Athenian Politics, c.800-500 BC

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Athenian Politics examines the limitations and problems attendant upon the use of traditional sources to understand Athenian history. Presenting, in translation, virtually all the sources from which scholars have drawn their conclusions about ancient Athenian society--from contemporary accounts and stone inscriptions to Egyptian papyri--Stanton challenges the way scholars have viewed ancient Athens. Covering the period from the reforms of Solon to the constitutional changes of Kleisthenes, Athenian Politics explores democracy's paradoxical emergence from the actions of an undemocratic noble elite.