Directions in the Study of Athenian Democracy

Abstract

Research into Athenian democracy in the past few decades has raised new issues and thrown new light on old ones. The mechanics of the democracy, the involvement of the citizens (and the distinction between them and non-citizens), the identification and distribution of demes and trittyes, have all been clarified more precisely than they had been; the extent to which the elites could control or were controlled by the masses, the nature and the prevalence of demagoguery and sycophanty, and in particular the stages by which the democracy developed and the extent to which its nature had changed after the Peloponnesian War remain controversial but subject to further refinement and clarification; epigraphy and archaeology have thrown new light on many points. Among the directions in which new research promises to throw some light are the distribution of wealth and the developing relationship between the city and its religious institutions.