The Five Ancient Criteria of Democracy: The Apotheosis of Equality

Democracy in ancient Athens was different from what is implemented today even in the most advanced democracies. To evaluate this difference, this paper presents five criteria of democracy and then applies them to ancient Athens and modern advanced democracies. In comparison and according to five criteria, modern democracies are inferior to what the eligible citizens of Ancient Athens enjoyed. The ancient Greek literature on the subject has identified five criteria of democracy which neither today nor in ancient times were fully satisfied. The democracy today satisfies some but not all five criteria. This was also true for the ancient (Athenian) democracy. They differ in which criteria they satisfied. Of course, each criterion is fulfilled to a certain extent and this may differentiate modern from ancient democracy. These issues are discussed in this paper.

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The cultural dynamics of the term Hellanodikes in Palaiologan Byzantium

Byzantinische Zeitschrift ◽

10.1515/bz-2015-0012 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 108 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sophia Xenophontos

Keyword(s):

Public Authority ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Cultural Significance ◽

Cultural Dynamics ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Public Role ◽

Ancient Times ◽

High Esteem ◽

Byzantine Era ◽

Ancient Greek Literature

AbstractIn ancient Greek literature, Hellanodikai (Ἑλλανοδίκαι) were figures of public authority and high esteem, renown for their fair judgment, overseeing control, and morally transparent life. The characteristics we gather regarding their public role come from a number of historical and other sources, such as Cassius Dio, Lucian, and Pausanias. In the Byzantine era, the term was revived either as a historical gloss contextualizing the position of Hellanodikes (Ἑλλανο- δίκης) in ancient times or as a lexical and grammatical entry. As a contrast to the conventional treatments of this term, Palaiologan scholars proceeded to its unique redeployment. In this article, I argue that Hellanodikes became an epithet of social and cultural significance in Palaiologan Byzantium, a notion embedded within the intellectual peculiarities of this age, especially in contexts of imperial patronage and scholarly apprenticeship.

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¿Qué tan mala es la conciencia mala de Agustín (mala conscientia)?

Augustinus ◽

10.5840/augustinus201964254/25517 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

pp. 297-306

Author(s):

Josef Lössl ◽

Keyword(s):

Moral Sense ◽

Specific Reference ◽

Greek Literature ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Wide Range ◽

Basic Understanding ◽

The Subject ◽

Good Conscience ◽

Ancient Greek Literature

The subject if this article is a brief discussion of the concept of «bad conscience» (mala conscientia) as opposed to «good conscience’ (bona conscientia) in the Works of Augustine, with specific reference to Augustine’s theology of grace. The article considers Augustine’s use of the concept in a wide range of his Works, especially in some sermons and also compares this use with the meaning of the earliest occurrences of the Word suneídhsiç /conscientia and related forms in ancient Greek literature. One of the findings of this comparison is that Augustine’s basic understanding of conscientia in the moral sense was remarkably similar to those early occurrences.

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