1,720,995 research outputs found
Poverty, Wealth, and Social Mobility : The Cases of Megara and Athens
No full textThis chapter discusses the bond between wealth, high birth, and political power attested in the Homeric poems. The following discussion will bring us to see how this bond came to be challenged in the Archaic Period, based on the case of Megara. In fact, an elite group is internally diverse, and the criteria for defining membership must be constantly reaffirmed, renegotiated, and performed, namely publicly demonstrated to the community. From this perspective, lineage and high birth are only two of the criteria that define elite status, but they are not the only, nor universal, criteria. Whereas, in the Homeric epics, the world of the poleis is only foreshadowed, in the corpus of elegies known as the Theognidea, the polis is the socio-political background in which the community of the aristocrats gathers, and where their symposia take place. The traditional interpretation understands them as referring, respectively, to the members of the aristocratic milieu and the ordinary people
The Speech of Athenagoras in Thucydides 6.36–40: Demagoguery and Democracy in Syracuse
Full text linkIl presente contributo prende in esame il discorso di Atenagora di Siracusa in Tucidide
6.36-40. Tucidide costruisce la figura di Atenagora sul modello dei demagoghi ateniesi, ma
anche basandosi su ciò che sapeva dell’opposizione interna a Ermocrate a Siracusa e, in
generale, utilizzando le informazioni che aveva sulla democrazia di Siracusa. Sebbene il
discorso sia frutto della creatività retorica di Tucidide, lo storico non trascura i principi dei τὰ
δέοντα and della ξύμπασα γνώμη delineati nel famoso capitolo sul metodo (1.22).
L’immagine della democrazia siracusana che emerge dalle parole di Atenagora non è
semplicemente uno specchio della democrazia ateniese. Il discorso contiene interessanti indizi
di un’idea e prassi della democrazia, del potere e della leadership che sono sostanzialmente
diverse da quelle ateniesi. Il discorso del demagogo siracusano fornisce quindi elementi
importanti, utili a comprendere per quali ragioni Aristotele, nella Politica, definisce Siracusa
nel periodo tra il 466/5 e il 413 a.C. come una πολιτεία (ovvero una costituzione mista) e non
come una δημοκρατία.This paper discusses the speech of Athenagoras in Thucydides 6.36–40. Thucydides
sketches Athenagoras’ profile based on his knowledge of Athenian demagogues, his
(probably scanty) knowledge of the Syracusan opposition to Hermocrates, and his knowledge
of Syracusan democracy. I argue, first, that, despite freely composing Athenagoras’ speech,
Thucydides does follow the principle of τὰ δέοντα and ξύμπασα γνώμη τῶν ἀληθῶς
λεχθέντων that he introduces in his methodological chapter at 1.22.1. Second, that the picture
of Syracusan democracy that Athenagoras provides in his excursus on democracy is not
simply a mirror of Athenian democracy. The speech contains clues about a specific Syracusan
view of democracy, power and leadership, which might also explain why Aristotle defines
Syracuse in the period from 466/5 to 413 BC as a πολιτεία (i.e., a mixed constitution, halfway
between oligarchy and democracy) and not as a δημοκρατία
Rivalry, Competition and Corruption in Dio Chrysostom’s Bithynian Orations
No full textThe article discusses some of the main ‘vices’ of Bithynian politics as they
emerge from Dio Chrysostom’s Bithynian orations. It focuses on the issue of
local rivalries between Bithynian poleis, the problematic relations between poleis
and Roman authorities and, eventually, the difficult position of Dio in Prusa
Between Native and Acquired Citizenship. The Discourse of Multiple Citizenship in Dio Chrysostom’s Bithynian Speeches
No full textRecensione di B. Gray, Stasis and Stability. Exile, the Polis, and Political Thought, c. 404–146 BC, 2015
No full textReview of: Katell Berthelot and Jonathan Price (eds.), In the Crucible of Empire: The Impact of Roman Citizenship upon Greeks, Jews and Christians. Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion, 21. Leuven; Paris: Peeters, 2019
No full textMultiple Greek Citizenships in the imperial age. Aspects of communication between speaker and audience in Dio Chrysostom
Full text linkThis paper discusses the question of multiple Greek citizenships in the imperial age by taking, as a case study, selected passages from the Bithynian orations of Dio Chrysostom. These passages shed light on the public and institutional settings and contexts in which acquired citizenships, far from being perceived simply as honorific titles, caused difficulties and set limits and challenges for their holders: the case of Dio and his sophisticated attempts to “juggle” before the assemblies and councils of Bithynian cities, (often rival cities), is a clear example of this.Il presente contributo intende discutere la questione delle cittadinanze greche multiple in età imperiale analizzandonalcuni passi delle orazioni bitiniche di Dione di Prusa. Si tratta di passi che mettono bene in luce le modalità e i contesti pubblici e istituzionali nei quali le cittadinanze acquisite, lungi dall’essere percepite semplicemente come titoli onorifici, ponevano difficoltà, limiti e sfide concrete per i loro titolari: il caso di Dione e dei suoi sofisticati tentativi di destreggiarsi davanti alle assemblee e ai consigli di città bitiniche spesso rivali tra loro ne è un chiaro esempio
Debt Cancellation in the Classical and Hellenistic<i>Poleis</i>: Between Demagogy and Crisis Management
No full textThis article discusses the way the ancient Greeks dealt with public and private debts, focusing on one specific aspect: debt cancellation. On the one hand, ancient Greeks were aware of the risks entailed in debt relief as a tool for fuelling civic strife: sources describe it as a demagogic or even criminal action often in association with the political agenda of tyrants. On the other hand, however, Greeks knew well also the benefic effects of debt cancellation in coping with financial and political crisis. In late accounts of archaic history, debt relief is the solution to civic strife and the foundation act of political order. Some public decrees of the Hellenistic period attest debt relief as a communal decision of the polis, dictated by the necessity of preventing or solving ongoing or imminent crises. This second meaning and purpose of debt cancellation should perhaps urge us to reconsider from a different perspective the politics of debt in today's Europe
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