We talked about the life, fate and position of Phocion - a man who forever became a symbol of the degeneration of democracy.

He was a super-effective commander, he was elected strategist of Athens as many as 45 times - an absolute record. And at the age of 84, the crowd sentenced him and his supporters to death. Just like Socrates was once sentenced.

Did it make sense for Athens to hold on to its system and way of life at a time when huge empires entered the arena? Which, by the way, had a huge resource base for the formation of professional armies (which was not the case in Athens, which called itself a militia). There are a lot of questions. And we can draw a lot of parallels (although not direct) with modern times.

Read, or don't read Thomas Martin's book about Phocion. Watch or don't watch my broadcast

https://www.youtube.com/live/ffSugyWw26Y?si=Zijx5cCvsKvjhCs-