Understanding the politics of Pericles around 450 BC : The benefits of an economic perspective
Lyttkens, Carl Hampus LU
and Gerding, Henrik
LU
(2018)
In Edinburgh Leventis Studies
9.
p.269-292
- Abstract
- Pericles is usually viewed as a great statesman and clever leader of the Athenians. In the mid-fifth century BC, however, he seems to have been in serious political trouble and may well have been in danger of losing a political struggle against his opponent Kimon. The fact that his incentives changed considerably at this point in time seems to have escaped attention in the literature. In contrast, we see this fierce competition as a motivation for several important policy measures that Pericles introduced at this particular time: the pay to jurors, the new law on citizenship (which has been a puzzle to many historians), and the building projects on the Acropolis and elsewhere. An economic rational-actor approach thus provides a diachronic... (More)
- Pericles is usually viewed as a great statesman and clever leader of the Athenians. In the mid-fifth century BC, however, he seems to have been in serious political trouble and may well have been in danger of losing a political struggle against his opponent Kimon. The fact that his incentives changed considerably at this point in time seems to have escaped attention in the literature. In contrast, we see this fierce competition as a motivation for several important policy measures that Pericles introduced at this particular time: the pay to jurors, the new law on citizenship (which has been a puzzle to many historians), and the building projects on the Acropolis and elsewhere. An economic rational-actor approach thus provides a diachronic analytical benefit by focusing on the way in which incentives change over time and a synchronic benefit by considering various decisions in a common framework. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2d7619d2-8895-4ba8-833f-dba35a6ce000
- author
- Lyttkens, Carl Hampus
LU
and Gerding, Henrik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018-07
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- economics, ancient history, Athens, Pericles, law on citizenship, payment to jurors
- host publication
- Ancient History and Contemporary Social Science
- series title
- Edinburgh Leventis Studies
- editor
- Canevaro, Mirko ; Erskine, Andrew ; Grey, Benjamin and Ober, Josiah
- volume
- 9
- pages
- 269 - 292
- publisher
- Edinburgh University Press
- ISBN
- 978-1-4744-2177-5
- project
- The Economics of Ancient Greece
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2d7619d2-8895-4ba8-833f-dba35a6ce000
- date added to LUP
- 2017-03-13 11:21:24
- date last changed
- 2022-12-16 14:28:53
@inproceedings{2d7619d2-8895-4ba8-833f-dba35a6ce000,
abstract = {{Pericles is usually viewed as a great statesman and clever leader of the Athenians. In the mid-fifth century BC, however, he seems to have been in serious political trouble and may well have been in danger of losing a political struggle against his opponent Kimon. The fact that his incentives changed considerably at this point in time seems to have escaped attention in the literature. In contrast, we see this fierce competition as a motivation for several important policy measures that Pericles introduced at this particular time: the pay to jurors, the new law on citizenship (which has been a puzzle to many historians), and the building projects on the Acropolis and elsewhere. An economic rational-actor approach thus provides a diachronic analytical benefit by focusing on the way in which incentives change over time and a synchronic benefit by considering various decisions in a common framework.}},
author = {{Lyttkens, Carl Hampus and Gerding, Henrik}},
booktitle = {{Ancient History and Contemporary Social Science}},
editor = {{Canevaro, Mirko and Erskine, Andrew and Grey, Benjamin and Ober, Josiah}},
isbn = {{978-1-4744-2177-5}},
keywords = {{economics; ancient history; Athens; Pericles; law on citizenship; payment to jurors}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{269--292}},
publisher = {{Edinburgh University Press}},
series = {{Edinburgh Leventis Studies}},
title = {{Understanding the politics of Pericles around 450 BC : The benefits of an economic perspective}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2018}},
}