Athens and Athenian Democracy

Description

These collected papers construct a distinctive view of classical Athens and of Athenian democracy, a view which takes seriously the evidence of settlement archaeology and of art history. This evidence both casts new light on traditional questions and enables new questions to be asked, questions concerning the experience of being an Athenian citizen, how the institutions of democracy affected the Athenian economy, and how the rituals of religion related to the rituals of democratic politics. Unlike books on Athenian democracy which focus on the Assembly and Council, this book gives full weight to women as well as men, slave as well as free, and the rural worker as well as the leisured man about town. Robin Osborne's work has been in the forefront of the resurgence of interest in Athenian law and Athenian religion; these essays are each placed in their scholarly context, and point the direction for future research.

Robin Osborne is Professor of Ancient History and a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. He has written and edited numerous works on ancient history, including Greek History (2004); Rethinking Revolutions through Classical Greece (co-edited with Simon Goldhill, Cambridge, 2006); and Debating the Athenian Cultural Revolution: Art, Literature, Philosophy and Politics 430-380 BC (Cambridge, 2007).