2002, ISBN: 9781584651994

Hanover, Brandeis University Press, 201 p. Original brochure. From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (… Mehr…

Hanover, Brandeis University Press, 201 p. Original brochure. From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Gaping binding. Otherwise in flawless condition. - Content: It is a fact that the very long-lived Roman Republic has consistently played a surprisingly slight role in political theory and discussions about the nature of democracy, forms of government, and other matters, particularly when compared to the enormous attention paid to fifth-century bce Athenian democracy. Fergus Millar re-opens the issue of how the Roman Republic was understood and used by political thinkers from the Ancient World to the present. Describing the reality of the late Roman Republic and showing how its nature was distorted even by contemporary observers, he tracks its treatment (or absence) in political discourse from Thomas Aquinas, to Machiavelli, through Montesquieu, and Rousseau, and in debates surrounding the creation of the American Constitution, particularly in the Federalist papers. In brief, clear prose, with quotations in English of important works, and economical use of endnotes, he reinforces his unconventional thesis about the significance of direct democracy in the late Roman Republic. In the process, he provides an unprecedented tour through 2000 years ofWestern political theory, theories of direct democracy, and the balance of power, from the point of view of the Roman Republic. Fergus Millar is Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford. His newest book is The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic (1998). ISBN 9781584651994Antike 2002, [PU: University Press of New England]<