Fortifications & Democracy in the Ancient Greek World -- why elites supported democracy and were not more heavily taxed

Ober, Josiah and Weingast, Barry R., Fortifications and Democracy in the Ancient Greek World (October 23, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3057639

Abstract: In the modern world, access-limiting fortification walls are not typically regarded as promoting democracy. But in Greek antiquity, increased investment in fortifications was correlated with the prevalence and stability of democracy. This paper sketches the background conditions of the Greek city-state ecology, analyzes a passage in Aristotle’s Politics, and assesses the choices of Hellenistic kings, Greek citizens, and urban elites, as modeled in a simple game. The paper explains how city walls promoted democracy and helps to explain several other puzzles: why Hellenistic kings taxed Greek cities at lower than expected rates; why elites in Greek cities supported democracy; and why elites were not more heavily taxed by democratic majorities. The relationship between walls, democracy, and taxes promoted continued economic growth into the late classical and Hellenistic period (4th-2nd centuries BCE), and ultimately contributed to the survival of Greek culture into the Roman era, and thus modernity. We conclude with a consideration of whether the walls-democracy relationship holds in modernity.

Keywords: Democracy, Ancient Greece, Athens, Walls and Democracy, Taxation, War
JEL Classification: H11, H41, N43, O43, P51, P14, P16