Arnason Johann P(editor) - The Greek Polis and the invention of democracy : a politico-cultural transformation and its interpretations

Series Editor: Kurt Raaflaub

War and Peace in the Ancient World
Edited by Kurt Raaflaub
Household and Family Religion in Antiquity
Edited by John Bodel and Saul Olyan
Epic and History
Edited by David Konstan and Kurt A. Raaflaub
Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies
Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub and Richard J. A. Talbert
The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
Edited by Johann P. Arnason and Kurt A. Raaflaub
Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World
Edited by Susan E. Alcock, John Bodel, and Richard J. A. Talbert
The Gift in Antiquity
Edited by Michael L. Satlow
The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy
Edited by Johann P. Arnason, Kurt A. Raaflaub, and Peter Wagner

This edition first published 2013
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The right of Johann P. Arnason, Kurt A. Raaflaub and Peter Wagner to be identified as the authors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Greek polis and the invention of democracy : a politico-cultural transformation and its interpretations / edited by Johann P. Arnason, Kurt A. Raaflaub, and Peter Wagner.
pages cm. (Ancient world : comparative histories)
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4443-5106-4 (cloth : alkaline paper)
ISBN 978-1-118-56160-7 (ePDF) ISBN 978-1-118-56167-6 (ePub) ISBN 978-1-118-56176-8 (Wiley Online Library)
ISBN 978-1-118-56178-2 ISBN 978-1-118-56190-4 (eMobi) 1. DemocracyGreece
HistoryTo 1500. 2. City-statesGreeceHistoryTo
1500. 3. Social changeGreeceHistoryTo 1500. 4. GreecePolitics and governmentTo 146 B.C. 5. GreeceSocial conditionsTo 146 B.C.
6. CitizenshipGreeceHistoryTo 1500. 7. Politics and cultureGreeceHistoryTo 1500.
8. ArtsPolitical aspectsGreeceHistoryTo 1500. 9. CivilizationGreek influences.
I. Arnason, Johann Pall, 1940
II. Raaflaub, Kurt A. III. Wagner, Peter, 1956
JC75.D36G73 2013
320.9385dc23

2012042383

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Anastasios71 / shutterstock
Cover design by cyandesign.co.uk

The purpose of this series is to pursue important social, political, religious, economic, and intellectual issues through a wide range of ancient or early societies, while occasionally covering an even broader diachronic scope. By engaging in comparative studies of the ancient world on a truly global scale, this series hopes to throw light not only on common patterns and marked differences, but also to illustrate the remarkable variety of responses humankind has developed to meet common challenges. Focusing as it does on periods that are far removed from our own time, and in which modern identities are less immediately engaged, the series contributes to enhancing our understanding and appreciation of differences among cultures of various traditions and backgrounds. Not least, it thus illuminates the continuing relevance of the study of the ancient world in helping us to cope with problems of our own multicultural world.

In the present case, comparative history is understood differently. Here an ancient phenomenon, the invention of democracy in fifth-century BC Athens, is placed not only in its broad social and cultural context but also in that of the re-emergence of democracy in the modern world and the role it played in the political and intellectual traditions that shaped modern democracy, and in the debates about democracy in modern social, political, and philosophical thought.

Earlier volumes in the series are War and Peace in the Ancient World (ed. Kurt A. Raaflaub, 2007); Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (eds. John Bodel and Saul Olyan, 2008); Epic and History (eds. David Konstan and Kurt Raaflaub, 2010); Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Premodern Societies (eds. Kurt Raaflaub and Richard Talbert, 2010); The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (eds. Johann P. Arnason and Kurt A. Raaflaub, 2011); Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-modern World (eds. Susan E. Alcock, John Bodel, and Richard J. A. Talbert, 2012). Other volumes are in preparation: The Gift in Antiquity (ed. Michael Satlow), and Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in the Ancient World (ed. Kurt A. Raaflaub).

Kurt A. Raaflaub

Johann P. Arnason is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at La Trobe University in Melbourne and Visiting Professor at the Charles University in Prague. His research has focused on historical sociology, with growing emphasis on the comparative analysis of civilizations. Recent publications include Civilizations in Dispute: Historical Questions and Theoretical Traditions (2003); Axial Civilizations and World History (co-editor, 2005).
Ryan K. Balot is Professor of Political Science and Classics at the University of Toronto. He specializes in American, early modern, and classical political thought and various aspects of Athenian democracy. He is author of Greek Political Thought (2006) and editor of A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought (2009), and is completing a book on Courage and its critics in democratic Athens.