Athens on Trial

by Jennifer T. Roberts

The Classical Athenians were the first to articulate and implement the notion that ordinary citizens of no particular affluence or education could make responsible political decisions. For this reason, reactions to Athenian democracy have long provided a prime Rorschach test for political thought. Whether praising Athens's government as the legitimizing ancestor of modern democracies or condemning it as mob rule, commentators throughout history have revealed much about their own notions of politics and society. In this book, Jennifer Roberts charts responses to Athenian democracy from Athens itself through the twentieth century, exploring a debate that touches upon historiography, ethics, political science, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, gender studies, and educational theory.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 1994

About the author

Jennifer Tolbert Roberts is Professor of Classics and History at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is the author of Athens on Trial: The Anti-Democratic Tradition in Western Thought and Herodotus: A Very Short Introduction, and editor (with Walter Blanco) of the Norton Critical Editions of Herodotus' The Histories and Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War.