Middle Class-Imperial Relationship in the Example of Ancient Greece

Year 2025, Volume: 11 Issue: 22, 99 - 112, 30.06.2025

Berkay Gürel

https://doi.org/10.25306/skad.1700270

Abstract

This article analyses in detail the relationship between the ‘middle class’ and ‘empire’ in the Ancient Greek context. The basic proposition is that empire gains strength with the weakening of the middle class. From this point of view, the article analyses the relationship between the existence of a middle class in Ancient Greece, the absence of a bureaucratic structure controlling agricultural production, and the military structures of Greek states before they became bureaucratic states. These structures enabled the middle class to maintain its economic independence by preventing the bureaucracy from exploiting the surplus value of small farmers. However, the loss of economic independence of the middle class led the state to become more centralised and to adopt an expansionist policy over time. This transformation accelerated especially with the transition from an agricultural economy to an economic model focusing on war and maritime activities. These developments further limited the economic and political influence of the declining middle class. In this context, the article examines the relationship between the class structures of ancient Greek society and the processes of political expansion from a historical perspective through economic and ideological dynamics in relation to the institutional foundations of empires.

Keywords

Ancient Greece , Empire , Middle Class , Military Structure , Small Farmer

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