The Myth of the Synagogue on Delos
The identification of a synagogue on Delos has been problematic ever since it was first made in 1913 because while there is some evidence relating to Jews and/or Samaritans on Delos not one single piece of it refers to a synagogue or association house. When we come to look at the material relating to how a building on the island came to be identified as a synagogue…
Was Pythagoras Ever Really in Sparta?
Did he really go to all of these places in person or did the Pythagorean movement make such claims in order to bolster their own credibility? Did others make similar claims for political and/or propagandistic reasons? Let us consider the sources as we have them.
Persaeus of Citium: A Lapsed Stoic?
This article examines the historical evidence on the life of Persaeus of Citium, a Stoic philosopher and immediate student of Zeno, the founder of Stoicism. It also considers the anecdotal accounts of Persaeus’ actions with regard to Stoic philosophy as it was understood to apply during his lifetime.
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…
The collapse and regeneration of complex society in Greece, 1500-500 BC
The collapse and regeneration of complex society in Greece, 1500-500 BC Ian Morris Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics: December (2005) Abstract Greece between 1500…
The comparative economics of slavery in the Greco-Roman world
This paper has two goals. The first one is to improve our understanding of the critical determinants of the large-scale use of slave labor in different sectors of historical economies.
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.
Thucydides and the invention of political science
Thucydides self-consciously invented a new form of inquiry, which can reasonably be called “social and political science.” His intellectual goal was a new understanding of power and its relationship to human agency and the deep structures of human society. His understanding of agency and structure is in some ways reminiscent of the reflexivity theory developed by Anthony Giddens.
The comparative economics of slavery in the Greco-Roman world
This paper has two goals. The first one is to improve our understanding of the critical determinants of the large-scale use of slave labor in different sectors of historical economies…My second objective is to explain differences in the relative prevalence of chattel slavery in different periods and parts of the ancient Mediterranean world with the help of data on prices and wages…