A survey of the development and expansion of Greek city states (known as “poleis”) from their emergence in the eighth century BC to Greece’s conquest by Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. Particular attention will be paid to Athens and Sparta, the two great powers of this period. The class will examine Greece’s political institutions (How direct was direct democracy?), social relations (What were the lived realities of women, foreigners and slaves?) and intellectual history (especially the rise of rhetoric to better persuade mass audiences in a democracy). Readings will draw on ancient historians (Herodotus, Thucydides), political theorists (Plato, Aristotle), satirists (Aristophanes) and statesmen (Demosthenes, Lysias, Xenophon). (Not offered 2024-25).

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