This second edition of the sourcebook on Athenian democracy published within the Lactor Series replaces the previous edition entitled Athenian Radical Democracy. The replacement of the previous edition was in itself a huge undertaking and in this new sourcebook Prof. Robin Osborne sets the new volume with a very important task: to deliver in an accessible fashion detail relating to the history and functioning of Athenian democracy during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. The accessibility of the sources must also to be presented in such a fashion that students who have no knowledge of Greek are able to use the sourcebook and come away with a thorough understanding of the functioning of the Athenian democracy.
The new edition of the Lactor sourcebook does deliver these first two objectives with ease. This I believe was made easier by Osborne himself and his own role in the resurgence of the popularity of studies into Athenian democracy. This sourcebook greatly benefits from Osborne’s mind and teaching style. It is able to engage the student, even if the student has no prior subject or linguistic knowledge. I am greatly reminded of the work of Prof. Hugo Jones on Athenian democracy when reading the sourcebook and found that the way the sourcebook brings over key information is of an equally exceptional nature just as the work by Prof Hugo Jones some 50 years previously.
Furthermore, we must judge Osborne’s work in conjunction with the rest of the books in the Lactor Series. And when examined with the 18 other titles available in the series the contents and the readability of this Sourcebook do really put it in a league of its own. Osborne in the preface to this edition points out that this book performs a very important function for students, especially for those in the 6th form or the equivalent. He does note, however, that this series does need to be expanded in the field of Athenian visual culture.
The source material in this volume has been organised into three parts although containing a large amount of material from the previous Radical Athenian Democracy. This edition has been greatly enhanced with the addition of a large amount of new material. The bulk is material from the 4th century BCE to complement and supplement the existing material from the 5th century. The source material provided is given in a very accessible English translation.
The sourcebook also outshines other books in the field by making available translations of authors that would otherwise have been impossible to have access to for students unless they had access to large university libraries. Many students still do not have access or have the resources to get hold of these sources, even if they are available on the internet. The broad slice of sources provided gives the student the opportunity to gain a greater degree of specialisation in the wider field of study and dispels the myth that the study of Athenian democracy is a very narrow one. Given the wide range of history, politics and philosophy that is detailed in this volume it is easy to see why the revival of the study of the period has so greatly increased over the past years. Even teachers of Ancient History and Classics at university level will find this volume of use.
Part I deals with how Athens became a democracy. Part II deals with Athenian democratic institutions and their functioning. Part III deals with the Athenian democracy in action. Although the volume is short at only 166 pages it still covers an amazing 17 chapters, ranging in topic from ‘What did Solon do?’ to ‘Overthrowing Democracy’. The sources are also greatly varied, from the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, to the rhetoric of Demosthenes and the philosophers like Aristotle. Even the Roman historian Plutarch is included. The student is further assisted by a chapter-by-chapter list of suggested works for further reading.
Osborne is able to make Athenian democracy something that a modern student can identify as something that was the ultimate expression of the free will of its people during those two centuries. This makes this book an overarching and interdisciplinary work with such broad use in all disciplines of Ancient History and Classical Studies. And it is probably the easiest sourcebook to recommend to a general, student or teaching readership.
Open access
