The Ancient City, by Fustel de Coulanges

Christopher Anadale
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Audiobook of Fustel de Coulanges' The Ancient City (1864). Chapters read, with brief introductions, by Christopher Anadale. Adapted from videos on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPCGA67J8M2JVoH7M4ayFTRDuLteRhL0p Music: Into Oblivion, by Darren Curtis Thumbnail Image: Parthenon. Image by nonbirinonko from Pixabay, https://pixabay.com/photos/greece-parthenon-temple-ruins-1594689/

  1. Book 5 Chapter 3: Christianity Changes the Conditions of Government

    12/22/2025

    Book 5 Chapter 3: Christianity Changes the Conditions of Government

    The rise of Christianity completed the destruction of the social order based on the ancient religion of ancestor worship. In this final chapter of the book, Fustel catalogs the changes in politics, in worship, in law, and in self-understanding that the new religion produced. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/cEx0tT0jHb4

    22 min
  2. Book 5 Chapter 2: The Roman Conquest

    12/19/2025

    Book 5 Chapter 2: The Roman Conquest

    In this long chapter Fustel tells the stages of Rome's conquest of the ancient cities. In every city they conquered, the Romans destroyed whatever remained of the municipal system connected to the old religion. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/4YQKkJTnNPM https://youtu.be/U6IMsJWKbI8 https://youtu.be/mKlhPB8S7BQ https://youtu.be/s-sRs_720QI

    1h 14m
  3. Book 5 Chapter 1: New Beliefs. Philosophy Changes the Principles and Rules of Politics.

    12/17/2025

    Book 5 Chapter 1: New Beliefs. Philosophy Changes the Principles and Rules of Politics.

    Book 5, The Municipal Regime Disappears, begins with this chapter on the role philosophy played in social change. With Anaxagoras and others came new ideas of divinity, and new principles and rules for political life. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/78LOM37iv0s

    27 min
  4. Book 4 Chapter 13: Revolutions of Sparta

    12/15/2025

    Book 4 Chapter 13: Revolutions of Sparta

    Book 4 ends with Fustel's account of the path Sparta took through oligarchy and democracy. In all of Greece, Sparta was the city most torn by revolutions. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/lYR1_CsZpjM

    22 min
  5. Book 4 Chapter 12: Rich and Poor. The Democracy Falls. Popular Tyrants.

    12/12/2025

    Book 4 Chapter 12: Rich and Poor. The Democracy Falls. Popular Tyrants.

    Democracy and equality made the gap between wealth and poverty more noticeable, without redressing it. The conflict between rich and poor ended in the seizure of property by popular tyrants. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/X71ZKp9eGuk

    23 min
  6. Book 4 Chapter 11: Rules of Democratic Government. Examples of Athenian Democracy.

    12/10/2025

    Book 4 Chapter 11: Rules of Democratic Government. Examples of Athenian Democracy.

    In this chapter Fustel examines steps the new Athenian democracy took to protect against innovations in the law. Democracy was a very demanding and time consuming practice as well. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/1Vp1ieC6hJ8

    20 min
  7. Book 4 Chapter 10: An Aristocracy of Wealth Attempts to Establish Itself. Establishment of Democracy. Fourth Revolution.

    12/08/2025

    Book 4 Chapter 10: An Aristocracy of Wealth Attempts to Establish Itself. Establishment of Democracy. Fourth Revolution.

    An interim stage between the old order and democracy, Fustel says, was the attempt by the wealthy class to rule the cities. Weakened by war, this new aristocracy fell to the fourth revolution and democracy. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/wIqCDqOnZ_Y

    19 min
  8. Book 4 Chapter 9: The New Principle of Government. The Public Interest and the Suffrage.

    12/05/2025

    Book 4 Chapter 9: The New Principle of Government. The Public Interest and the Suffrage.

    Fustel relates the social reconstruction that followed the overthrow of the old religion and its laws. Religious sanction for authority was replaced by the new principle of the public interest, and the end of government changed from performing of religious duties to securing peace and order. --- Based on: https://youtu.be/dw2UIbFxkzY

    15 min
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Audiobook of Fustel de Coulanges' The Ancient City (1864). Chapters read, with brief introductions, by Christopher Anadale. Adapted from videos on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPCGA67J8M2JVoH7M4ayFTRDuLteRhL0p Music: Into Oblivion, by Darren Curtis Thumbnail Image: Parthenon. Image by nonbirinonko from Pixabay, https://pixabay.com/photos/greece-parthenon-temple-ruins-1594689/

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