The Glue of Democracy: Economics, Warfare and Values in Classical Greece

Kyriazis, Nicholas and Paparrigopoulos, Xenophon and Economou, Emmanouel/Marios/Lazaros (2013): The Glue of Democracy: Economics, Warfare and Values in Classical Greece.

Abstract

In the present essay we analyse the links between the emergence of new arms and forms of war-emergence, the phalanx and its hoplites, and the trieres at sea, its economic base, and the emergence of democracy in classical Greece. We propose that the unique till then in the world phalanx formation, led to the development of particular values and ethics, which again were the necessary conditions for the emergence of democracy, then again, a unique phenomenon. We then turn to seapower, which according to our analysis was a sufficient condition for the establishment and endurance of democracy, because seapower led to a community of economic interests, on which direct democracies like Ancient Athens, were based.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Democracy, seapower, values, warfare, economic development.
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B1 - History of Economic Thought through 1925 > B11 - Preclassical (Ancient, Medieval, Mercantilist, Physiocratic); N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N30 - General, International, or Comparative; N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation > N43 - Europe: Pre-1913; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General

References

References:

George Bitros and Anastasios Karayannis, “Morality, Institutions and the Wealth of Nations: Some Lessons From Ancient Greece,” European Journal of Political Economy 26 (2010): 68-81.

Alfred S. Bradford, Leonidas and the Kings of Sparta: Mightiest Warriors, Fairest Kingdom (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2011).

Andrew R. Burn, Persia and the Greeks. The Defence of the West, C. 546-478 B.C. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984, reprint).

Paul Cartledge, “Hoplites and Heroes: Sparta's Contribution to the Technique of Ancient Warfare,” The Journal of Hellenic Studies 97 (1977): 11-27.

Alexandros Despotopoulos (1972), “The Art of War of the Greeks, 1100-336,” in History of the Greek Nation, Γ2 (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1972), (in Greek).

Mogens Herman Hansen, The Athenian Ecclesia: A Collection of Articles 1976-1983 (Viborg: Special Trykkeriet-Vyborg, 1983).

Mogens Herman Hansen, The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes (Bristol: Classical Press, 1999). Mogen Herman Hansen, Polis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Victor Davis Hanson, The Western Way of War (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009).

John R. Hale, Lords of the Sea: The Triumph and Tragedy of Ancient Athens (London: Gibson Square Books, 2011).

Mark Healy, “The Ancient Assyrians”, Osprey Elite 39 (1991).

Mark Healy, “New Kingdom Egypt,” Osprey Elite 40 (1992).

Peter Krentz, “The Nature of Hoplite Battle,” Classical Antiquity, 4(1) (1985).

Nicholas Kyriazis and Michail Zouboulakis, “Democracy, Sea Power and Institutional Change: An Economic Analysis of the Athenian Naval Law,” European Journal of Law and Economics 17 (2004): 117-132.

Nicholas Kyriazis, “Financing the Athenian State: Public Choice in the Age of Demosthenes,” European Journal of Law and Economics 27 (2009): 109-127.

Nicholas Kyriazis, “Seapower and Socioeconomic Change,” Theory and Society 35 (2006): 71-108.

Nicholas Kyriazis, Why Ancient Greece? (Athens: Psychogios Publications, 2012), 17-22.

Nicholas Kyriazis and Xenophon Paparrigopoulos, “War and Democracy in Ancient Greece,” European Journal of Law and Economics (2012): DOI 10.1007/s10657-012-9352-1.

Nicholas Kyriazis and Economou Emmanouil Marios L., “Macroculture, Sports and Democracy in Classical Greece,” Paper Presented at the 25th Heilbronn Symposion in Economics and the Social Sciences, June 21-24th, 2012, in Heilbronn.

Nicholas Kyriazis and Emmanouil Marios L. Economou, “Social Contract, Public Choice and Fiscal Repercussions in Classical Athens,” Paper Presented at the 12th Erfurt Conference on Fiscal Sociology, in October 12, 2012, in Erfurt.

Nicholas Kyriazis, and Economou, Emmanouil Marios L., “Property Rights and Democratic Values in Bronze Age and Archaic Greece,” MPRA Paper 42399 (University Library of Munich, Germany, 2012).

Nicholas Kyriazis and Economou Emmanouil Marios L., “Macroculture, Sports and Democracy in Classical Greece,” European Journal of Law and Economics (forthcoming).

Josiah Ober, Democracy and Knowledge: Innovation and Learning in Classical Athens (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Kurt A. Raauflaub and Robert W. Wallace, “Peoples Power and Egalitarian Trends in Archaic Greece,” in Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece, eds. K. A. Raaflaub, J. Ober, R. and W. Wallace, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008).

P. J. Rhodes, The Greek City States: A Source Book (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

Eric W. Robinson, The First Democracies: Early Popular Government Outside Athens (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997).

Eric W. Robinson, Democracy Beyond Athens: Popular Government in the Greek Classical Age (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Michael B. Sakellariou, “Towards Greek Unity,” in History of the Greek Nation, Γ2 (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1972), 34-95 (in Greek).

Nicholas Sekunda, “The Ancient Greeks,” Osprey Elite 7 (1986).

Nicholas Sekunda, “The Persian Army 560-330 BC”, Osprey Elite 42 (1992).

Herbert Simon, “Bounded Rationality and Organisational Learning,” Organisation Science 2(1) (1991).

Greg R. Stanton, Athenian Politics, C. 800-500 B.C.: A Sourcebook (London: Rutledge, 1990).

Ioannis Theodorakopoulos, “Aristoteles,” in History of the Greek Nation Γ2, (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1972) 486-511 (in Greek).

Konstantinos Tsatsos, “Rhetoric,” in History of the Greek Nation, Γ2, (Athens: Ekdotiki Athinon, 1972), 548-565 (in Greek).