The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes : Structure, Principles, and Ideology
Mogens Herman Hansen
University of Oklahoma Press
9780806131436
0-8061-3143-8
The Athenian democracy of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. is the most famous and perhaps the most nearly perfect example of direct democracy. Covering the period 403-322 B.C., Mogens Herman Hansen focuses on the crucial last thirty years, which coincided with the political career of Demosthenes. Hansen distinguishes between the citys seven political institutions: the Assembly, the nomothetai, the Peoples Court, the boards of magistrates, the Council of Five Hundred, the Areopagos, and ho boulomenos. He discusses how Athenians conceived liberty both as the ability to participate in the decision-making process and as the right to live without oppression from the state or other citizens.