What was ancient democracy like? Why did it spread in ancient Greece? An astonishing number of volumes have been devoted to the well-attested Athenian case, while non-Athenian democracy - for which evidence is harder to come by - has received only fleeting attention. Nevertheless, there exists a scattered body of ancient material regarding democracy beyond Athens, from ancient literary authors and epigraphic documents to archaeological evidence, out of which one can build an understanding of the phenomenon. This book presents a detailed study of ancient Greek democracy in the Classical period (480–323 BC), focusing on examples outside Athens. It has three main goals: to identify where and when democratic governments established themselves in ancient Greek city-states; to explain why democracy spread to many parts of Greece in this period; and to further our understanding of the nature of ancient democracy by studying its practices beyond Athens.

'A fascinating study …'

Source: The Times Literary Supplement

'Robinson meticulously surveys the sources, literary, epigraphical, and archaeological, for cities on the Greek mainland such as Argos, in the north and west (for example, in Sicily), and in the east (for instance, Byzantium and Rhodes) and reveals how widespread dêmokratia really was … Robinson has filled out the picture of ancient democracies, their origins, varied institutions, and crises, and the results should be of interest to all.'

David Konstan Source: Common Knowledge