Thierry Oppeneer

Popular Political Participation from Archaic Greece to the Late Hellenistic Period

This volume studies popular assemblies in Greek cities from Homeric to late Hellenistic times. Greek poleis were among the most politically inclusive societies in premodern history, primarily because via their public assemblies, most or all adult male citizens beyond the elite could participate in politics. In those cities the Greeks called democracies, the assembly even functioned as the chief decision-making institution. In this volume, an international team of experts explores assemblies in Greek cities mostly beyond the already well-studied case of Classical Athens, focussing on topics like the origins of assembly politics in Homeric communities, the size of assemblies, assemblies in Classical oligarchic poleis, assemblies in Hellenistic cities (traditionally viewed as no longer fully democratic), and the comparative study of Greek assemblies and participatory institutions in other societies.A companion volume (Popular Political Participation from the Early Roman Empire to Late Antiquity: The Assemblies of the Greek Cities beyond Athens Volume II) explores assemblies in Greek cities under Rome until the late third century CE. Throughout both volumes, the emphasis is on the notion that assemblies were an essential contributing factor to the surprising institutional success and longevity of the Greek city. Together they suggest that the assembly ought to be a key component of any explanation for the remarkable resilience of the polis as a system of government through more than a millennium of ancient history.