Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps
- Preface to the First Edition
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Map 1 The Greek World
- Map 2 Attica
- Introduction
- 1 The Homeric State
- 2 The Archaic State
- 3 Economic and Political Development; Tyranny and After
- 4 Sparta
- 5 Athens
- 6 Women and Children
- 7 Economic Life
- 8 Religion
- 9 Other Cities
- 10 Beyond the Single City
- 11 The Hellenistic and Roman Periods
- Bibliography
- Index of Texts
- Index of Names and Subjects
9 - Other Cities
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Maps
- Preface to the First Edition
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Map 1 The Greek World
- Map 2 Attica
- Introduction
- 1 The Homeric State
- 2 The Archaic State
- 3 Economic and Political Development; Tyranny and After
- 4 Sparta
- 5 Athens
- 6 Women and Children
- 7 Economic Life
- 8 Religion
- 9 Other Cities
- 10 Beyond the Single City
- 11 The Hellenistic and Roman Periods
- Bibliography
- Index of Texts
- Index of Names and Subjects
Summary
Sparta and Athens were abnormally large and abnormally powerful city states. In addition, Athens came to be seen as the model of democracy, and Sparta exercised a particular fascination over opponents of democracy. These two states therefore interested ancient writers far more than any others, and our information on the working of other states is meagre. Aristotle's school produced studies of 158 constitutions, but of these only the Athenian Constitution has survived, and the short fragments quoted by other ancient writers from the remainder are not enlightening to the student of political institutions. More useful is Aristotle's Politics, the work of theory for the sake of which Aristotle and his pupils collected details of constitutional practice: the theory in the Politics is illustrated by a large number of particular examples, and these examples are by no means confined to Sparta and Athens.
Some information on other cities in the archaic period has been given in Chapters Two and Three. In this chapter I give some early documents; a selection of interesting constitutional details, mostly from the Politics; and, because of the predominant position of Sparta and Athens in the Greek world, some texts showing the way in which they influenced the constitutions of other states.
DOCUMENTS FROM THE ARCHAIC PERIOD
An early law from Crete
Though Athens was the greatest publisher of state documents in the fifth and subsequent centuries, we have older inscribed documents concerning political institutions from elsewhere.
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- The Greek City StatesA Source Book, pp. 214 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007