Demos
The Discovery of Classical Attika

Demos is a study of a classical city-state, providing an integrated account which gives due attention to the countryside as well as urban areas of a polis.

Robin Osborne (Author)

9780521619264, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 February 2005

300 pages, 12 b/w illus. 10 maps 9 tables
21.5 x 13.9 x 2 cm, 0.403 kg

Demos is a study of a classical city-state. It is the first attempt to provide an integrated account which gives due attention to the countryside as well as the urban areas of a polis. Concentrating on classical Athens, for which the literary and archaeological evidence is richest, Dr Osborne establishes the nature of settlement in the countryside and explores how this relates to the farming of the land, the exploitation of mineral resources, and the nature of political participation in both local and central politics. Further studies reveal the way in which the countryside was structured by religious institutions and cults and by the nature of the family.

List of maps
List of plates
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The polis and its politai
Part I. The Central Thesis: 2. The pattern of settlement of classical Attika
3. The pattern of land-holding in classical Attika
4. Demes and democracy: local politics and the politics of locality
5. Athenian stone resources and their exploitation
6. Patterns of exploitation in the Athenian silver mines
7. Kinsmen and neighbours, choosing and using
8. The religious factor: confirmation or alternative?
Conclusion
9. The replacement of Athens
Appendices
Plates
Notes
Index of passages cited
General index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], General & world history [HBG]