After Demosthenes

This is the sixth volume in the Oratory of Classical Greece. This series presents all of the surviving speeches from the late fifth and fourth centuries BC in new translations prepared by classical scholars who are at the forefront of the discipline. These translations are especially designed for the needs and interests of today's undergraduates, Greekless scholars in other disciplines, and the general public. Classical oratory is an invaluable resource for the study of ancient Greek life and culture. The speeches offer evidence on Greek moral views, social and economic conditions, political and social ideology, law and legal procedure, and other aspects of Athenian culture that have been largely ignored: women and family life, slavery, and religion, to name just a few. Demosthenes is regarded as the greatest orator of classical antiquity; indeed, his very eminence may be responsible for the inclusion under his name of a number of speeches he almost certainly did not write. This volume contains four speeches that are most probably the work of Apollodorus, who is often known as "the Eleventh Attic Orator." Regardless of their authorship, however, this set of ten law court speeches gives a vivid sense of public and private life in fourth-century BC Athens. They tell of the friendships and quarrels of rural neighbors, of young men joined in raucous, intentionally shocking behavior, of families enduring great poverty, and of the intricate involvement of prostitutes in the lives of citizens. They also deal with the outfitting of warships, the grain trade, challenges to citizenship, and restrictions on the civic role of men in debt to the state.

This volume challenges preconceptions of Athenian politics and history. It sets out to demonstrate that the widely received view that Hellenistic Athens and her political leaders were radically different from their Classical counterparts is fundamentally flawed. Through a re-examination of the internal politics of Hellenistic Athens, both in terms of its key institutions and its political leaders, After Demosthenes provides a comprehensive analysis of Athenian political life from 322-262 BC. Drawing on literary and epigraphic evidence the book identifies those who participated in the governing of Athens, and their motives for doing so, and redefines the nature of Athenian political ideology in the process. The leading political figures, each of whom can be identified with a particular ideological viewpoint, are explored in a series of biographical studies. Examining the intellectual origins of modern scholarly criticism of democracy in the Athens of this period, this volume shows how the politics of scholarly discourse have distorted modern views of Hellenistic Athens.

A comprehensive analysis of Athenian political life from 322-262 BC, rejecting the notion that political life ended with the death of Demosthenes.

The first detailed commentary on Demosthenes' political speech, On the Chersonese, delivered in 341 BC at a time when Athens was under political pressure from Philip of Macedon. A brilliant demonstration of Demosthenes' skill as an orator, the speech argues in favour of the Athenian general Diopeithes, in the face of the threat of retaliation by Philip against his actions.

This is the first of four volumes - intended to replace the previous OCT - of the great Athenian orator Demosthenes (fourth century BC); it is based on fresh and thorough study of the evidence by Professor Dilts, an accomplished Greek scholar.

A collection of four speeches, chosen as documents of Athenian law, commerce and private life, with a commentary.