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.
Author(s): Robert Garland
Series: The Great Courses
Publisher: The Teaching Company
Year: 2018-05
Language: English
Pages: 187
Tags: Ancient 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
