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Constitutions (158 states), including the Constitution of the Athenians

Known · Probablein Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class

◇ Doubted: the attribution is uncertain. The Athenian Constitution was probably written by a pupil under Aristotle's direction.

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I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Laws

Conjecturedvery likely class

Aristotle and his school

384–322 BCE. Founder of the Peripatetic school, whose way of collecting books and organising research is the Mouseion's intellectual model. Strabo says he taught the kings of Egypt how to arrange a library, which can only mean through his pupils.

Constitutions (158 states), including the Constitution of the Athenians

Opening words not preserved.

Length: not counted

◇ Doubted: the attribution is uncertain. The Athenian Constitution was probably written by a pupil under Aristotle's direction.

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives in fragments

Lost except the Athenian Constitution, recovered from a papyrus bought in Egypt and published by Kenyon in 1891.

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Probable

Probably held in the Library.

In the cupboard: no source names the Alexandrian copy, but its scholars' use of it makes one very likely.

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III · In the show

The show has not yet spoken of this work.

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references (2)
  • Diogenes Laertius 5.27 (catalogue of Aristotle's works)
  • P.Lond. Lit. 108
Modern scholarship
  • P. J. Rhodes, A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

CONSTITUTIONS (158 STATES), INCLUDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ATHENIANS

Beside it in the cupboard