Greek and Roman Political Ideas: A Pelican Introduction

Description

A Pelican introduction to political philosophy in Ancient Greece and Rome What is politics? What are the origins of political philosophy? What can we learn from the Greeks and Romans? In Greek and Roman Political Ideas, acclaimed classics scholar Melissa Lane introduces the reader to the foundations of Western political thought, from the Greeks, who invented democracy, to the Romans, who created a republic and then transformed it into an empire. Tracing the origins of political philosophy from Socrates to Cicero to Plutarch, Lane reminds us that the birth of politics was as much a story of individuals as ideas.

Melissa Lane teaches politics at Princeton University, and previously taught for fifteen years at Cambridge University. She is also a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. The Times Literary Supplement said that in her book Eco-Republic 'Lane succeeds wonderfully not only in separating the useful in Plato from the useless, but also in demonstrating that the useful contains a surprising amount of what we need if we are to survive.'