Constitution of the Athenians
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Search complete. 8 mentions across 6 episodes found for "Constitution of the Athenians".
Oct 9, 2026
Samo BurjaGUEST
So within those parameters, Aristotle actually had many of the variables taken care of that modern political scientists might struggle actually to find a good control for.
Samo BurjaGUEST
When, uh, he undertook the constitutions of writing up the constitutions of the Greek world, he basically assigned his, uh, students, and he did some investigations himself, and wrote basically something like 100 or 200 treatises, right? Deep case studies into how is Thebes governed? How is Sparta governed? How is Athens governed? Of all of these constitutions, we only have Aristotle's Constitution of Athens, and that study was only discovered relatively recently.
Samo BurjaGUEST
200, 300 years ago, we did not have it.
Samo BurjaGUEST
And I often wonder, how different would modern political science be if we had several hundred of these written, uh, basically political science papers, right-
Dan-el Padilla PeraltaGUEST
I mean, I, I was, um, uh, charmed a moment, uh, ago when you mentioned your own interest in Sappho.
Dan-el Padilla PeraltaGUEST
Um, so one of the most important texts we have, um, for the study of, um, Athenian politics, um, uh, is, um, the, the so-called Constitution of the Athenians, the Athinaion Politeia.
Dan-el Padilla PeraltaGUEST
This is a text that, it survives to us entirely, uh, on a papyrus from Egypt.
Dan-el Padilla PeraltaGUEST
How did this enter into, um, the hands of Brits in the late 1800s and early 1900s? I...
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
The two oldest classical papyri known, consisting of fragments of Plato's phoedo, and of the Antiope of Euripides were recovered from mummy cases, and are supposed to date from the 3rd century BC.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
Other important Greek texts which have been preserved by Egypt are Aristotle's Constitution of Athens, the Mimes of Herodotus, the Odes of Bacchiclides, the Gospel and Apocalypse of Peter, the book of enoch c but here we have to take into consideration a new and important factor in literary as in other matters the spread of christianity with such obvious exceptions as the cuneiform records or the egyptian writings and similar remains the bulk of the manuscripts as manuscripts not as compositions is the work of christian religious houses and it is easy to see that we owe much to the labors of the monks and ecclesiastics who have transmitted to us not only the earliest and most valuable works of the church's own writers but also the chief part of the literature of greece and rome as mr falconer madon says in his books in manuscript the number and importance of the manuscript of virgil and the four gospels is greater than of any other ancient authors whatever and it is safe to assume that all these gospel manuscripts and perhaps all the virgil manuscripts also were the handiwork of churchmen as an example of the manuscript treasures yielded by egypt may be instanced the find at beneza a village standing on the site of the roman city of oxyrhynchus one of the chief centres of early christianity in egypt Here, in 1896, Mr.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
B. P. Grenfell and Mr.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
A. S.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
the cartonnage cases in which mummies of the later period were enclosed were made of papyrus documents which apparently had been treated as waste paper and put to all sorts of undignified uses the two oldest classical papyri known consisting of fragments of plato's and of the Antiope of Euripides were recovered from mummy cases, and are supposed to date from the 3rd century BC.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
Other important Greek texts which have been preserved by Egypt are Aristotle's Constitution of Athens, the Mimes of Herodotus, the Odes of Bacchiclides, the Gospel and Apocalypse of Peter, the book of enoch etc but here we have to take into consideration a new and important factor in literary as in other matters the spread of christianity with such obvious exceptions as the cuneiform records or the egyptian writings and similar remains the bulk of the manuscripts as manuscripts not as compositions is the work of christian religious houses and it is easy to see that we owe much to the labors of the monks and ecclesiastics who have transmitted to us not only the earliest and most valuable works of the church's own writers but also the chief part of the literature of greece and rome as mr falconer madon says in his books in manuscript the number and importance of the manuscript of virgil and the four gospels is greater than of any other ancient authors whatever and it is safe to assume that all these gospel manuscripts and perhaps all the virgil manuscripts also were the handiwork of churchmen as an example of the manuscript treasures yielded by egypt may be instanced the find at beneza a village standing on the site of the roman city of oxyrhynchus one of the chief centres of early christianity in egypt Here, in 1896, Mr.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
B. P. Grenfell and Mr.
Adam MarcetichNARRATOR
A. S.
Donald KaganHOST
I guess it's true in any society, but it, it's blatant in a republic.
Donald KaganHOST
So Solon changed the Athenian constitution.
Donald KaganHOST
Up to this moment, the Athenian constitution came to be what it was in the way that these things happen in nature, namely, uh, through tradition.
Donald KaganHOST
They just kinda grow.
Donald KaganHOST
Nobody, nobody, uh, legislates.
20 MINS LATER
Donald KaganHOST
Now, the story of how Pisistratus comes back to power in this second time is, uh, charming, and I think we have to believe it in its general outlines.
Donald KaganHOST
Um, well, you can decide whether you want to or not.
Donald KaganHOST
The story is told, uh, in a couple places, but, uh, uh, Aristotle in his Athenian Constitution tells it, uh, in one way.
Donald KaganHOST
So, that's part of the story.
Donald KaganHOST
Again, Aristotle or one of his pupils, there's some dispute about the document that is called Athenion Politeia, Constitution of Athens, as to whether Aristotle was the composer of that piece or one of his students.
Donald KaganHOST
Anyway, here's what it says, with the aim of mixing up the population so that a great number would share in the citizenship, they came up with this do not judge according to tribe, but it goes beyond tribe.
Donald KaganHOST
It really means do not judge on the basis of birth.