After Demosthenes

Book excerpt: This volume challenges preconceptions of Athenian politics and history. It sets out to demonstrate that the widely received view that Hellenistic Athens and her political leaders were radically different from their Classical counterparts is fundamentally flawed. Through a re-examination of the internal politics of Hellenistic Athens, both in terms of its key institutions and its political leaders, After Demosthenes provides a comprehensive analysis of Athenian political life from 322-262 BC. Drawing on literary and epigraphic evidence the book identifies those who participated in the governing of Athens, and their motives for doing so, and redefines the nature of Athenian political ideology in the process. The leading political figures, each of whom can be identified with a particular ideological viewpoint, are explored in a series of biographical studies. Examining the intellectual origins of modern scholarly criticism of democracy in the Athens of this period, this volume shows how the politics of scholarly discourse have distorted modern views of Hellenistic Athens.