law courts

Minerva
191

Words of wisdom: ‘Not everything people laugh at is witty’

And here’s another point to take note of, that not everything people laugh at is witty.

1. The Age of Pericles, after the painting by Philipp von Foltz, 1853. Pericles is shown addressing the Assembly from the bema, or speaker’s rostrum on the Pnyx. © akg images. 2. The ancient bema (speaker’s rostrum) as it is today, on Pnyx hill in Athens.

The Past

Democracy in Athens: power to the people?

Paul Cartledge, who has written the biography of the revolutionary idea of democracy, explains how it was practised in ancient Athens where it originated.