Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages

Roughly 2,500 years ago, the elite classes of Athens gradually ceded power to the inexperienced masses, thus establishing a radical democracy in which power derived from the votes of everyday citizens. The sequence of events that led to this development is astonishing, and the society that flourished under Athenian democracy is one of the greatest-even if greatly flawed-achievements in world history.

Today, when the foundations of our own democracy are under greater and greater scrutiny, the Athenian experiment in citizen rule offers a powerful object lesson in national politics. How did the Athenian system of democracy work? What were its strengths and weaknesses? And how does it compare to democracy in our world today?

Find out in Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages. In these 24 engaging lectures, Professor Robert Garland of Colgate University unpacks the development of Athenian democracy, going inside the assemblies and courts to reveal how democracy worked-and where it came up short.

You may be familiar with the broad strokes of Athenian history, but Professor Garland's unique lens offers a wealth of insights into everything from taxation and welfare to military structure and strategy. Discover what life was like for the people living in the democracy, from the "demos" citizen body of freeborn males, to the women, immigrants, and slaves who were not eligible to participate. Unprecedented, flawed, relevant to our time, and captivating in its own right, the story of Athenian democracy truly is one for the history books.

All Lectures:
1. Why Athenian Democracy Matters
2. The Origins of Greek Democracy
3. Solon: The Father of Democracy?
4. Cleisthenes the Innovator
5. The Nearly Bloodless Coup
6. Democracy at War
7. The Popular Assembly
8. The Council and the Magistrates
9. The Citizens of Athens
10. "The Empire You Hold Is a Tyranny"
11. The Age of Pericles
12. Public Speaking in Athens
13. Pericles's Funeral Speech
14. Democracy under Duress
15. The Culture of Athenian Democracy
16. Political Leadership in Athens
17. The Brutality of Athenian Democracy
18. Athenian Defeat in Sicily
19. Suspension, Restoration, and Termination
20. The Democratic Theater
21. Law and Order under Democracy
22. Ancient Critics of Athenian Democracy
23. Post-Athenian Democracies
24. Democracy Today, Democracy Tomorrow