Drawing Lots: From Egalitarianism to Democracy in Ancient Greece

For the first time, this volume by two leading historians offers a comprehensive study of drawing lots as a central institution of ancient Greek society. Drawing lots expressed an egalitarian mindset that guided selection, procedure, and distribution by lot and was eventually introduced for polis governance, a Greek innovation that appears to be of increasing relevance today. The authors explore the egalitarian, "horizonal," mindset expressed in using the lot instead of a top-down vision of...