Book Description
There is no other published book in English studying the constitution of the Roman Republic as a whole. Yet the Greek historian Polybius believed that the constitution was a fundamental cause of the exponential growth of Rome's empire. He regarded the Republic as unusual in two respects: first, because it functioned so well despite being a mix of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy; secondly, because the constitution was the product of natural evolution rather than the ideals of a lawgiver. Even if historians now seek more widely for the causes of Rome's rise to power, the importance and influence of her political institutions remains. The reasons for Rome's power are both complex, on account of the mix of elements, and flexible, inasmuch as they were not founded on written statutes but on unwritten traditions reinterpreted by successive generations. Knowledge of Rome's political institutions is essential both for ancient historians and for those who study the contribution of Rome to the republican tradition of political thought from the Middle Ages to the revolutions inspired by the Enlightenment.
Customer Reviews:
A Comprehensive Overview of Rome's Republican Institutions.......2005-03-09
Andrew Lintott's book is a valuable work providing a thourough overview of the Roman Republic's institutions from the Early Republic to the Empire. It is a good companion to Fergus Millar's 'The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic' which explores the dynamics illustrated in this work within the narrow context of Rome from Sulla to the Civil War.
The title of the book is somewhat deceptive as the Roman Republic never had a charter or constitutional document to guide its institutions. Instead, the powers and functions of its various governmental bodies were operated by tradition and ad hoc enactments serving as precedent. The Senate was a hereditary post held on property and wealth qualifications of which the patrician class had the strongest voice but whose members such as Caesar, despite having property, had cash flow problems tied to their slave based agriculture economy. As with Caesar who needed wealthy noble patrons like Crassus or nepotism through his plebeian uncle Marius to get ahead, despoiled patricians needed money or broad popular support to keep their pedigree prestige in the political spotlight. Commanding a war and plundering treasures was usually the most direct route to those ends: the only real impasse being others in the Senate who have the same design which meant virtually everyone. There was also no judiciary oversight in the legislation and execution of laws to define political parameters: the institutions had only themselves to rely on which often meant returning to square one and then fighting civil wars to settle it. All of these elements are in hindsight extremely volatile politically where masses of urban poor who have no land or future are eager to serve in virtually private armies run by politically rused commanders such as Caesar. This led to the formation of large private and violent cult-hero factions fighting in the Forum for the cause of a professional army devoted only to its commander and not the decree simply giving him unlimited authority to command it. If the political process failed, these armies brought their weight into the Forum for a final bearing as to the politics that would be decided there. It is no wonder the Romans eventually preferred being under one dictator permanently instead of always many at once.
The book provides a good analysis of the framework of these mechanics that took place through the span of the Republic. Other authors such as Gruen or Millar focus on these dynamics more in terms of the politics and agents of the Late Republic specifically. This work is important because the Roman Republic's political system was rather convoluted and its dynamics are difficult to grasp as people voted in defined classes based on wealth and fixed geographic regions instead of as individuals. Furthermore, votes could only be cast in Rome in either the Forum or the Campus Martius if they were to be considered. The book relies on classical texts to analyze the development and role of political institutions such as the Senate and the various voting assemlies such as the Comitia Centuriata and the Concilium Plebis and explains how political suffrage through these voting blocks operated in the various political offices and the Senate. The powers of political offices such as the tribunate, praetorship, consulship, censorship, etc., are also defined with detail.
This is a great book giving a thourough overview of the Roman Republic's political institutions and offices. All of the information is supported by thorough research of primarily textual and archeological evidence as well as the previous work of others. I wouldn't recommend this work as an introductory text on Roman history as its depth and scope would already require some basic knowledge of the subject. I do strongly recommend this work to anyone who has more than a fleeting interest in Roman history, political science, or sociology.
Book Description
An accessible companion to one of Plato's most important works now in a welcome updated second edition. It leads the reader through Plato's life, the background to the Republic, its text and ideas and its continuing influence on Western thought.
In this second edition of the highly successful Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Plato and the Republic, Nickolas Pappas extends his exploration of the text to include substantial revisions and new material. In addition to the existing text, the chapters on Plato's ethics and politics have been revised and enlarged to include two brand new sections. There is further discussion of Plato on aesthetics including a section of Aristotle's criticism of Plato on beauty.
Customer Reviews:
A must for Plato readers.......2003-08-01
Nickolas Pappas' book on Plato's Republic adds a unique perspective to the collection of books on Plato and his major political work. Pappas presents this ancient masterpiece with an eye on the modern reader and "present interest." We not only fit the Republic into political thought and practice of the Fifth Century B.C. We also perceive its relevance to today's world.
Instead of a dry, "academic" discussion, the author presents a lively and trenchant analysis that investigates every concept of Plato's work. The book's exhaustive index is an additional aid to the reader. So is the author's concluding section titled "Fundamental Premises in the Republic's Argument." As a teacher of philosophy myself, I consider Pappas' work to be indispensable for my students' comprehension of some of the most intriguing and challenging ideas on government and citizenship ever developed in political thought. Pappas shows clearly why Plato's Republic has endured for over 2,000 years as a blueprint for the critique of politics in any age.
For the busy student.......2003-06-23
Although Pappas' book on the Republic is well written and fairly detailed, I feel that it adds little to the two standard texts: Julia Annas' and Nicholas White's. In fact Pappas admits in his introduction that he has drawn a lot from these. Pappas' study can be a good choice for the student in a rush, but it is not the best for an in-depth study of the text.
Extremely Useful Tool.......2001-10-04
I must agree with the reviewers below: this commentary has greatly enhanced my understanding of The Republic. Even when I think I get it on my own, there is always some nuance or other perspective brought to light; sometimes my own ideas are reinforced, which is very reassuring! I will look for books in this series that discuss other philosophical works -- the extra reading is worth the effort.
Routledge Philosophy.......2000-11-11
Very well done. A good read.
The best book available for understanding this text.......2000-01-17
Professor Pappas has written the best book of its kind on this important and often difficult work. To coin a phrase, it really is the Republic "in large letters." I would not try to tackle the forms without it.
Book Description
Tracing a central theme of Plato's Republic, G. R. F. Ferrari reconsiders in this study the nature and purpose of the comparison between the structure of society and that of the individual soul. In four chapters, Ferrari examines the personalities and social status of the brothers Glaucon and Adeimantus, Plato's notion of justice, coherence in Plato's description of the decline of states, and the tyrant and the philosopher king—a pair who, in their different ways, break with the terms of the city-soul analogy.
In addition to acknowledging familiar themes in the interpretation of the Republic—the sincerity of its utopianism, the justice of the philosopher's return to the Cave—Ferrari provocatively engages secondary literature by Leo Strauss, Bernard Williams, and Jonathan Lear. With admirable clarity and insight, Ferrari conveys the relation between the city and the soul and the choice between tyranny and philosophy. City and Soul in Plato's
Republic will be of value to students of classics, philosophy, and political theory alike.
Customer Reviews:
very technical and very brilliant.......2006-08-11
If you want a general introduction to Plato's Republic don't buy this book. There are many books better for your purposes. This, however, is an excellently argued critique of scholarly thought on a rich, but abstruse issue in Platonic studies. If you can follow the argument (i.e. if you know Republic and or the other dialogues very well) this is book is like Ariadne's thread leading you through the maze of Republic (or is that Phaedo). You won't have trouble with Ferrari's prose, which is as fine as ever (I also reviewed "Listening for Cicadas"). Anyway, it's a great read and though I just bought this copy I will probably have to get another soon. Too much marginalia and underlining.
Book Description
In this book a distinguished philosopher offers a comprehensive interpretation of Plato’s most controversial dialogue. Treating the Republic as a unity and focusing on the dramatic form as the presentation of the argument, Stanley Rosen challenges earlier analyses of the Republic (including the ironic reading of Leo Strauss and his disciples) and argues that the key to understanding the dialogue is to grasp the author’s intention in composing it, in particular whether Plato believed that the city constructed in the Republic is possible and desirable.
Rosen demonstrates that the fundamental principles underlying the just city are theoretically attractive but that the attempt to enact them in practice leads to conceptual incoherence and political disaster. The Republic, says Rosen, is a vivid illustration of the irreconcilability of philosophy and political practice.
Average customer rating:
- BUY IT NOW!!
- Excellent guide, learned a lot
- A MUST HAVE! The only way to trudge through the Republic!
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Republic (Cliffs Notes)
Thomas Thornburg
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Aristotle's Ethics (Cliffs Notes)
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The Republic (Penguin Classics)
ASIN: 076458670X |
Book Description
The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.
Considered to be one of the three greatest philosophical tomes of all time, The Republic is Plato's account and interpretation of Socrates' ideas about life, meaning, and the just society. This text has provoked and shaped thought for thousands of years and is as applicable now as it ever was.
CliffsNotes on Plato’s Republic helps you explore these writings by providing you with summaries and commentaries, book by book. You’ll also gain insight into the life and background of the author, Plato, and understand his growth as a philosopher. Other features that help you study include
- A list of speakers and their descriptions
- Glossaries to help you fully understand new and unfamiliar terms
- Character analyses of Socrates, Thrasymachus, and others
- Critical essays on Plato’s flyting, his childhood, and Leonidas
- A review section to test your knowledge
- A
Resource
Center with books, websites, and more for further study
Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.
Customer Reviews:
BUY IT NOW!!.......2003-02-20
I was having trouble interpreting Plato's The Republic, this book has been tremendously helpful. If you are having the same problem then get this book now!!
Excellent guide, learned a lot.......2002-08-25
I found this to be a clear, concise, and well written quide to understanding this venerable work. The author covers many topics, from the social and historical context of the work to the more abstract philosophical ideas. It helped me to better appreciate this important work and I learned a lot that was valuable and even useful.
I had a few comments myself to make. There might now be much I can add in a scholarly vein to what people have already said about Plato. But I thought I would make a few personal observations from the standpoint of a somewhat philosophically literate, 21st century man who is reading such an august classic in middle age.
I came to this book with more of a background in modern epistemology and the philosophy of science than in classical philosophy. So political philosophy isn't exactly my strong suit, but nevertheless I found the book interesting reading in a way I hadn't really thought of before.
Actually, I had read portions of this book 20 years ago when I was a young student first studying philosophy, and I have to say, there is something to be said for having a more mature outlook in approaching such a venerable work. At the time I thought political philosophy pretty dull stuff, and besides, I felt there was no real way to answer any of the important political questions that get debated here, despite the easy way Socrates disposes of everybody else's half-baked opinions and theories.
The fact is, if you move ahead 2400 years and read something like Karl Popper's "The Open Society and Its Enemies," an advanced modern work, you can see how much, or how little, political philosophy has progressed in the last 24 centuries.
Well, that may be true, but at least with this book you know where it basically all started. The best way to decide this issue is to read the book and decide for yourself.
Although entitled "The Republic," this society isn't like any republic you've probably ever read about. Plato proposes an ant- like communism where there is no private ownership of property, philosophers are kings, kings are philosophers, people cultivate physical, moral, and ethical qualities, and the idea of the good takes the place of political and social virtues.
Another odd facet is that the bravest citizens are permitted more wives than those less brave in battle. And then there is the infamous proposition that all poets and artists are to be banished since they are harmful purveyors of false illusions.
I find the Socratic method as a way of moving along the dialogue between the participants sort of interesting, and it is certainly an effective device. However, none of these people, even the famous Sophist Thrasymachus, are really Socrates' intellectual equal, so he really doesn't have much competition here.
(Cheap shot from the "Peanut Gallery"--not to digress too much, here, but if Socrates was supposed to be so wise, how come he married such a shrewish woman for a wife, Xantippe? They joked about how funny and incongruous that was even in Socrates's day).
If ancient Athens disproportionately had so many towering intellects, relative to its small population (about 20,000 people, most of whom were slaves anyway), you'd think they would show up in Plato's dialogues more. But all we seem to get are second- raters who are really no match for the clever Socrates. Of course, since the dialogues we have were written down by Socrates' most famous student, Plato, perhaps the cards were stacked a little in his teacher's favor.
Yet I would say this is still a great book. Classical scholars say there are more perfect, less flawed dialogues than Plato's Republic, but none that are as profound, wide-ranging, and as influential and important for later philosophy. As someone once wrote, in a sense the entire history of western philosophy "consists of nothing but footnotes to Plato." After finally reading it, I can see why there is so much truth to that statement.
I also had a brief comment to make on Plato's theory of justice.
Early on in the book there is the famous exchange between Socrates and the Sophist, Thrasymachus. Socrates asks him for his definition of Justice, and Thasymachus responds that "Justice is the interest of the stronger."
Socrates then uses his famous eponymous method to seemingly demolish the Sophist's position, and then presents his own view instead.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Thrasymachus here, if only on practical and historical grounds. Justice usually is the interest of the stronger. Perhaps this is not what Justice should be in human and social terms, but that's the reality.
Socrates' definition is a nice ideal, but rarely works out that way in practice. If one thinks of Thrasymachus' definition as simply pragmatic and realistic, and Socrates' definition as being the ideal that a true republic (or whatever society) should strive for, then I think this is a more accurate view of the situation. Socrates makes Thrasymachus' idea appear invalid, but in fact, his idea is more accurate in terms of how things actually work out in most parts of the world (and even in the US) than is Socrates' idea.
Not that this is right or even desirable, it's just the way things are.
A MUST HAVE! The only way to trudge through the Republic!.......2000-03-17
For college students, this book is a godsend. It lays out in common English basically everything that Plato and Socrates say in The Republic. Some of the most famous things from The Republic, including the Noble Lie, the Ship of State, and the Allegory of the Cave are put into layman's terms, making those papers and homework questions relatively easy to write. If you are a student, or are reading The Republic for fun, you have to have this book.
Average customer rating:
- A Masterful Interpretation of the Republic
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The Transformation of Plato's Republic
Kenneth Dorter
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
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Plato: Political Philosophy (Founders of Modern Political and Social Thought)
ASIN: 0739111876 |
Book Description
Author Ken Dorter, in a passage-by-passage analysis traces Plato's depiction of how the most basic forms of human functioning and social justice contain the seed of their evolution into increasingly complex structures, as well as the seed of their degeneration. Dorter also traces Plato's tendency to begin an investigation with models based on rigid distinctions for the sake of clarity, which are subsequently transformed into more fluid conceptions that no longer sacrifice complexity and subtlety for clarity.
Customer Reviews:
A Masterful Interpretation of the Republic.......2006-05-28
In my opinion this is a rare book. Why?
It is a book on Plato's Republic, written not by a `classical scholar' but by a mature philosopher - completely conversant with the contemporary debates - addressing one of the greatest philosophical minds in the western tradition. At the same time the author does have an excellent grasp of the historical and cultural context of the Republic. He has paid the hard price required to know his subject matter well. In his other books ('Form and Good in Plato's Eleatic Dialogues' and 'Plato's Phaedo: an interpretation') Dr. Dorter has pursued the substance of Plato's philosophy. By this I mean the unified body of understanding that exists behind the vast array words and conceptual constructions that comprise Plato's published works.
'The Transformation of Plato's Republic' shares this orientation, and in this regard it is quite unlike most secondary works on Plato. The great majority of secondary works reveal the tortuous conceptual struggle of an author unable to isolate major themes and central principles. The author's struggle to explain thus remains largely or partially on the level of detail. Plato himself is indeed difficult, and often obscure. But there is always the force of a great mind, simple in itself, moving behind the variegated constructions. Such a mind can never completely express itself in words, and the particular form the expression takes is always given by the historical and cultural circumstances of the writer's life. It is tremendous labor for a modern scholar, writing more than two millenia later, to make contact with the 'force majeur' at work behind the writings of Plato. Because Dr Dorter has achieved this, he is able to explicate the themes of the Republic in a straightforward a way. He has been able to prioritize the material in the Republic, and to present his interpretation clearly - without the web of unnecessary complexity that comes from incomplete understanding. He does so with considerable elegance.
I would place his writings amongst the few best commentaries on Plato that exist.
(Dear Amazon, I submitted this same review more than three weeks ago, and it has not yet appeared. If it is not suitable to print I would like to know the reason why. This 2nd version has been slightly rewritten, and if you still plan to display the first I would substitute this one. Hugh James)
Book Description
"Baracchi has identified pivotal points around which the Republic operates; this allows a reading of the entire text to unfold. . . . a very beautifully written book." --Walter Brogan, Villanova University
Claudi Baracchi finds that, although arguably the most influential text in the history of Western philosophy, Plato's Republic remains obscure and enigmatic. To fully understand and appreciate its meaning, we must attend to what its original language discloses. In Baracchi's deft interpretation, primordial issues of life and death, darkness and light, force and harmony emerge from this important Platonic text. In a larger sense, Baracchi's stimulating book illuminates the fundamental function of myth in philosophical inquiry.
Customer Reviews:
One of the finest works on Plato,.......2007-07-11
I can't recommend this work enough. If you are tired of mediocre superficial interpretations of Plato or if you are sick of analytic reductions of Plato's genius, then this work will restore your faith in current philosophy.
This work falls within the Continental tradition of philosophy so the aim is not to look where Plato's "arguments" fail or to draw Venn diagrams, but rather Baracchi sets out to do exactly what the title says: to describe and interpret myth, life, and war as they appear in Plato's Republic. At times there surface some Derridarian and feminist influences, but fortunately these are barely noticeable and shouldn't turn anyone off. Luckily, Baracchi is enough of an original scholar to avoid following the disastrous trend of seeing everything in the light (or rather darkness) of Derrida. If one is not used to the writing style of Continental philosophy, then one may be perhaps surprised or annoyed at first. But Baracchi writes beautifully and with such charm that any initial misgivings should be quelled quickly. She truly stands out among the newer scholars and I look forward to reading her future work.
To summarize this work or to try to distill important points would be an enormous task in itself as every page has more to say than entire books on Plato. The interpretation here is so rich and original that no reader will be disappointed or think that he hasn't gotten something out of this text. This is the type of work that lets you see The Republic in a new and fresh light; you will end up making notes on every page because it is a terrific catalyst for one's own thinking on Plato.
This book is a must for fans of John Sallis's work on Plato and for anyone looking for a fascinating, deep, thought-provoking interpration of Plato. Even if you are not familiar with Continental philosophy or you have been trained to avoid or dislike it--don't miss out on this fantastic book.
My only complaint is with the atrocious cover illustration used-- I take it the author is not to be faulted. This great book deserves better than a "work" by an "artist" known for doing hideous baby scribbles on a piece of paper.
Average customer rating:
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Plato's Republic
Sean Sayers
Manufacturer: Edinburgh University Press
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ASIN: 0748611886 |
Book Description
This book provides a clear, concise and highly readable introduction to the main themes of Plato's Republic. It covers Plato's social and political thought, his moral philosophy, his epistemology and metaphysics, and his philosophy of art and literature. Plato's theories in all these areas are presented in clear and straightforward terms. They are located in the context of the views of subsequent philosophers and critically assessed in the light of current debates. The contemporary significance of Plato's ideas is emphasised throughout. Written in a lucid and lively style, this book succeeds in making a wide range of fundamental philosophical ideas widely accessible. It provides an ideal introduction to the Republic for students taking courses in philosophy, political and social thought, classical studies, literary theory, religious studies, etc., as well as for the general reader.
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