Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages

Description

Roughly 2,500 years ago, the Athenian people established a radical democracy in which power derived from the votes of ordinary citizens. At a time when local governments ranged from oligarchy to tyranny, the elite classes of Athens gradually ceded power to the inexperienced masses, whose votes served as referendums for everything from taxation to war to welfare. The sequence of events that led to this development is astonishing, and the society that flourished under Athenian democracy is one of the greatest—even if greatly flawed—achievements in world history. Biography......Page 3 Table of Contents......Page 5 Scope......Page 9 Lecture 1 — Why Athenian Democracy Matters......Page 12 Lecture 2 — The Origins of Greek Democracy......Page 20 Lecture 3 — Solon: The Father of Democracy?......Page 27 Lecture 4 — Cleisthenes the Innovator......Page 35 Lecture 5 — The Nearly Bloodless Coup......Page 42 Lecture 6 — Democracy at War......Page 48 Lecture 7 — The Popular Assembly......Page 55 Lecture 8 — The Council and the Magistrates......Page 62 Lecture 9 — The Citizens of Athens......Page 68 Lecture 10 — “The Empire You Hold Is a Tyranny”......Page 75 Lecture 11 — The Age of Pericles......Page 82 Lecture 12 — Public Speaking in Athens......Page 89 Lecture 13 — Pericles’s Funeral Speech......Page 94 Lecture 14 — Democracy under Duress......Page 101 Lecture 15 — The Culture of Athenian Democracy......Page 107 Lecture 16 — Political Leadership in Athens......Page 114 Lecture 17 — The Brutality of Athenian Democracy......Page 119 Lecture 18 — Athenian Defeat in Sicily......Page 126 Lecture 19 — Suspension, Restoration, and Termination......Page 132 Lecture 20 — The Democratic Theater......Page 140 Lecture 21 — Law and Order under Democracy......Page 148 Lecture 22 — Ancient Critics of Athenian Democracy......Page 154 Lecture 23 — Post-Athenian Democracies......Page 161 Lecture 24 — Democracy Today, Democracy Tomorrow......Page 170 Bibliography......Page 176 Image Credits......Page 186