The ideal of autarkie meant that citizens were sensitive to any infringement on their personal freedoms. Autarkie, which meant self-sufficiency or independence, generally involved delegating one’s work to slaves. Self-sufficiency was not seen as something that happened to a individual in isolation, but at the level of an oikos. Together, oikoi collectively made up a polis, which was itself often viewed as if it were an oikos, as is shown by Migeotte, citing the beginning of the second book Aristotle’s Oeconomica:
“[T]his word [oikonomia] had a private sense and primarily designated the management of an oikos, the basic unit in agricultural production, consisting of one family, in a wider sense that included its slaves and material possessions.
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In Greece, there were numerous non-monetary rights that could be awarded to metics. Besides naming benefactors proxenos and euergetes, titles that gave an ill-defined set of privileges to foreigners, “the polis often added privileges such as ateleia, asylia, and epimeleia.” Metics who committed euergetism could gain ateleia, exemption from the “slavish” obligation of taxes to the polis, making themselves more autarkic. With asylia, “[i]n the event of litigious proceedings within its territory, [the polis] would then protect them against any threat of seizure of their goods.” Many of these rewards are useful only to metics. In fact, metics were officially honored for their euergetism before citizens were. Honoring metics for euergetism preceded the practice of honoring citizens for it. Gygax explains it thusly: “Many gifts and services [the elite] provided, despite being regarded as benefactions, must therefore simultaneously have been considered compensation offered to the demos by those who enjoyed more rights and advantages. In other words, these were seen as counter-gifts rather than gifts, and there was consequently no need to reward …show more content…
The quid pro quo of euergetism led to expectations about what someone deserved for performing liturgies. "Liturgists, for their part, used the institution to show off, to distance themselves from the masses, to compete among themselves and sometimes… to put the demos in their debt and obtain political support." Gygax cites the speeches Thucydides attributes to Alcibiades and Nicias, where they both point to how well they’ve completed past liturgies, to show that liturgies were fulfilled with the expectation of gaining political power. In Rome, benefaction was an acceptable display not only of wealth, but also of moral worth, which was presented as evidence of their qualification for political
Some may appear before you today in the Assembly to tell you that citizens who vote or serve as jurors should receive compensation because they are taking the time to participate in the Assembly and improve Athenian life. Others may go so far as to state that the poor workers of Athens should receive compensation to provide them with assistance in rebuilding aspects of Athenian life that have been damaged by conflict. Unfortunately, this plan may have worked in another time, but with the ever looming threat of an attack from Sparta, measures should be taken to ensure that we Athenians have proper defenses. Providing compensation would be too costly, and as it is a civic duty, there should not be payment. I ask of you, my fellow Athenians, what would become of a society where a person is paid to perform their civic duty? In a society such as one found in Sparta, power is the driving force, and in this society, money is a method for gaining power. Socrates stated that “men of this stamp will be covetous of money” (Plato 195). If a society were to
The effects of this go far beyond the imbalance of military power between Athens and her tributaries, however. The Old Oligarch lists four main areas where the existence of the Empire benefits the common people of Athens, thus giving impetus to radicalize democracy and justify the expansion and strengthening of the Empire, and giving is reason to find an ongoing justification for its existence. The first is the building of the disproportionately large Athenian navy. Second is the overall flattening of the Athenian social pyramid, raising the relative status of the lowest classes of society, and exemplified by the way that Athens becomes a magnet for aliens to live and work, and gives unusual freedom and opportunity to slaves. Third is that the allies are compelled to have their court cases tried in Athenian courts, bringing both prestige and financial reward to Athens. Finally, the centralizing effect of these things, and the obvious maritime nature of the Empire, make Athens a trading center, m...
We have now examined Thucydides' strongest arguments for Athenian rule. It is clear that Athens had a stronger claim to rule than the Melians had to remain sovereign. We also know that Athens' claims hold up when we examine them for validity. Thucydides beliefs in Athens' claims were therefore well founded.
...for success, he robs his audience of the right to make certain determinations about characters such as Tarquin Superbus and Romulus because of his bias toward the motivation behind their actions. Livy’s The Rise of Rome was a grand effort and an amazing undertaking. Cataloguing the years of Roman history consolidated rumor and legend into fact, creating a model for Rome to follow. Livy’s only error in this vast undertaking was in imprinting his own conception of morality and justice onto his work, an error that pulls the reader away from active thought and engaging debate. In doing so, Livy may have helped solidify a better Rome, but it would have been a Rome with less of a conception of why certain things are just, and more of a flat, basely concluded concept of justice.
Thrasymachus was a rhetorician whose orator skill were praised by Dionysus of Halicarnassus as “pure, subtle, and able, to speak either with terseness or with an abundance of words” (Guthrie, 1969, p. 167). Thrasymachus believed, as most Sophists do, that justice was a hindrance to an individual’s genuine interest: wealth, power, and pleasure. Thrasymachus conveys that justice is the interest and advantage of the stronger or “might makes right” (Plato, The Republic, 380 B.C, pp. 338d-339a). Thrasymachus felt that conventional morality be worn as a garment to conceal the egoist and self-centered motives underneath. Justice is nothing more than convention that serves the interests of lawmakers and if one wants justice, gaining power instead of appealing to an absolute standard of morality is the way. It is here that Plato’s theory and Thrasymachus’s demurring seemingly reach an
Livy’s first effort at creating a model citizen for the Roman peoples exists through Camillus’s selflessness. This is first exampled through our hero’s piety as exampled by his prayers to the gods before and after his military endeavors. Just before his monumental siege at Veii, Marcus Furius asks for “guidance [from] Pythian Apollo…and vow[s] a tenth of the booty to [him]” (Livy, Rome 5.21); yet more importantly, our hero after his victory raises “his hands to heaven and pray[s]” (Livy, Rome 5.21) in revelation for his gratitude. Livy’s image of Camillus illustra...
Both these debates have a background question at hand, whether or not the speakers were presenting their opinions out of honest opinion for the well-being of Athens or self-interest. Out of the four speakers two (Nicias and Diodotus) honestly cared for the future of Athens and did not act on the slightest bit for their self-interest. Cleon also cared about the well-being of Athens but merely gave out the immoral and haste answer to a problem that obviously needed more thought to it. Alcibiades stands alone on this one, being the only one to have acted out of self-interest who only spoke to protect his name and gain a few points of honor here and there. Within the same book Thucydides presents two debates that ask the same question of the speakers where the answer apparently depends on the debate and the text.
In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were essential in order to free up time for the citizens to participate in the matters of the state. The development of Athenian democracy has been fundamental for the basis of modern political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity.
Athenian democracy includes participation of all adult, free, male, citizen, made possible for all. If at the beginning and during the thriving period of the Athens democracy the occupations of a state position was considered to be an worthy duty for the citizens, the taking in of ...
Private property is prohibited among the guardians, for they are meant to survive on the rations of the state (Plato 415c). Collective ownership was allowed, for it promoted common pursuits of common interests. For Plato, ari...
Between the years of 508 BCE and 322 CE, Greece flourished under democracy. However, some question if the flourishing of Athens is due to the democracy that was in place as opposed to other factors relevant in building a successful community. This investigation will examine the effectiveness of Athenian democracy in Greek society. Relevance of Athenian democracy can be seen in foundation of many democracies found worldwide. In this investigation the right to vote, protection of minorities, use of social class, the structure of democracy and how Greek democracy has influenced the world will be addressed. The place investigated will be Greece, specifically the capitol Athens. The effectiveness of Athenian democracy can be seen in social structure, protection of minorities, and right to vote, as well as its structure and influence of other countries around the world.
Socrates reaches a conclusion that defies a common-sense understanding of justice. Nothing about his death sentence “seems” just, but after further consideration, we find that his escape would be as fruitless as his death, and that in some sense, Socrates owes his obedience to whatever orders Athens gives him since he has benefited from his citizenship.
Years ago, the Romans created one of the biggest and best organized empires the world has ever seen. Throughout their lands, they built towns and roads, and spread their way of life. One of the reasons why their empire was so successful was that, unlike other ancient states, the empire welcomed outsiders. Foreigners could become Roman citizens. At first this was a given as a reward for the loyalty or f...
The subject which the question focuses on is the view of Aristotle’s ideal state. The distinction between hierarchy and equality is at the heart of the understanding of Aristotle’s ideal state. He claims that an ideal state ought to be arranged to maximise the happiness of its citizens. So happiness together with political action is the telos of human life. This end can be reached by living a better ethical life. However, he endorses hierarchy over equality. On one hand we have the equality which benefits everyone; on the other hand we have the distinction of classes meant in terms of diversities and differences where the middle one appears to be the means through which the state is balanced. Furthermore what is clear for Aristotle is that there is a notion of natural inequality which can be evidently seen with the argument of slavery by nature and the role of women in society. Thence, in this paper I argue that Aristotle’s ideal state is a place of hierarchy rather than equality. This essay will focus on several reasons why we can define Aristotle’s ideal state as a hierarchical structure. These reasons are mainly: the exclusiveness of groups in the society, the division of classes, and the concept of inferiority of slaves and women. To do so, the paper has been divided into four parts, which will show, through direct quotations from the text and then with my personal opinion linked with several arguments and counterarguments, how hierarchy is more relevant in Aristotle’s view of society. The first part analyses the importance in a state of ruling and being ruled in a cyclical way, in opposition to the exclusion of groups from power. The second part focuses on the divisions of classes and their double possible interpretation. The...
In Plato’s “Republic”, Socrates creates an ideal society in his perspective. He contemplates what his idea of ‘justice’ is. According to Socrates, justice is the “…having and doing what is a man’s own, and belongs to him”. (Book 4 pg. 12) Justice is giving to everyone what they deserve. Socrates uses the ‘myth of the metals’ as an example to show how justice can prosper in a society, while also showing a way that democracy can be unjust.