War, Peace, and Alliance in Demosthenes' Athens

This book explores the thinking and feelings, often surprisingly modern, that determined Athenian foreign policy decisions in the fourth century BC.

Peter Hunt (Author)

9780521835510, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 January 2010

332 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2 cm, 0.66 kg

Every Athenian alliance, every declaration of war, and every peace treaty was instituted by a decision of the assembly, where citizens voted after listening to speeches that presented varied and often opposing arguments about the best course of action. The fifteen preserved assembly speeches of the mid-fourth century BC thus provide an unparalleled body of evidence for the way that Athenians thought and felt about interstate relations: to understand this body of oratory is to understand how the Athenians of that period made decisions about war and peace. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of this subject. It deploys insights from a range of fields, from anthropology to international relations theory, in order not only to describe Athenian thinking, but also to explain it. Athenian thinking turns out to have been complex, sophisticated, and surprisingly familiar both in its virtues and its flaws.

1. Introduction
2. Economics
3. Militarism
4. The unequal treatment of States
5. Household metaphors
6. Defense and attack
7. Calculations of interest
8. Reciprocity
9. Legalism
10. Peace
11. Conclusion
Appendix 1. Speeches and texts
Appendix 2. Plato and Aristotle on the causes of war
Appendix 3. Claims of service.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]