Divided Power in Ancient Greece : Decision-Making and Institutions in the Classical and Hellenistic Polis

by: Esu, A.

Divided Power in Ancient Greece

Decision-Making and Institutions in the Classical and Hellenistic Polis

Alberto Esu

Offers the first detailed discussion of divided power in the political systems of the Ancient Greek city-states during the Classical and Hellenistic periods
Draws on recent work in constitutional and legal theory to explain the institutional complexity of Ancient Greek decision-making
Presents literary and epigraphical evidence which challenges traditional accounts of Ancient Greek sovereignty

Description
How did the division of power work in Ancient Greece? This groundbreaking study reveals Ancient Greek political decision-making to be a multi-layered system of delegation and legal control. Scholars have previously examined the nature and locus of sovereignty in the Classical and Hellenistic Greek poleis through institutional, rhetorical, or ideological approaches. By concentrating on the institutional design of decree-making, Alberto Esu moves beyond unitary and hierarchical understandings of sovereignty; he presents a new view of power as divided and horizontally organized between different decision-making institutions, each one with its own discourse and expertise.

Greek political decision-making is thus seen through a new institutionalist perspective that rediscovers the normative importance of political institutions as factors shaping the collective behaviour of decision-makers. Part I explores how deliberative power in decree-making was delegated in Classical Athens, Mytilene, and Hellenistic Megalopolis. Part II examines procedures of legal control and judicial review in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Divided power proves to be a feature of both democratic and non-democratic societies across the Ancient Greek world; Esu's analysis of its institutional manifestation transforms our understanding of political life—its discourses and norms—in the Ancient Greek city-states.

Table of Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
1:Introduction
Part I: Divided Power and Delegation
2:Divided Power in Athenian Decree-Making
3:Divided Power in Mytilene and Megalopolis: Delegation Practice beyond Athens
Part II: Divided Power and Control of Legality
4:Divided Power and Eunomia: Deliberative Procedures in Ancient Sparta
5:Divided Power in the Athenian Assembly: Adeia and Fifth-Century Deliberative Ideology
6:Divided Power and Judicial Review: Graphē Paranomōn in the Decision-Making of the Greek Poleis
7:Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

Divided Power in Ancient Greece : Decision-Making and Institutions in the Classical and Hellenistic Polis

by: Esu, A.

• ISBN-13: 9780198883951 / 978-0-19-888395-1
• ISBN-03: 0198883951 / 0-19-888395-1
• Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2024