Description
Book SynopsisWhere did "democracy" come from, and what was its original form and meaning? The author shows that this "power of the people" crystallized in a revolutionary uprising by the ordinary citizens of Athens in 508-507 BC. He also examines the consequences of the development of direct democracy for dissident Athenian intellectuals.
Trade Review"The Athenian Revolution is a welcome collection... Interesting and witty introductions place the articles in personal and scholarly context."--Peter Krentz, Religious Studies Review "[Ober] has succeeded in writing a book that both political theorists and ancient historians will find always provocative and often persuasive. Highly recommended."--Choice "By confronting critically an alien way of thinking and doing and speaking about politics that is nevertheless also the fountainhead of our own Western political tradition, Ober provides a wide range of readers with a truly unsettling and therefore properly educational experience."--Paul Cartledge, New England Classical Journal
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsCh. 1Introduction: Athenian Democracy and the History of Ideologies3Ch. 2Models and Paradigms in Ancient History13Ch. 3Public Speech and the Power of the People in Democratic Athens18Ch. 4The Athenian Revolution of 508/7 B.C.: Violence, Authority, and the Origins of Democracy32Ch. 5The Rules of War in Classical Greece53Ch. 6Thucydides, Pericles, and the Strategy of Defense72Ch. 7Power and Oratory in Democratic Athens: Demosthenes 21, Against Meidias86Ch. 8The Nature of Athenian Democracy107Ch. 9The Athenians and Their Democracy123Ch. 10How to Criticize Democracy in Late Fifth- and Fourth-Century Athens140Ch. 11The Polis as a Society: Aristotle, John Rawls, and the Athenian Social Contract161Bibliography189Index205
