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Ancient Lives
Phocion: Good Citizen in a Divided Democracy
Thomas R. Martin recounts the unmatched political and military career of Phocion of Athens, and his tragic downfall
Phocion (402–318 BCE) won Athens’s highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a “Useful Citizen.” A student at Plato’s Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia’s emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens’s defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand “undesirable” Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, dispossessed Athenians took out their volcanic anger on Phocion, who throughout his career had often been a harsh critic of the citizens’ political decisions. His inflammatory rhetoric contributed to the popular conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he wished so desperately to preserve. When he was eighty-four, the Athenians convicted him of treason and condemned him to die by hemlock. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin explores how and why Phocion ultimately failed as a citizen and as a leader. His story offers unsetting lessons for citizens in democracies today.
Phocion (402–318 BCE) won Athens’s highest public office by direct democratic election an unmatched forty-five times and was officially honored as a “Useful Citizen.” A student at Plato’s Academy, Phocion gained influence and power during a time when Athens faced multiple crises stemming from Macedonia’s emergence as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. Following Athens’s defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought mild terms of surrender. Oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and more than twelve thousand “undesirable” Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, dispossessed Athenians took out their volcanic anger on Phocion, who throughout his career had often been a harsh critic of the citizens’ political decisions. His inflammatory rhetoric contributed to the popular conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he wished so desperately to preserve. When he was eighty-four, the Athenians convicted him of treason and condemned him to die by hemlock. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin explores how and why Phocion ultimately failed as a citizen and as a leader. His story offers unsetting lessons for citizens in democracies today.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 24, 2024
91 people want to read
About the author
Thomas R. Martin
312 books53 followersThomas Runge Martin is an American historian who is a specialist in the history of the Greco-Roman world. He currently holds the chair "Jeremiah O'Connor" in the Department of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross, where he teaches courses on the Athenian democracy, Hellenism and the Roman Empire.
His research field covers the history of ancient Greece and Rome and numismatics. He is author and co-author of several publications and articles, among which include Sovereignty and Coinage in Classical Greece (Priceton University Press, 1985), Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Yale University Press, 1992), The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2 vol., 2001) and Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009), all reissued.
Dr. Martin lives in Sutton, Massachusetts with his wife, Ivy Sun. He has two children, Alex and Andrea.
Source: Amazon & The History Series at Salisbury House & Gardens
His research field covers the history of ancient Greece and Rome and numismatics. He is author and co-author of several publications and articles, among which include Sovereignty and Coinage in Classical Greece (Priceton University Press, 1985), Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Yale University Press, 1992), The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2 vol., 2001) and Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009), all reissued.
Dr. Martin lives in Sutton, Massachusetts with his wife, Ivy Sun. He has two children, Alex and Andrea.
Source: Amazon & The History Series at Salisbury House & Gardens
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 19, 2024
While I enjoyed the book, I thought it was a better work on Greek culture and society during Phocion's life than about the man himself. Documentary evidence on his life is sparse. Most of our information comes from Plutarch's work.
May 27, 2025
This is really just a summary of Greek history from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. There is so little evidence of Phocion's life that what tries to pass as biography is but supposition. That supposition is often an attempt at psychoanalysis. The author's constant repetition becomes frustrating early on.
What might have been a more interesting approach would have been to team Martin, a classists, with a political scientist and for that team to have compared this period of history with our own. A great deal could be learned from a careful investigation of a democracy under stress, a community divided and political leaders who must make hard decisions regarding the state of their community.
What might have been a more interesting approach would have been to team Martin, a classists, with a political scientist and for that team to have compared this period of history with our own. A great deal could be learned from a careful investigation of a democracy under stress, a community divided and political leaders who must make hard decisions regarding the state of their community.
January 28, 2025
As someone who doesn't know too much about Greek history and is more Roman orientated, this book has been really interesting. I love the structure and the language that is used throughout.
It dies a good job of showing the Society of Phocion and where he grew up, how he lived, and what he lived by. The way that it's shown his fame rises, but also notes how it might have harmed him in the future is well done. And the book moves forward at a good pace.
Another book in the Yale Ancient Lives series, this has been another great one.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about Greek and Athenian history and a much less covered time period after the peloponesian War and up to the war of the successors.
5/5
It dies a good job of showing the Society of Phocion and where he grew up, how he lived, and what he lived by. The way that it's shown his fame rises, but also notes how it might have harmed him in the future is well done. And the book moves forward at a good pace.
Another book in the Yale Ancient Lives series, this has been another great one.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about Greek and Athenian history and a much less covered time period after the peloponesian War and up to the war of the successors.
5/5
January 11, 2026
Not bad. I'm divided on how good.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews