Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice

Paul Cartledge is A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Clare College. He has published extensively on Greek history over several decades, including The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece (1997, new edition 2002), Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300–362 BC (2001), and Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past (2004, revised edition 2005).

'Cartledge's arguments will doubtless inspire much fruitful debate in student seminars, and his ideas will give more experienced scholars much to think about as they examine the ancient evidence in rather more detail than is possible in a book of this length. Equally, the book will serve as an engaging introduction to the topic for those outside the discipline. It introduces the key texts, events and ideas that underpin Greek political thought in a way that captures the flavour of the current exciting period in the study of this fascinating subject.' Rosetta

• Timeline; 1. Meaning in context: how to write a history of Greek political thought; 2. The Greek invention of the polis, of politics and of the political; Narrative I. The Prehistoric and Protohistoric Greek World c.1300 BCE–c.750 BCE: 3. Rule by one: the politics of Homer, c.750 BCE; Narrative II. The Archaic Greek World, c.750–500 BCE: 4. Rule by some: the politics of Solon, c.600 BCE; 5. Rule by all: the Athenian revolution, c.500 BCE; Narrative III. The Classical Greek World I: c.500–400 BCE: 6. The human measure: the Greek invention of political theory, c.500–400 BCE; 7. The trial of Socrates, 399 BCE; Narrative IV. The Classical Greek World II: c.400–300 BCE: 8. Rule by one revisited: the politics of Xenophon, Plato, Isocrates, Aristotle - and Alexander the Great, c.400–330 BCE; Narrative V. The Hellenistic Greek World c.300–30 BCE: 9. (E)utopianism by design: the Spartan revolution, 244–221 BCE; Narrative VI. 'Graecia Capta' (Greece Conquered) c.146 BCE–CE 120: 10. The end of politics? The world of Plutarch, c.100 CE; 11. The Greek legacy and democracy today; Appendix I. Selected texts and documents; Appendix II. The 'Old Oligarch': a close reading.