# Political Crises in Athens and Rome

- Institution: Gresham College
- Speaker: Professor Melissa Lane
- Year: 2025
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Society and politics, History
- Source: [Gresham College](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/athens-and-rome)
- Licence: [Educational use (Gresham College's terms)](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

When – and how – did Athenian democracy begin? There is no unambiguous answer to this question. This lecture explores one plausible origin: the popular uprising in 508 BCE overthrowing foreign invaders (who had previously expelled an Athenian-bred family of tyrants). In the aftermath of that revolution, the Athenians – led by Kleisthenes – reorganised their political system to foster new identities and interactions. As further political and social changes were made, Athenian democracy took shape in the imaginations of contemporaries and of later generations.

## Lectures

1. [From Tyranny to Athenian Democracy](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/e6f7637ba74a) (Audio)
2. [Oligarchs and Their Discontents](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/7b6cf3ce7313) (Audio)
3. [The Death of Athenian Democracy?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/af266f137e2d) (Audio)
4. [Plato to Polybius on Constitutional Change](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/72c805428a2c) (Audio)
5. [Cicero In and On Political Crises](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/79371a753eba) (Audio)
6. [The Death of the Roman Republic?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-athens-and-rome/6320a6c78030) (YouTube)