The Glue of Democracy: Economics, Warfare and Values in Classical Greece

Abstract

In the present essay we analyse the links between the emergence of new arms and forms of war, the phalanx and the triremes at sea, its economic base, and the emergence of democracy in classical Greece. We propose that the phalanx formation led to the development of particular values and ethics, which again were the necessary conditions for the emergence of democracy, a unique phenomenon. We then argue that seapower was a sufficient condition for the establishment and endurance of democracy, because it led to a community of economic interests, on which direct democracies like Ancient Athens, were based.