Having described the ancient religion and how it structured family and political life, Fustel turns in Book 4 to describing the revolutions that over a period of centuries overturned and destroyed this civic order.
In this first chapter, he notes the two causes of revolution: the natural progression of ideas, and the emergence of a social group who were hostile to the existing social order, the clients.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/gtzx6dc5eEY
Individual liberty was unknown in the ancient cities.
The religious roots of the state gave it absolute authority over all areas of life.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/9SgQR6dBURs
Fustel walks us through the daily religious life of a Roman and of an Athenian.
Both lived lives permeated by religious ceremony and duty at every moment.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/y0AMSKcyC_w
The ancient religion meant that war between cities was always religious war, war between the gods.
And so peace treaties were religious ceremonies as well.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/Q0bGveGsc5w
Religion separated cities absolutely, and made a union of cities not merely difficult but impossible.
Conquered cities might face enslavement or extermination, but never annexation.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/WNOX11ngxA4
The ancient man's country was his sacred fatherland, Fustel tells us, and so his patriotism reflected his total devotion to his religion.
Exile was the interdiction of worship, and involved far greater loss than just physical exclusion.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/8buzXg-y9Z4
Citizenship was defined by participation in the religion of the city.
All political and civil rights followed from this religious practice, and those outside the religion could not claim its rights.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/oMxM5bREmos
For the ancients, Fustel says, the institution of law was part of religion, and of divine origin.
Thus, law was sacred and immutable, and governed relations only between co-religionists.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/RP-UgVVniPY
The union of political authority and religious priesthood was reflected in the office of magistrate as well.
Recounting this institution's history, Fustel warns us not to suspect insincerity or manipulation on the part of the aristocrats.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/wlULQbE3FIQ
Ancient political authority flowed from religion, not material force.
The king's power and authority came from his sacred role as high priest.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/pFSmWZnlfMw
Fustel contrasts ancient with modern religion: the former was about ritual, not doctrine.
It was secretive and fearful.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/-AcMLqaSF6I
In this long chapter, Fustel catalogs the roles religion played in the institutions of the ancient city in its prime.
These include the sharing of meals prepared on the altar, the festivals and calendar, the census, and the military.
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Based on:
https://youtu.be/ZgwkGNLlby0
https://youtu.be/-D8qdPAKMAE
https://youtu.be/NgCMOvR1n50
https://youtu.be/lN-ti_HfSyI
Each city was held together by common worship of its particular gods.
Different cities worshipped their unique gods under the same names: thus there were many Athenas, many Jupiters, et cetera.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/XgKCJJeP4fc
Each city worshipped its founder as the man who had called down the gods to dwell in the new city.
The dominant virtue of a founder, says Fustel, is piety.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/aiWiU0Qi9uw
Ancient cities were very unlike ours.
A city was not built up in stages, but founded all at once in a solemn religious ritual.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/MQdkIaLTEw8
An ancient city was not an association of individuals, writes Fustel.
It was a confederation of several pre-established societies, which continued to exist in the city.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/b8E4p7a7dPw
In this chapter Fustel describes the twofold nature of ancient religious sentiment.
Some gods were drawn from human intelligence and experience of the soul, and other gods were identified in external objects and physical forces in nature.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/jeDpijYOdUI
Book 3, The City, begins by tracing the expansion of religious ideas and rituals from the family level to larger social groups.
The phratry, the cury, and the tribe each had their own altar, their own priests, and their own sacred meals.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/dUbmzIR1DHk
In this long final chapter of Book 2, Fustel addresses the historical problem of the gens, its character and foundation.
The gens, he tells us, was not an association of families; it WAS the family.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/YydNy__d3U4
The ancient religion fortified man's moral sentiments and gave them greater authority.
In this chapter, Fustel describes the religious roots of chastity, love of home, and other domestic virtues.
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Based on: https://youtu.be/3-V94JUlDS0