As long as people have been trading with each other, they have created debt. And as long as people have created debt, some have been unable to pay what they owe. This was as true in ancient Athens as it is today. Before about the 6th century BCE in Attica, among a population consisting primarily of peasants and small farmers, borrowing occurred among members of local communities. Read more
"Looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side." Our September Book Club selection comprises two dialogues of Plato which… Read more
Solon "was spending ten years abroad after having made laws [nomoi] for the Athenians ... the real reason was not to have to repeal any of the laws [nomoi] he had made. The Athenians could not do this on their own, having sworn by the strongest oaths to observe for ten years whatever laws [nomoi] Solon gave them." Our next Core Vocab term is nomos [νόμος], glossed in H24H and… Read more
The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours is based on a course that Professor Gregory Nagy has been teaching at Harvard University since the late 1970s. The book discusses selected readings of texts, all translated from the original Greek into English. This series of galleries attempts to illustrate each Hour with visual art. This fourth gallery covers Hours 13–16. Read more
