Collection complète des oeuvres de l'Abbé de Mably, Volume 4 (of 15)

The author examines the mœurs, institutions, and politics of ancient Greece, seeking general and particular causes of its prosperity and decline. Structured in four books, the study moves from early migratory and agrarian origins and the emergence of federative arrangements centered on Sparta, through the rivalry of Athens and Sparta, notable administrations and the Peloponnesian War, to Macedonian ascendancy under Philip and Alexander and the Hellenistic successor states. It concludes with the formation of the Achaean league and Roman intervention. Alongside narrative history, sustained reflections reassess earlier political maxims and draw moral and practical lessons for governance.