Athens, 403 BC: A Democracy in Crisis?

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Vincent Azoulay (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) Paulin Ismard (Université d'Aix-Marseille)

Athens, 403 BC

A Democracy in Crisis?

Vincent Azoulay (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris), Paulin Ismard (Université d'Aix-Marseille), Lorna Coing (University of Cambridge) , Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge)

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English

Cambridge University Press
20 March 2025

History; Ancient history: to c 500 CE

Series: Classical Scholarship in Translation

At the end of the fifth century BC, the Peloponnesian War resulted in Athens' shattering defeat by Sparta. Taking advantage of the debacle, a commission of thirty Athenians abolished the democratic institutions that for a century had governed the political life of the city and precipitated a year-long civil war. By autumn 403 BC, democracy was restored. Inspired by the model of the ancient chorus, this strikingly innovative book interprets a crucial moment in classical history through the prism of ten remarkable individuals and the shifting groups which formed around them. The former include more familiar names like the multifaceted Sokrates, the oligarch Kritias and the rhetorician Lysias, but also lesser-known figures like the scribe Nikomachos, the former slave Gerys and the priestess Lysimakhe. What leads a community to tear itself apart, even disintegrate, then rebuild itself? This question, explored through profound reflection on the past, echoes our tormented present.

By: Vincent Azoulay (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales Paris), Paulin Ismard (Université d'Aix-Marseille)
Preface by: Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge)
Translated by: Lorna Coing (University of Cambridge)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 159mm, Spine: 27mm
Weight: 700g
ISBN: 9781009490962
ISBN 10: 1009490966
Series: Classical Scholarship in Translation
Pages: 392
Publication Date: 20 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

VINCENT AZOULAY is Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He is a former member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the current director of the international bilingual journal of the Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales. He has been awarded several prizes, including the Prix du livre d'histoire du Sénat (2011). He is the author of several books already translated in English: Pericles of Athens (2014), The Tyrant-Slayers of Ancient Athens (2017) and Xenophon and the Graces of Power (2018). PAULIN ISMARD is Professor of Ancient Greek History at Aix-Marseille University. He is a former member of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies and of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He has received several awards: the Prix du livre d'histoire du Sénat (2014), Grand Prix des Rendez-Vous de l'Histoire de Blois (2016) and Prix François Millepierres de l'Académie Française (2016). He is also the author of Democracy's Slaves. A Political History of Ancient Greece (2017), La cité et ses esclaves (2019) and Les mondes de l'esclavage. Une histoire comparée (2021).

Reviews for Athens, 403 BC: A Democracy in Crisis?

'In Athens 403BC Azoulay and Ismard have produced a superb study of the critical period defined by the brief ascendancy and rapid fall of the Thirty in the aftermath of Athens' defeat in 403 BC. This is an original study with a distinctive voice and a compelling thesis.' Jeremy McInerney, University OF Pennsylvania 'Homonoia (Unanimity) and Diallage (Reconciliation) were 5th-century BCE Athenian democratic catchwords but they still resonate today, as perhaps never before. How timely then is this brilliant collaborative investigation of plurality, polyphony and dissonance in the world's first democracy. Let me only add my voice to the chorus of praise that is its due.' Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge