Luca Asmonti, Athenian Democracy. A Sourcebook

Herodotus, Politics and Athenian Democracy

As is widely accepted by scholars, much of the Western philosophies have roots in ancient Greece. Among the most influential ancient Greek figures is the “Father of History,” Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who chronicled the history of the Persian Wars. Herodotus used the Histories as a medium for discussing the political trends of his time, specifically those in Athens. Herodotus shared his views...

A mathematical model of Athenian democracy

A mathematical model of Athenian democracy (594–322 BC) is considered. Indicators of popularity, universality, and goodness are introduced to evaluate single political leaders, the Assembly, the Council of 500, and magistrates. The popularity is a spatial characteristic of representativeness, the average percentage of the population whose opinion is represented on a number of questions. The uni...

Aristotle, the “Good Life,” and Athenian Democracy:

Introduction to Athenian Democracy of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BCE

This essay serves to introduce students to the institutions of the democratic constitution of ancient Athens, during its flowering in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Its principal purpose is to enable students to compare the Athenian democracy with the system established by the U.S. Constitution. It will serve equally well to meet the needs of anyone who is interested in the Athenian democr...

Judging Athenian Dramatic Competitions

The judging procedure for Athenian dramatic contests is not well understood. In this paper, we present a new model that we believe takes account of all the relevant data, which possesses the additional virtue of clarity of execution, so that a large festival audience can easily follow the proceedings as the winner is determined publicly. It differs in certain important respects from other inter...