Defining Citizenship in Archaic Greece

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Book Description

Downloadable “Defining Citizenship in Archaic Greece” booklet is available in PDF format. Citizenship is an essential component of both international and domestic politics in the modern era; however, contrary to popular belief, the concept of citizenship actually dates back to ancient Greece and is a legacy of that civilization. Even though the concept of membership in a community and involvement in that community's social and political activity first emerged some three millennia ago, Aristotle did not make an explicit declaration about it until the latter half of the fourth century BC. Although it has been widely accepted for a long time, this definition is still deeply rooted in the political and philosophical thought of the classical period; and it probably fails to account accurately for either the preceding centuries or the dynamics of emergent cities. As a result, historians are now challenging the application of the Aristotelian model to all Greek cities regardless of chronology, and they are looking instead for alternative ways of conceiving of citizenship and community.

This volume, Defining Citizenship in Archaic Greece, centers on archaic Greece and brings together a diverse group of well-known international scholars. The authors' goals are to discover new pathways to archaic Greek citizenship and to construct a new image of archaic cities, which are no longer to be considered as primitive or incomplete classical poleis. Each contributor brings his or her own approach and methodology to bear across a range of specific fields of inquiry, ranging from cults, the law, and military obligations to athletics, commensality, and descent. These essays have not been tailored to endorse any particular view; rather, they have been collected here for the purpose of presenting a variety of perspectives on a variety of topics. In its entirety, this collection is illustrative of the living diversity of approaches to archaic Greece and to the Greek city. It combines breadth and depth of insight with the possibility to travel off the usual path.