Popular Political Participation from the Early Roman Empire to Late Antiquity : The Assemblies of the Greek Cities beyond Athens

This volume examines popular assemblies in Greek cities under Roman rule up to the late third century CE. Greek poleis were among the most politically inclusive societies in premodern history, primarily because via their public assemblies, most or all adult male citizens beyond the elite could participate in politics. In those cities the Greeks called democracies, the assembly even functioned as the chief decision-making institution. In this volume, an international team of experts explores the roles of assemblies amid increasing oligarchic pressures and within the framework of an autocratic empire. The chapters explore topics such as civic honours, the collaboration between council and assembly, the differing perspectives preserved in our sources, political discourse, and the impact of Roman conquest, governors and law.

A companion volume (Popular Political Participation from Archaic Greece to the Late Hellenistic Period: The Assemblies of the Greek Cities beyond Athens Volume I) traces the institution’s development from Homeric Greece to the end of the Hellenistic age. Throughout both volumes, the emphasis is on the notion that assemblies were an essential contributing factor to the surprising institutional success and longevity of the Greek city. Together they suggest that the assembly ought to be a key component of any explanation for the remarkable resilience of the polis as a system of government through more than a millennium of ancient history.