This collection of sources and commentary replaces the 1973 Athenian Politics , taking account of the increase in knowledge on demes, and the work of Mogens Herman Hansen. Part I contains a conceptual and historical background to the democratic system as it was at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 431, Part II surveys the principal institutions of democracy, and Part III demonstrates the various ways in which the system was tested from the plague of 430 to the naval battles of Arginousai and Aigospotamoi. A vital resource for all students of the period.