Antiquities Lecture: Citizen Participation in Ancient Athens

With the U.S. Presidential Elections in November 2024, it is fitting to return to the birthplace of democracy, Athens, around the 6th through 4th century BCE.

Keynote speaker Dr. Jennifer Roberts traces the political reforms that led to the breakdown of the power of the nobility and the rise of popular government within the larger context of ancient Greek history. As well as discussing the women and the enslaved population excluded from participation in government, Dr. Roberts will explore the Athenians’ rationale for denying citizenship to immigrants and their descendants in the context of anxiety about immigration in the United States, beginning with the founding era. Among those who did belong to the citizen body, she will ask how the Athenians arranged to involve men (not women) of all social classes in government. Identifying eight strategies for maximizing citizen participation, she will explore how the Athenians’ approach might be adapted to the large nation-states of the modern world, the United States in particular.

Free with museum admission.