08-02-2007, 10:00 PM
...see my earlier post, David. You are using a modern definition, which no Polis citizen would have understood. 
A citizen of Athens might have recognised loyalty to his city, but the interests of his tribe/clan/faction came first ( see e.g. Alcmeonid clan, considered Medisers but who later went on to provide some of Athens greatest leaders.
And what about all those non-citizens ? Merchants from elsewhere in Greece, without any citizen rights, and slaves could hardly be expected to espouse the City's cause.
Both earlier and later, Athenian aristocratic factions would call in the Spartans to help overthrow the government of the day. "Traitors" or "Freedom-fighters"??
The terms had no relevance for the ancient greeks.
A citizen of Athens might have recognised loyalty to his city, but the interests of his tribe/clan/faction came first ( see e.g. Alcmeonid clan, considered Medisers but who later went on to provide some of Athens greatest leaders.And what about all those non-citizens ? Merchants from elsewhere in Greece, without any citizen rights, and slaves could hardly be expected to espouse the City's cause.
Both earlier and later, Athenian aristocratic factions would call in the Spartans to help overthrow the government of the day. "Traitors" or "Freedom-fighters"??
The terms had no relevance for the ancient greeks.
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
