The Ancient City a Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome

By Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges and Willard Small

Book Overview

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3385419808
• ISBN13: 9783385419803
• Release Date: April 2024
• Publisher: Outlook Verlag
• Length: 532 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Corrective to rationalist bias in constitutional politics

Fustel marshalls historical evidence to show that in the classical city-state social organisation based on religion -- for example, the patrician order, family graves, the sacred fire, the god Terminus who demarcated property, shared ceremonial meals, etc. -- came before social organisation based on law. The Ancient City should be read as a corrective to the excessively rationalist bias in constitutional thinking which we inherit from the 18th century. Sadly, this important and rewarding book did not appear until one hundred years after the US Constitution was adopted.