Athenian Generals: Military Authority in the Classical Period

by Debra Hamel

This study of the Athenian strategia is concerned with identifying the locus of military authority in the Athenian polis .
Consideration of the role played by generals in the deliberative and final stages of military expeditions and of the relationship between strategoi and their subordinates, colleagues, and the Athenian demos itself suggests that Athens' generals did not exercise significant authority over their city's military operations. Rather, the demos controlled its generals both by means of its direct involvement in decision-making related to campaigns and by establishing in Athens a climate of fear which was very often sufficient to dissuade generals from acting in opposition to the Athenians' will.
This volume is important reading for anyone who is interested in ancient military history or the question of sovereignty in Athens.

250 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Debra Hamel studied classics as an undergraduate at The Johns Hopkins University and again as a graduate student at Yale, where she specialized in ancient history. Since receiving her Ph.D. in 1996 she has published a number of scholarly articles and reviews as well as publications for a general audience, including several articles that have appeared in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.

Debra is the mother of two preternaturally attractive girls. She writes and blogs from her subterranean lair in North Haven, Connecticut.