The Athenian Assembly: In the Age of Demosthenes (Blackwell Classical Studies)

A revised and enlarged translation of the original German edition, this is a study of the people's assembly of classical Athens, which is the best attested example in world history of a direct democracy. Based on the literary sources, on stone inscriptions and on the physical remains of the assembly place, Hansen interprets the assembly in the light of the best modern parallel: the political mass meeting in the smaller Swiss cantons, attended by several thousand citizens. The book describes the ecclesia itself, the debate, the political leaders and groups, and the powers of the Assembly.