves,
the set of rules and institutions that formed the politeia-constitution represented
a vital element in defining the culture and identity of the polis community.
This book will analyze Athenian democracy from this wider perspective: it
will consider the evidence relating to the political activity within the polis as
well as the other spheres of life to investigate how the development of a system
of government based on public debate and collective decision-making, albeit
confined to a tiny minority, contributed to the birth of a new kind of society
and, indeed, of a new kind of man. This book will therefore present a very wide
range of texts, from administrative documents to private letters, from legal
speeches to epic poems.
All the translations are my own; the most common proper names and other
words have been transliterated in their Latinized or Anglicized version. All the
dates in this book are bc, unless otherwise stated.
This book is dedicated to my sister Silvia.
The University of Queensland, June 2014
Abbreviations
Ancient authors
Aes. Aeschines
Ag. Tim Against Timarchus
Aesch. Aeschylus
Eum. Eumenides
Supp. Suppliant Women
And. Andocides
Ag. Ctes. Against Ctesiphon
Myst. On the Mysteries
App. Appian
Myth. The Mythridatic Wars
Ar. Aristophanes
Lys. Lysistrata
Arist. Aristotle
Ath. Const. Constitution of the Athenians
Pol. Politics
Ath. Athenaeus
Deip. Deipnosophistae
Cic. Cicero
Att. Letters to Atticus
Dem. Demosthenes
Ag. Ev. Mnes. Against Evergus and Mnesibulus
Ag. Lep. Against Leptines
Ag. Nea. Against Neaera
Ag. Tim. Against Timotheus
Alex. On the Treaty with Alexander