15. The Art Of Democracy

Throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Athenians practiced a form of democratic political life rarely equaled in any other time or place. Although participation was restricted to adult male citizens, excluded women and foreigners, and depended on the existence of a slave population, the democratic system of Athens nevertheless remains a remarkable achievement. In this lecture we will examine in detail the institutions of the Athenian democracy in an attempt to reconstruct the democratic experience of the ancient Greeks. We shall also consider the relationship between democratic politics and the other public institutions of Athenian society.