The Greek Commonwealth: Politics & Economics In Fifth-Century Athens
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Previous owner details to top-edge and FEP, minor bumping to board, tanned pages.
At the height of Athenian civilization, when democracy was a radical experiment and philosophy walked the streets in sandals, Alfred E. Zimmern's The Greek Commonwealth presents a landmark study of the political and economic forces that shaped one of history's most consequential societies. First published in 1911 and revised through multiple editions, this authoritative work chronicles the inner workings of fifth-century Athens — from its democratic institutions and trade networks to the social fabric that sustained an empire — offering a remarkably vivid portrait of a world that continues to define Western thought. Zimmern argues with scholarly precision and literary grace that ancient Athens cannot be understood through political history alone; its genius lay in the dynamic interplay between civic life, commerce, and culture. Drawing on classical sources and an acute analytical eye, he illustrates how the Athenian model of governance was both a product of its unique geography and a self-conscious act of collective imagination. A foundational text in classical studies, The Greek Commonwealth remains essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand not merely where democracy came from, but what it truly costs to sustain it.
Author: Alfred E. Zimmern
Format: Hardback
Published: 1922, Oxford at the Clarendon Press
Genre: Ancient history
Edition: First Edition Thus
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket - some marks on spine and corners
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Markings: Previous owner
Condition remarks: Previous owner details to top-edge and FEP, minor bumping to board, tanned pages.
At the height of Athenian civilization, when democracy was a radical experiment and philosophy walked the streets in sandals, Alfred E. Zimmern's The Greek Commonwealth presents a landmark study of the political and economic forces that shaped one of history's most consequential societies. First published in 1911 and revised through multiple editions, this authoritative work chronicles the inner workings of fifth-century Athens — from its democratic institutions and trade networks to the social fabric that sustained an empire — offering a remarkably vivid portrait of a world that continues to define Western thought. Zimmern argues with scholarly precision and literary grace that ancient Athens cannot be understood through political history alone; its genius lay in the dynamic interplay between civic life, commerce, and culture. Drawing on classical sources and an acute analytical eye, he illustrates how the Athenian model of governance was both a product of its unique geography and a self-conscious act of collective imagination. A foundational text in classical studies, The Greek Commonwealth remains essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand not merely where democracy came from, but what it truly costs to sustain it.