Description
- Abstract:
- This dissertation looks at Athenian public finance in the period between 403 and 322 B.C. from the perspective of contemporary Athenian ideas about democracy. Although scholarly opinion sometimes regards the Athenian state as having become less democratic in its management of revenues and expenditures over the course of the fourth century, there is reason to believe that Athenian public finance during this era was in fact characterized by a consistent and vigorous commitment to the principles of democracy as the Athenian d?mos understood them. After an overview in Chapter One of the ways in which awareness of democracy's potential weaknesses may have conditioned the Athenians' efforts to safeguard democratic decision-making, this study considers three important aspects of Athenian public finance that mediated--and allegedly interfered with--democratic control of state funds. First, Chapter Two examines the regulation of public finance by law and addresses broader questions about the role of law in Athenian democratic thought. Second, Chapter Three discusses specific officials and procedures involved in the allocation of Athenian state revenues, especially the apodektai and the merismos. Finally, Chapter Four looks at the role of popular leaders in the development of Athenian public finance, with particular attention to the "financial experts" whose prominence in the fourth century is most often cited as evidence that democratic control over public moneys was giving way to decision-making by a small elite. Throughout this study, detailed investigation of the relationship between democracy and public finance leads not only to a richer understanding of Athenian democracy but to a number of specific insights concerning the history of Athens' fiscal administration during the fourth century B.C.
- Notes:
- Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2011)
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Citation
Welser, Christopher Scott,
"D?mos and Dioik?sis:Public Finance and Democratic Ideology in Fourth-Century B.C. Athens"
(2011).
Classics Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0WQ021N
