Ancient Greek city-states exhibited a considerable variety of political forms. In the realm of political philosophy, thinkers perceived these forms through a complex framework of similarities and differences. At the same time, they expressed deep concern about the ways in which political systems evolve, decline, or gradually transform into one another, and they sought to substantiate these phenomena through historical examples. These lectures aim to highlight the most important aspects of the relevant literature in relation to contemporary developments in the fields of economy, society, institutions, and diplomacy.

LECTURE 1. Definition of the Citizen, the Constitution, and Politics
LECTURE 2. Classification of Political Systems in the Ancient World
LECTURE 3. Monarchy and Tyranny
LECTURE 4. Oligarchy and Its Variants
LECTURE 5. Democracy
LECTURE 6. Mixed Constitutions
LECTURE 7. Herodotus’ Dialogue on Constitutions
LECTURE 8. Arguments and Counterarguments: Primary Sources A
LECTURE 9. Arguments and Counterarguments: Primary Sources B
LECTURE 10. Arguments and Counterarguments: Primary Sources C
LECTURE 11. A Brief Outline of Political History (Athens)
LECTURE 12. A Brief Outline of Political History (Sparta)
LECTURE 13. Ancient Constitutions in Contemporary Political Theory