Greek Democracy, Whole Years Info

Athenian Democracy

Reading List – Athenian Democracy

Ancient Sources:

Aristotle, The Constitution of Athens
Herodotus, The Histories, Penguin Classics, especially books I, V-IX.
LACTOR 1, The Athenian Empire.
LACTOR 5, Athenian Politics.
The Old Oligarch, LACTOR 2.
Plutarch, The Rise and Fall of Athens, Penguin Classics – omitting Theseus.
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, Penguin Classics.

Modern Works:

Andrewes, A., Greek Society
Ehrenburg, V., From Solon to Socrates
Finley, M. I., The Ancient Greeks
Forrest, W. G., The Emergence of Greek Democracy
Hignett, C., A History of the Athenian Constitution, OUP.
Kitto, H. D. F., The Greeks

1. Introduction

The Physical Environment

“The character of their history is so intimately connected with the character of their dwelling places that we cannot conceive it apart from their land and seas” (Bury & Meiggs)

Herodotus commented of the beauty of his world and generally Greek literature points to a common heritage generated by the physical environment of their world.

Thus, the geography of Greek had a decisive effect on the subsequent history and the socio-political development of the Greek people. Generally, the mountains and the sea predominate, breaking the land into a series of coastal plains & river valleys. The majority of these mountains are not high, good exceptions being Mount Olympus at 2917 metres and the Taygetos Range at 2407 metres. They are substantial enough; however, to hinder trade and communications and were one of the main reasons why the Greeks clung to the coast and developed such entrenched regionalism.

Greece is often seen as an adjunct of the Illyrian peninsular. It is, however, different in character from the rest of the Balkans. Indeed, Greece is different in nature from the two other great Mediterranean peninsulas, Iberia & Italy. Greece is a group of headlands & islands. It is best viewed as a mountain headland broken in two by the Gulf of Corinth....