Probably written by a student of Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution is both a
history and an analysis of Athens' political machinery between the seventh and f
ourth centuries BC, which stands as a model of democracy at a time when city-sta
tes lived under differing kinds of government. The writer recounts the major ref
orms of Solon, the rule of the tyrant Pisistratus and his sons, the emergence of
the democracy in which power was shared by all free male citizens, and the lead
ership of Pericles and the demagogues who followed him. He goes on to examine th
e city's administration in his own time - the council, the officials and the jud
icial system.
