greek-politicsfeatured in 30 works

Liberty

Freedom as the Greeks and Romans prized it — the free city ruling itself, and the citizen who is no one's slave.

Ancient liberty (Greek eleutheria, Latin libertas) meant two things at once: the independence of a self-governing city, and the standing of a citizen who is free rather than enslaved or subject to a master. Herodotus framed Greek freedom against Persian despotism (5th c. BCE), and Roman libertas became the proud emblem of the Republic against kingly and tyrannical power, championed by Cicero. This civic ideal of freedom-as-non-domination shaped republican thought all the way down to the modern age.

How it traveled

Histories
Thurii (Magna Graecia) · -425
explains
History of the Peloponnesian War
Athens · -400
explains
Menexenus
Athens · -386
explains
Funeral Oration
Athens · -380
explains
Panegyricus
Athens · -380
explains
Republic
Athens · -375
explains
Plataicus
Athens · -373
explains
Archidamus
Athens · -366
explains
On the Peace
Athens · -355
explains
Hellenica
Athens · -354
explains
Cyropaedia
Athens · -354
explains
Memorabilia
Athens · -354
explains
Against Aristocrates
Athens · -353
explains
For the Liberty of the Rhodians
Athens · -351
explains
Laws
Athens · -348
applies
To Philip
Athens · -346
applies
On the False Embassy
Athens · -343
explains
Third Philippic
Athens · -341
explains
On the Chersonese
Athens · -341
explains
Panathenaicus
Athens · -339
redefines
The Funeral Speech
Athens · -338
explains
On the Treaty with Alexander
Athens · -331
applies
On the Crown
Athens · -330
explains
Against Ctesiphon
Athens · -330
explains
Fourth Philippic
Athens · -322
explains
Politics
Chalcis · -322
explains
Against Timocrates
Athens · -322
explains
Funeral Oration
Athens · -322
explains
Against Meidias
Athens · -322
explains
Histories
Megalopolis · -118
explains

Key passages(20)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius, De Lege Agraria 2.16↗applies

De Lege Agraria · Cicero