Socrates and democratic Athens: The story of the trial in its historical and legal contexts
Socrates was both a loyal citizen (by his own lights) and a critic of the democratic community’s way of doing things.
The instrumental value of others and institutional change: An Athenian case study
A primary motive for certain Athenian rule changes in the direction of increased legal access and impartiality in the fourth century B.C. was Athenian awareness of the increased instrumental value of foreigners.
The growth of Greek cities in the first millennium BC
The growth of Greek cities in the first millennium BC Ian Morris Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics: December (2005) Abstract In this paper I…
Mapping Politics: An Investigation of Deme Theatres in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E.
Mapping Politics: An Investigation of Deme Theatres in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E. Jessica Paga (Princeton University) Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics:…
Sex and empire: a Darwinian perspective
This paper draws on evolutionary psychology to elucidate ultimate causation in imperial state formation and predatory exploitation in antiquity and beyond. Differential access to the means of reproduction is shown to have been a key feature of early imperial systems.
Making Space for Bicultural Identity: Herodes Atticus Commemorates Regilla
Herodes and Regilla built a number of installations during their marriage, some of which represented their union in spatial terms. After Regilla died, Herodes reconfigured two of these structures, altering their meanings with inscriptions to represent the marriage retrospectively. This paper considers the implications of these commemorative installations for Herodes’ sense of cultural identity.
Democratic Athens as an Experimental System: History and the Project of Political Theory
Athens as a case study can be useful as an “exemplary narrative” for political science and normative political, on the analogy of the biologicial use of as certain animals (e.g. mice or zebrafish) as “model systems” subject to intensive study by many researchers.
The Athenian Empire (478-404 BC)
In this paper I raise 3 questions: (1) How, and how much, did the Athenian Empire change Greek society? (2) Why did the Athenian Empire (or a competitor state) not become a multiethnic empire like Persia or Rome? (3) In the long run, how much did the Athenian Empire’s failure matter?
Going with the Grain: Athenian State Formation and the Question of Subsistence in the 5th and 4th Centuries BCE
The questions I intend to ask in this paper focus on this very issue. My case study is 5th century BCE Athens. During this period, the so-called “Athenian Empire”, Athens experienced military growth, geographic expansion of its hegemony, and further population increase.
Julian's strategy in AD 361
Both Roman generals and modern historians have tended to find Julian’s moves in the civil war of AD 361 hazardous as well as difficult to understand. This is especially true of his long, ultra-rapid and semi-clandestine journey down the Danube, which was carried out by a dangerously small corps (under the command of the Usurper himself !) and ended with a very brief visit to Sirmium.