The Birth of Politics: Eight Greek and Roman Political Ideas and Why They Matter - Softcover

Lane, Melissa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691173095 ISBN 13: 9780691173092

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2016

Synopsis

A lively and accessible introduction to the Greek and Roman origins of our political ideas

In The Birth of Politics, Melissa Lane introduces the reader to the foundations of Western political thought, from the Greeks, who invented democracy, to the Romans, who created a republic and then transformed it into an empire. Tracing the origins of our political concepts from Socrates to Plutarch to Cicero, Lane reminds us that the birth of politics was a story as much of individuals as ideas. Scouring the speeches of lawyers alongside the speculations of philosophers, and the reflections of ex-slaves next to the popular comedies and tragedies of the Greek and Roman stages, this book brings ancient ideas to life in unexpected ways.

Lane shows how the Greeks and Romans defined politics with distinctive concepts, vocabulary, and practices―all of which continue to influence politics and political aspirations around the world today. She focuses on eight political ideas from the Greco-Roman world that are especially influential today: justice, virtue, constitution, democracy, citizenship, cosmopolitanism, republic, and sovereignty. Lane also describes how the ancient formulations of these ideas often challenge widely held modern assumptions―for example, that it is possible to have political equality despite great economic inequality, or that political regimes can be indifferent to the moral character of their citizens.

A stimulating introduction to the origins of our political ideas and ideals, The Birth of Politics demonstrates how much we still have to learn from the political genius of the Greeks and Romans.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"The Birth of Politics is a splendid introduction to the world of ancient Greek and Roman political thought. Melissa Lane is a sure-footed and wonderfully knowledgeable guide through the varied terrain of ancient ethics and politics. Her writing is at once profound, engaged, elegant, and lively. Revealing both the familiarity and strangeness of classical thinking about justice, citizenship, cosmopolitanism, and much else, she reminds us why the classics matter today, how often our own political ideas find their antecedents in ancient practice, and how much we still have to learn from the past."--Josiah Ober, author of The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece

"This is the best introduction to ancient political thought--accessible, stimulating, thoughtful, and accurate. Melissa Lane, a scholar of the first rank, is a trustworthy guide who brings recent thinking to bear on the central topics and does an excellent job of writing with an eye to contemporary relevance, without removing ancient thinkers from their very different historical and political contexts."--Kinch Hoekstra, University of California, Berkeley

"This is a lucid, effective, and accessible account of ideas central to Greek and Roman political thought. Melissa Lane does an excellent job of synthesizing important developments in the study of the subject, and she also makes her own subtle, original argument, showing how we might well draw upon the ancients as we think through our own problems."--Danielle Allen, author of Our Declaration

About the Author:

Melissa Lane is professor of politics at Princeton University. Her books include Eco-Republic: What the Ancients Can Teach Us about Ethics, Virtue, and Sustainable Living (Princeton) and Plato's Progeny: How Plato and Socrates Still Captivate the Modern Mind.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0691173095
• ISBN 13: 9780691173092
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400