Fortifications and Democracy in the Ancient Greek World
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3057639 [papers.ssrn.com]
2017-11-08 18:17
In the modern world, access-limiting fortification walls are not typically regarded as promoting democracy. But in Greek antiquity, increased investment in fortifications was correlated with the prevalence and stability of democracy. This paper sketches the background conditions of the Greek city-state ecology, analyzes a passage in Aristotle’s Politics, and assesses the choices of Hellenistic kings, Greek citizens, and urban elites, as modeled in a simple game.
Their simple game has a pretty neat decision tree. How to win civilization.
source: MR