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Patricia Crone built a model of a pre-industrial society in order to outline the basic processes and patterns common to most of these societies, which students can use as a template for a better understanding of the pre-industrial social structure. The Funeral Oration of Perikles, written by Athenian politician Thucydides, provides a great practical example of how pre-industrial society would be described by its contemporaries.
Thucydides’ piece starts with an introduction to the themes of death and funerals. He emphasizes the value of traditions and customs, highlighting the required procedures for funerals of Athenian men who died in battle. He describes the ceremony in great detail, addressing the order of procession as well as the general content of the event. It is surprising to see that the funeral procession is inclusive and that any citizen or stranger can join in if he wishes. A similar sense of inclusiveness is present in Perikles’ speech. For instance, he insists on opening up the city of Athens to visitors and making sure that no foreigner is refused the opportunity to learn more about Athens or to observe an event in the city. Perikles’ speech also discusses the impact of laws and the constitution.
However, he does not imply that the constitution shapes society; rather, he insists that Athenians trust their people more than their laws: “trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens” (Thucydides 5). The entire speech is filled with messages of liberality and the freedom of each citizen to do as he or she likes. There is no mention of agriculture, however, which, according to Crone, was crucial to pre-industrial societies. The passage also omits the impact of labor division and the class distinction between rulers and regular citizens. On the contrary, the speech is filled with the empowerment of citizens, celebrating their efforts in the war and advocating for their voice to be heard regarding all decisions on public matters.
It is hard to imagine that the society described in the passage could have existed in a pre-industrial setting. Crone argues that pre-industrial societies tended to have a distinct social hierarchy in which the citizens were given hardly any voice, whereas the rulers could take resources away from peasants with no opposition: “Once some have power and others have none, the former will force the latter to pay for all kinds of goods, institutions, and services, which nobody had even thought about before the state emerged” (8-9). Another feature of Crone’s pre-industrial society model that is not evident in Perikles’ speech is religion.
Whereas his speech addresses past victories, ancestors, traditions, and the value of good citizenship, there are no explicit mentions of gods or religion, which contradicts Crone’s model. Moreover, Crone states that the division of authority meant that ordinary citizens would have been kept unarmed to avoid riots and confrontations; however, Perikles’ speech glorifies the use of weapons and violence against enemies, which is justified by the context of war running through the piece. Overall, even though the speech provides a useful summary of some values and customs of Athenian society, its aim is to comfort citizens who have suffered great losses and to encourage them to keep fighting. A regulatory document, such as Hammurabi’s Code, would be a more reliable source for students aiming to understand the structure of a pre-industrial society.
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