Politics, Wealth and Food in Democratic Athens. Rethinking Aristocratic Patronage and Democratic Empowerment in the Urban World

  • Fernando Notario Pacheco Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Keywords: Food, Athenian democracy, Aristocratic patronage, Democratic empire, Kolakia, Cimon, Pericles

Abstract

In recent decades, the relationship between food and politics has been a frequent topic of debate among scholars related to famine and food studies. Classical studies have frequently addressed this issue as a part of the food supply mechanisms of the ancient cities. Nevertheless, the social access to food and its political background and consequences is a somewhat neglected area of analysis. This paper argues that the mechanisms of food distribution among the Athenian demos in the fifth century BC. have a significant relationship with the widening of his political entitlements. Collective attitudes and policies concerning the distribution of food and wealth are complex socio-political processes whose analysis must go beyond the individualist framework that frequently bias ancient sources.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
View citations

Article download

Crossmark

Metrics

How to Cite
Notario Pacheco F. (2016). Politics, Wealth and Food in Democratic Athens. Rethinking Aristocratic Patronage and Democratic Empowerment in the Urban World. Gerión. Revista de Historia Antigua, 34, 17-41. https://doi.org/10.5209/rev_GERI.2016.v34.53734
Section
Varia