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Athens and MacedonAttic Letter-Cutters of 300 to 229 B.C.$
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Athens and Macedon: Attic Letter-Cutters of 300 to 229 B.C.

Stephen Tracy

Print publication date: 2003

Print ISBN-13: 9780520233331

Published to California Scholarship Online: March 2012

DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520233331.001.0001

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PRINTED FROM CALIFORNIA SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.california.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright University of California Press, 2022. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in CALSO for personal use.date: 24 May 2022

Oligarchy versus Democracy

Oligarchy versus Democracy

338 to 262 B.C.

Chapter:
(p.8) (p.9) Oligarchy versus Democracy
Source:
Athens and Macedon
Author(s):

Stephen V. Tracy

Publisher:
University of California Press
DOI:10.1525/california/9780520233331.003.0002

Athenian history from the year 338 down to the year 229 B.C.—the latter year marking the ouster of the Macedonian presence from Attica—is usually seen as a complex political tapestry in which periods of democratic rule fitfully sputtered amid long periods of oligarchic rule under Macedonian hegemony. Without going into detail, the years 321 to 307, 295 to 287, and 262 to 229 are held to be largely oligarchic periods, with democratic rule in the intervening years. The presence or absence of four crucial items, what may be termed the cornerstones of Athenian democracy, seems critical. The complex period following Athens' defeat by the Macedonians in the Lamian War provides an excellent test case. Democracy was indeed abolished in Athens during the year 321 B.C. The ancient scribes and letter-cutters could refer to the plural board or to the head of it without signifying any difference.

Keywords:   Athenian history, Macedonian hegemony, Athenian democracy, Lamian War, Athens, oligarchy

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