Rediscovering Greek Institutions

Rediscovering Greek Institutions offers a fresh perspective on the study of ancient Greek institutions by integrating New Institutionalism-inspired approaches from political science. While traditional scholarship has often focused on constitutional design, formal rules and legal procedures, a shift in recent decades towards sociological and anthropological approaches has overlooked the importance of institutional analysis. This volume bridges this gap, spearheading a new approach which not only considers formal rules and procedures but also the social, ideological, and behavioural factors underpinning institutions. Its wide-ranging chapters demonstrate how a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of institutions can shed light on the complex political and social life of the Greek polis. Through an interdisciplinary approach to ancient Greek politics which engages with political science, this book redefines institutional analysis as a powerful tool for understanding the diverse motivations behind individual and collective actions in ancient Greece.

Author Biography

Matteo Barbato is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Greek History at the University of Milan. He is the author of The Ideology of Democratic Athens: Institutions, Orators and the Mythical Past (EUP, 2020). His research focuses on the cultural, political and institutional history of Athenian democracy and on post-classical Greek historiography. Mirko Canevaro is Professor of Greek History at the University of Edinburgh. He has published extensively on the history of the Greek polis, particularly on Demosthenes and Athens (2013, 2016) and Aristotle’s Politics (2014, 2022), on dynamics of honour and recognition, and on class struggle in the Grek polis. Alberto Esu is Lecturer in Classical Greek History at the University of Manchester. He has published on ancient Greek law and institutions, political thought, and Athenian oratory. He is the author of Divided Power in Ancient Greece: Decision-Making and Institutions in the Classical and Hellenistic Polis (2024) and has co-edited (with E. M. Harris), Keeping to the Point in Athenian Forensic Oratory: Law, Character and Rhetoric (EUP, 2025).