The Ancient City A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome

by Fustel de Coulanges, Numa Denis; Small, Willard

• ISBN13: 9780486447308
• ISBN10: 0486447308
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-27
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

This influential survey synthesizes ancient documents and physical evidence to build an account of religious, family, and civic life of Periclean Athens and Rome during the time of Cicero. In bypassing the body of often-glorified post-Classical histories, it builds an accurate and detailed depiction of Hellenic and Latin urban culture.

Table of Contents

Introduction Necessity of studying the oldest Beliefs of the Ancients in order to understand their Institutions	11	(4)
BOOK FIRST ANCIENT BELIEFS
Notions about the Soul and Death	15	(6)
The Worship of the Dead	21	(4)
The Sacred Fire	25	(9)
The Domestic Religion	34	(6)
BOOK SECOND THE FAMILY
Religion was the constituent Principle of the ancient Family	40	(2)
Marriage among the Greeks and Romans	42	(6)
The Continuity of the Family. Celibacy Forbidden. Divorce in Case of Sterlity. Inequality between the Son and the Daughter	48	(6)
Adoption and Emancipation	54	(2)
Kinship. What the Romans called Agnation	56	(4)
The Right of Property	60	(12)
The Right of Succession	72	(13)
Nature and Principle of the Right of Succession among the Ancients	72	(2)
The Son, not the Daughter, inherits	74	(3)
Colateral Succession	77	(2)
Effects of Adoption and Emancipation	79	(1)
Wills were not known originally	80	(3)
The Right of Primogeniture	83	(2)
Authority in the Family	85	(9)
Principle and Nature of Paternal Power among the Ancients	85	(5)
Enumeration of the Rights composing the Paternal Power	90	(4)
Morals of the Ancient Family	94	(6)
The Gens at Rome and in Greece	100	(17)
What we learn of the Gens from Ancient Documents	102	(3)
An Examination of the Opinions that have been offered to explain the Roman Gens	105	(3)
The Gens was nothing but the Family still holding to its primitive Organization and its Unity	108	(4)
The Family (Gens) was at first the only Form of Society	112	(5)
BOOK THIRD THE CITY
The Phratry and the Cury. The Tribe	117	(3)
New Religious Beliefs	120	(6)
The Gods of Physical Nature	120	(2)
Relation of this Religion to the Development of Human Society	122	(4)
The City is formed	126	(8)
The City. Urbs	134	(8)
Worship of the Founder. Legend of Æneas	142	(4)
The Gods of the City	146	(9)
The Religion of the City	155	(12)
The Public Meals	155	(3)
The Festivals and the Calendar	158	(2)
The Census	160	(3)
Religion in the Assembly, in the Senate, in the Tribunal, in the Army. The Triumph	163	(4)
The Rituals and the Annals	167	(6)
Government of the City. The King	173	(7)
Religious Authority of the King	173	(3)
Political Authority of the King	176	(4)
The Magistracy	180	(6)
The Law	186	(7)
The Citizen and the Stranger	193	(5)
Patriotism. Exile	198	(3)
The Municipal Spirit	201	(4)
Relations between the Cities. War. Peace. The Alliance of the Gods	205	(5)
The Roman. The Athenian	210	(9)
Omnipotence of the State. The Ancients knew nothing of Individual Liberty	219	(5)
BOOK FOURTH THE REVOLUTIONS
Particians and Clients	224	(5)
The Plebeians	229	(6)
First Revolution	235	(12)
The Political Power is Taken from the Kings, who still retain their Religious Authority	235	(2)
History of this Revolution at Sparta	237	(2)
History of this Revolution at Athens	239	(3)
History of this Revolution at Rome	242	(5)
The Aristocracy governs the Cities	247	(4)
Second Revolution. Changes in the Constitution of the Family. The Right of Primogeniture disappears. The Gens is dismembered	251	(4)
The Clients Become Free	255	(14)
What Clientship was at first, and how it was transformed	255	(6)
Clientship disappears at Athens. The Work of Solon	261	(4)
Transformation of Clientship at Rome	265	(4)
Third Revolution. Plebs enter the City	269	(37)
General History of this Revolution	269	(9)
History of this Revolution at Athens	278	(5)
History of this Revolution at Rome	283	(23)
Changes in Private Law. Code of the Twelve Tables. Code of Solon	306	(11)
The New Principle of Government. The Public Interest and the Suffrage	317	(5)
An Aristocracy of Wealth attempts to establish itself. Establishment of the Democracy. Fourth Revolution	322	(6)
Rules of the Democratic Government. Examples of Athenian Democracy	328	(8)
Rich and Poor. The Democracy falls. Popular Tyrants	336	(7)
Revolutions of Sparta	343	(9)
BOOK FIFTH THE MUNICIPAL REGIME DISAPPEARS
New Beliefs. Philosophy changes the Principles and Rules of Politics	352	(8)
The Roman Conquest	360	(29)
A few Words on the Origin and Population of Rome	361	(3)
First Aggrandizement of Rome (753--350 B.C.)	364	(3)
How Rome acquired Empire (350--140 B.C.)	367	(7)
Rome everywhere destroys the Municipal System	374	(6)
The Conquered Nations successively enter the Roman City	380	(9)
Christianity changes the Conditions of Government	389