Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice (Key Themes in Ancient History)

The author, a historian at Cambridge, discusses Greek political philosophy. He categorizes Greek political philosophy as the rule of one (i.e., monarchy), the rule of the few (i.e., oligarchy), and the rule of the many (i.e., democracy). This order also tracks Greek history, which began as a monarchy (as demonstrated in the Homeric epics). However, the rise of mass infantry (hoplite) warfare transitioned monarchy into oligarchy, as the middle class few (~30% of the population) that could afford the hoplite armor and weapons demanded a role in the government.In a few city-states, such as Athens and Rhodes, oligarchy eventually turned into democracy. However, the democracy was challenged by some of the leading Greek intellectuals -- in particular, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.By the middle of the fourth century BC, Greece was under threat from the Macedonian Empire of Philip and, later, his son Alexander (the Great). Greek thinkers now began to turn back toward the rule of the one. Elaborations of the rule of the one intensified in the Roman imperial era, when Augustus turned the rule of the few (the oligarchic Roman Republic) into the rule of the one (the Roman Empire).