Contemporary analyses of Athenian democracy have focused on binaries such as mass/elite, free/slave, and male/female, overlooking the urban/rural divide. In this article, I argue that was a central cleavage in demos. Ancient thinkers including Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle paid close attention to differences their consequences during fifth century. Plato particular develo...
