Putting Imperialism on Trial: Dialectical Empire in Ancient Greek Historiography
by Li Junyang
About This Novel
Based on the positive and negative arguments about empire by ancient Greek historians, this book outlines the historical evolution of the international political concept of imperialism. This book reinterprets the first volume of Thucydides' history as follows: Thucydides wrote the pre-war Spartan citizens' meeting as a court debate against Athens; later, a metaphor of "tyrant city-state" that the Athenians themselves were not taboo about was the "crime" of Athens in this "trial". This metaphor and this debate are central to Thucydides' characterization and historiographical dialectic of Athenian imperialism. The drastic changes in anti-tyrant laws in Athens during the Peloponnesian War were the reasons why Thucydides chose this metaphor and wrote this debate. Through Thucydides, the "tyrant city" metaphor and this debate became the Westphalian voice of the ancient Greek city-state system.
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