Books & ideas

The people who count

Marion Pollaert — 2026-05-19T13:22:12Z

What is the nature of the distinctive rationality that underpins Cleisthenes' reform, which many see as the birth of Greek democracy? What social mechanisms, civic experiences, and forms of vernacular knowledge made this new system of political organization possible?

Divine Sensations

Kevin Bouillot — 2024-10-29T08:02:31Z

In ancient Greece, religious rites were designed to produce a unique state of receptivity. This book, which focuses on the tools used in sensory encounters with the gods, contributes to the sensory turn that is currently revitalizing historical studies.

The Curious Monsieur Veyne

Sarah Rey — 2015-12-17T08:00:00Z

Thanks to his work on Greco-Roman antiquity, his intellectual curiosity, his pronounced taste for interdisciplinarity, his sense of humor, and the freedom that informs all his research, Paul Veyne is a twentieth-century historian whose work cannot be avoided. A loose cannon at the heart of the academic establishment, a deep thinker and a dilettante, Veyne invites us, through his work, to a festival of thought.

Socrates the Accused

Dimitri El Murr — 2015-06-11T06:00:00Z

Was Socrates a martyr for philosophy, a victim of inquisition and intolerance? Or was he a dangerous oligarch, a subversive troublemaker, overthrowing Athenian morals and pedagogical practices? Historian Paulin Ismard picks up the investigation, placing the trial of Socrates within the intellectual context of 4^th-century Athens and considering the history of its reception over the centuries.

When the Art of Ancient Greece Lost its Colour

Charlotte Ribeyrol — 2014-01-06T09:00:00Z

Although we know today that Ancient Greek art was rich in colour, a mistaken belief in its whiteness has prevailed since ancient times. Philippe Jockey retraces the colourful story of this myth of a white Greece and examines its aesthetic, moral and ideological implications.

Allotment and Democracy in Ancient Greece

Paul Demont — 2010-12-13T07:44:00Z

Contrary to the view generally accepted among historians of antiquity on the authority of Plato and Aristotle, allotment does not strictly go hand in hand with democracy. According to Paul Demont, it was rather the establishment of democracy that gradually democratized a practice that was originally aristocratic and religious.