Ancient Greek History and Contemporary Social Science

by Mirko Canevaro (Editor), Andrew Erskine (Editor), Benjamin Gray (Editor), Josiah Ober (Editor)

Overview

There is a long history of successful engagement between social science and classical studies. Social science has been a source of new and productive approaches to understanding ancient Greece, while classical Greek history and culture has been a touchstone for social theorists since the 19th century. This new collection of essays surveys the current state of the new field of ‘social science Greek history’ and demonstrates the potential of this interdisciplinary field.
Substantial bodies of work that have contributed in fundamental ways to our understanding of classical Greece and its cultural legacy were produced in 20th century, by employing methods from anthropology, sociology, and psychology. More recently, the use of quantitative methods and formal theory, drawn from contemporary political science, economics, and sociology, has led to a new understanding of ancient Greek economic and political development. Meanwhile, normative considerations, drawn from contemporary political philosophy, have led to a richer understanding of Greek political thought and Greek institutional innovations – notably including democracy and the rule of law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474421775
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	06/19/2018
Series:	Edinburgh Leventis Studies
Pages:	608
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mirko Canevaro is Professor of Greek History, at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of The Documents in the Attic Orators (OUP, 2013). He is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Law (OUP, 2016) and The Hellenistic and Early-Imperial Reception of Athenian Democracy and Political Thought (OUP, 2016). He is one of the series editors for our New Approaches to Ancient Greek Institutional History series and a co-editor of an edited collection in our Leventis Studies series.

Andrew Erskine is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh.

Benjamin Gray is lecturer in Ancient History, Birkbeck, University of London and also, until August 2018, Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften, Humboldt-Universityät Berlin.

Josiah Ober is Constantine Mitsotakis Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. He is the author of The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece (Princeton, 2015), Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens (Princeton, 2008), Athenian Legacies: Essays on the Politics of Going on Together (Princeton, 2005), Political Dissent in Democratic Athens (Princeton, 1998), The Athenian Revolution (Princeton, 1996), Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens (Princeton, 1989), Fortress Attica (Brill, 1985). He is co-author of Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (University of California Press, 2007).

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction

Section I: Theory and Method

1. Behavioural Economics and Economic Activity in Classical Athens, David Lewis

2. The City in Chorus: For a Choral History of Athenian Society, Vincent Azoulay and Paulin Ismard

3. Approaching the Hellenistic Polis through Modern Political Theory: the Public Sphere, Pluralism and Prosperity, Benjamin Gray

Section II: Institutions

4. Majority Rule vs. Consensus: the practice of democratic deliberation in the Greek poleis, Mirko Canevaro

5. Rethinking Mass and Elite: Decision-Making in the Athenian Law-Courts, Federica Carugati and Barry R. Weingast

6. Ancient and Modern Conceptions of the Rule of Law, Sara Forsdyke

7. What can Data drawn from the Hansen-Nielsen Inventory tell us about Political Transitions in Ancient Greece?, Robert K. Fleck and F. Andrew Hanssen

Section III: Behaviour

8. Patronage in Ancient Sparta, Ingvar B. Mæhle

9. Understanding the politics of Pericles around 450 BCE: the benefits of an economic perspective, Carl Hampus Lyttkens and Henrik Gerding

10. Cash and crowns: a network approach to Greek athletic prizes, Christian Mann

Section IV: Wealth, Poverty and Inequality

11. Property Security and its Limits in Classical Greece, Emily Mackil

12. Economic (in)equality and democracy: the political economy of poverty in Athens, Claire Taylor

13. The Distribution of Wealthy Athenians in the Attic Demes, James Kierstead and Roman Klapaukh

Section V: Interstate Relations

14. Exploring inter-community political activity in fourth-century Greece, Peter Liddel

15. Hegemonic Legitimacy (and its Absence) in Classical Greece, Polly Low

16. The Koinon Dogma, the Mercenary Threat, and the Consolidation of the Democratic Revolutions in mid 5th Century Sicily, David Teegarden

Section VI: Technology and Innovation

17. Muddle wrestling: grappling for conceptual clarity in archaic money, Peter van Alfen

18. Entanglement, Materiality, and the Social Organization of Construction Workers in Classical Athens, Diane Harris Cline

19. Technology and Society in Classical Athens: A study of the social context of mining and metallurgy at Laurion, Kim van Liefferinge

Overview: Greek history at a crossroads, John K. Davies

What People are Saying About This

Alain Bresson

This volume is a manifesto for the implementation of the methods of social science in the field of ancient Greek History. After a methodological introduction by Josiah Ober that sets the debate, the nineteen chapters, followed by a conclusion by John Davies, beautifully illustrate the fruitfulness of the approach.

Editorial Reviews

This volume is a manifesto for the implementation of the methods of social science in the field of ancient Greek History. After a methodological introduction by Josiah Ober that sets the debate, the nineteen chapters, followed by a conclusion by John Davies, beautifully illustrate the fruitfulness of the approach.

Alain Bresson