Public Records and Archives in Classical Athens by James P Sickinger

Public Records and Archives in Classical Athens by James P Sickinger

In this book, James Sickinger explores the use and preservation of public records in the ancient Athenian democracy of the archaic and classical periods.Athenian public records are most familiar from the survival of inscribed stelai, slabs of marble on which were published decrees, treaties, financial accounts, and other state documents. Working largely from evidence supplied by such inscriptions, Sickinger demonstrates that their texts actually represented only a small part of Athenian record keeping. More numerous and more widely used, he says, were archival texts written on wooden tablets or papyri that were made, and often kept for extended periods of time, by Athenian officials. Beginning with the legislation of Drakon in the seventh century B.C., Sickinger traces the growing use of written records by the Athenian state over the next three centuries, concluding with an examination of the Metroon, the state archive of Athens, during the fourth century. Challenging assumptions about ancient Athenian literacy, democracy, and society, Sickinger argues that the practical use and preservation of laws, decrees, and other state documents were hallmarks of Athenian public life from the earliest times.

James Sickinger is assistant professor of classics at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780807858516
ISBN 10	080785851X
Title	Public Records and Archives in Classical Athens
Author	James P Sickinger
Series	Studies In The History Of Greece And Rome
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The University of North Carolina Press
Year published	2007-02-28
Number of pages	288
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable