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This thesis seeks to explore the important and numerous ways in which British political commentators engaged with fifth-century Be Athenian history, with particular reference to the rise and fall of Athenian sea power and maritime empire, in the eighteenth century. It argues that Athens provided British commentators with historical material in debates over the nature of maritime empire, the rights of colonists, the influence of luxury on imperial powers, the role of the individual in a free constitution, the causes of war, and the spread of factionalism and violence. This material was, at the same time, interpreted in the light of political concerns, while helping to shape the nature of various contemporary debates. The idea that the rise, decline, and fall of the fifth-century Athenian Empire and democracy was common intellectual currency and seen as politically useful is contentious. Edward Andrew argued that 'Athens definitely was not a model' for eighteenth-century thinkers, while J . T. Roberts sees Athens as an anti-democratic model. That is to sayan example of a constitution to be avoided. My thesis will add nuance to these accounts by considering the reception of various facets of Athenian history in total rather than individually. Over the coming chapters we will see how it is misleading to separate the history of the empire, the role of luxury, debates over Pericles, and the causes and violence of the Peloponnesian War. All these different strands together form a compelling case, I argue, for the importance of Athens in eighteenth-century British thought. This thesis will further point to the influence of readings of Thucydides, Plutarch, Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristotle, and others on the reception of Athenian history. The classical texts provided the raw material from which ideas of Athenian history were formed. This thesis will point to various traditions of reading these texts that were current in the eighteenth century, which provided material in contemporary political debates. Furthermore, I will explore ways in which readings of these texts problematised received wisdom. For example,. around the time of the American Revolution, Thucydides' depiction of the descent of the Athenian Empire into tyranny provided troubling material when compared with the perceived liberty of the British Empire.

The loss of Minorca at the beginning oft he Seven Years' War created a well documented political crisis culminating in the arrest, trial , and execution of Admiral John Byng. Most of the historiography on this extraordinary event remains, however, mired in political, maritime, and military histories. This dissertation deviates from that trend. If Byng's execution is treated as a deviant case (which it most certainly was) then this remarkable episode can reveal much about several other aspects of eighteenth-century British society that has hithel10 remained below the surface. Thus, by way of microhistory, the research presented here looks past the political and military and attempts, instead, to connect Byng to the several other aspects of cultural Britain that allowed his execution to go forward . Communicative cultures remained potent: ballads and sermons are investigated alongside newspapers and pamphlets not only as conduits of information (or misinformation) but in gauging the potency of the messaging. This dissel1ation also takes an anthropological turn to add to the historical discourse of the eighteenth-century crowd. Thus, what develops is an argument put forward which takes into account individual behaviors as paJ1 of a mob scene whether processional or riotous. The Byng affair occurred during a precipitous rise in food prices. Problems of shortages exacerbated a national mood whereby both food riots and Byng protests occurred concurrently. This deviant case study affords an 0ppOJ1unity to compare various types of mob expressions: food riots, protests against the admiral, but also mob violence against impressment gangs as the nation readied for war. Finally, the dissertation addresses manning issues. Sickness pervaded the navy since impressments began in 1755. Economic changes, long in the making, likely contributed to this, explaining why Byng's fleet fell short of over 700 men as he made his way to the Mediterranean.