Ancient Greeks and Modern Britons
Paul Cartledge considers how models of the past have been used in the Westminster version of 'people power'.
Edward Gibbon, the bicentenary of whose death we celebrate this year, is still probably the greatest historian of Graeco-Roman antiquity we have. Yet in his hostile attitude to democracy – both the full-blooded, populist democracy of the ancients and the etiolated, representative version espoused by the rebellious American colonies - this Enlightenment intellectual was very much a child of his time, class and culture. The 'strange tragical romance' of the French Revolution merely hardened his widely shared conviction that 'Democratical principles... lead by a path of flowers into the Abyss of Hell' (letters of 1791).
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
