What I am arguing, in effect, is that the full democratic system of the second half of the fifth century B.C. would not have been introduced had there been no Athenian empire.
Moses FinleyFaction is the greatest evil and the most common danger. "Faction" is the conventional English translation of the Greek stasis, one of the most remarkable words to be found in any language.
Moses FinleyKnowledge for its own sake was meaningless, its mere accumulation a waste of time. Knowledge must lead to understanding.
Moses FinleyIt is a mark of civilised man that he seeks to understand his traditions, and to criticise them, not to swallow them whole.
Moses Finley