The Greek City States
A Source Book

Selection of translated texts focusing primarily on political institutions and political activity in ancient Greece.

P. J. Rhodes (Author)

9780521615563, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 April 2007

356 pages, 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.574 kg

'… an excellent resource for the Greek history instructor. Indeed, it is superior in content, form and design to … comparable sourcebooks … It is a welcome addition to any class concerning Greek social history of the Archaic and Classical periods.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Political activity and political thinking began in the cities and other states of ancient Greece, and terms such as tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy and politics itself are Greek words for concepts first discussed in Greece. Rhodes presents in translation a selection of texts illustrating the formal mechanisms and informal workings of the Greek states in all their variety. From the states described by Homer out of which the classical Greeks believed their states had developed, through the archaic period which saw the rise and fall of tyrants and the gradual broadening of citizen bodies, to the classical period of the fifth and fourth centuries, Rhodes also looks beyond that to the Hellenistic and Roman periods in which the Greeks tried to preserve their way of life in a world of great powers. For this second edition the book has been thoroughly revised and three new chapters added.

Introduction
1. The Homeric state
2. The archaic state
3. Economic and political development: tyranny and after
4. Sparta
5. Athens
6. Women and children
7. Economic life
8. Religion
9. Other cities
10. Beyond the single city
11. The Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Ancient religions & mythologies [HRKP], General & world history [HBG]