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Coping with Chronic Warfare. The Athenian Experience

Author

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  • Lyttkens, Carl Hampus

    (Department of Economics, Lund University)

  • Gerding, Henrik

    (Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Sweden)

Abstract

In Classical Athens, being at war was much more common than peace. The military expenditures were correspondingly large. The real enigmatic issue, however, is not financial but where they found the manpower needed for this policy. The number of warships (triremes) was so great that there is no way that the citizen could have dominated in the crews. The main source is likely the non-citizen, free population of Attica. Slaves, one the other hand, would have been very popular as rowers during the final phase of the Peloponnesian war, but not necessarily before. The manpower losses in connection with naval conflicts must have had a significant impact on Athenian society in several ways. We discuss three examples: the switch from ostracism to the graphe paranomon, the new law on citizenship under Perikles, and why the Athenian Assembly put the victorious generals on trial after the victory at Arginoussai.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Gerding, Henrik, 2019. "Coping with Chronic Warfare. The Athenian Experience," Working Papers 2019:17, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2019_017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Tridimas, George & Lindgren, Anna, 2017. "Making Direct Democracy Work. An economic perspective on the graphe paranomon in ancient Athens," Working Papers 2017:10, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    2. Lyttkens, Carl Hampus & Gerding, Henrik, 2015. "Understanding the Politics of Perikles Around 450 BC. The Benefits of an Economic Perspective," Working Papers 2015:13, Lund University, Department of Economics.
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      More about this item

      Keywords

      Ancient Athens; slaves; rowers; war; demographic change;
      All these keywords.

      JEL classification:

      • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
      • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
      • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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