_Class Struggle in the Ancient World_ is a classic of history. His
chapter on Athens is excellent, but from other scholarship I have read
he is probably incorrect on the use of slavery in Athens and its
relationship to Athenian democracy. M.I. Finley is _always_ worth
reading. His book on ancient slavery is more Weberian than Marxist, but
it is still greatly illuminating. His _The World of Odysseus_ is superb.
It has been some time since I read his _The Ancient Economy_, but I
remember learning a lot from it.
One fascinating suggestion in de Ste. Croix is his speculation that
while peasant women belonged to the peasant class, women of the 'upper'
classes were so subordinated that they constituted a separate social
class. As far as I know, he hasn't convinced other historians, but that
the suggestion can be seriously made illuminates the status of women in
Athens.
Aeschylus's _Oresteian Trilogy_ was in some ways a perspective on world
history as culminating in the Athenian Democracy, and looked at that way
it is interesting that he selected a myth which justifies matricide!
Carrol
Paul wrote:
>
> Many thanks, especially for the references. Would you also include G.E.M.
> de Ste. Croix_The Class Struggle in the Ancient World_ on the list? Any
> comments on him? Any other that focus on the political economy?
>
> Paul
>
> Carrol Cox writes
> > > <<<<<>>>>>
> > >