Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens

This book is the first in-depth study of the classical Athenian public sphere. It examines how public opinion was created by impromptu theatrics and by gossip, and how it flowed into and out of the civic institutions. Athenians did not have hookah bars or coffee shops but they did socialize in symposia, gymnasia and workshops, and above all in the Agora. These represented the Athenian 'street', an informal political space that was seen as qualitatively different from the institutional space of the assembly, the council and the courts where elite orators held sway. The book explores how Athenians of all sorts, such as politicians, slaves and philosophers, sought to exploit the resources of the 'street' in pursuit of their aims.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. A tour of the Agora; 2. Athenian social networks; 3. The problem of non-institutional politics; 4. Institutionalizing theatricality in the assembly; 5. 'Publicity stunts' in Athenian politics; 6. Slaves in the Theseion; 7. The Magnesian street; Conclusion.

About the author

Alex Gottesman is Assistant Professor of Greek and Roman Classics at Temple University, Philadelphia.

Summary

The first in-depth study of the classical Athenian public sphere. It examines informal political spaces such as symposia, gymnasia and workshops, and the role of impromptu theatrics and gossip in the formation of public opinion, as well as exploring their relationship to the formal civic institutions of assembly, council and courts.

Product details

• Authors: Alex Gottesman, Alex (Temple University Gottesman, Gottesman Alex
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.10.2017
• EAN: 9781108439053
• ISBN: 978-1-108-43905-3
• No. of pages: 261
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; History of Ideas, European History, HISTORY / Ancient / General, Ancient Greece, Social & cultural history, Political structures: democracy, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, BCE period – Protohistory, Classical Greek & Roman archaeology