The Constitution of the Athenians

Introduction

Long lost, this work reappeared only in 1890, on a papyrus roll found in Egypt. It is the only survivor of the 158 studies of Greek constitutions made in Aristotle's school. The first part tells the history of the Athenian constitution, from the age of the kings through the laws of Draco, the reforms of Solon and the tyranny of Peisistratus to the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes. The second describes in detail how Athenian democracy actually worked in the fourth century BC: the assembly, the council, officials chosen by lot and the people's courts.