September 6, 13, 20, 27
"The Last Days of Greek Freedom:
Economy, Society and Politics in Fourth Century BCE Athens"
Kesler Lecture Hall in Hickok Hall

The 20th anniversary Thursday Forum series opens with Humanities Professor
Edmund Burke and an historical analysis of fourth century BCE Athens.

On the grand scale, the history of ancient Greece tends towards two points of focus: the Classical Age of the fifth century Athenian Empire (450-404 BCE), and the world of Alexander the Great (336-322 BCE). The focus of this forum, however, is not the grand history of the Empire or larger than life heroes. Rather we will examine Athens during the century between Empire and Macedonian rule.

Of particular concern will be the inter-relatedness of society, economy, and
political decision-making within Athens in the fourth century. Topics will
include:

• the manner in which Athens responded to defeat at the hands of Sparta at the end of the Classical Era;
• the city's maturation in the mid-fourth century into what some historians have called a proto-modern state;
• the tensions within the fabric of the state—as the 'modern' conflicted with the traditional;
• and the city's great blunder—war with and conquest by Macedonia—only to experience remarkable economic renewal and rejuvenation in the decade following.

The first session will set the context with an overview of the history of the fourth and fifth centuries. Then, the fabric of Athenian society—male citizen,
the status and role of women, of resident alien, and slave, without whom, ironically, the great democracy could not have existed. In the third session we look to the economy—how it operated, its values, who did what and for what purpose. And, finally, how the economy and society meshed—or failed to mesh—to produce political decision.

For Athens, the fourth century BCE was a time of challenge, a time of trial, of
defeat, and a certain kind of triumph. Not a century of grandeur, perhaps, but it was a century of compelling history.