Classical historian Professor Paul Cartledge speaks on BBC Radio 4 this Sunday in the first of two discussions on comparisons between the concepts and workings of democracy in Ancient Greece and today.
Classical historian Professor Paul Cartledge speaks on BBC Radio 4 this Sunday in the first of two discussions on comparisons between the concepts and workings of democracy in Ancient Greece and today.
Paul Cartledge is University Professor of Greek History and a Fellow of Clare College. He is an internationally renowned authority on both Athens and Sparta. His expertise covers the whole of Greek history, ranging across all its facets from politics to culture, by way of economy and society.
In the fifteen minute broadcasts which will form part of the Westminster Hour at 10.45pm this Sunday and next, Professor Cartledge will discuss practices which the Greeks considered democratic and how they might be seen in a modern age.
The first programme looks at the practice of Ostracism, common in Ancient Athens where someone might be excluded from speaking for years by popular opinion. It brings out the personal direct nature of ancient Greek democracy rather than ours which is based on political parties.
In the second he will discuss Citizenship, looking at our attitude to being part of a society, and how comparisons with ancient Greek notions of citizenship, specifically in Athens and Sparta in the fifth century BC, might offer us a model of citizenship for practical use today.
Professor Cartledge is currently working on a democracy project with Channel 4 and has previously been consultant on programmes on The Spartans, The Minoans and Helen of Troy.
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