The Greengrocer Who Saved Democracy

Meet Gerys, a Bulgarian slave who sells fruit and veg in the marketplace of Ancient Athens. He’s been bought and sold, he’s done his time rowing warships for the Athenian navy but now he’s at the centre of the Greek world. Passing his stall, squeezing his olives and buying his wares are poets and philosophers, judges and generals. He hears the debates over the future of Athenian democracy, senses its peril and witnesses its downfall as the city is conquered by Sparta and a military junta imposed on its defeated people.

When the moment comes to rebel he’s one of the first in line to join the rag-tag army of democracy, march to the top of a hill in the port of Piraeus and face down the terrifying ranks of the Spartans and their Athenian anti-democratic allies.

Victory is won against the odds but what reward do Gerys and his family win for his bravery? Mary Beard enters the world of the Greek slave and asks what it takes to become a true citizen of Athens.

Producer: Alasdair Cross

Researcher: Anna Charalambou

Actor: Stavros Demetraki

Expert Contributors: Rebecca Sweetman, Elizavet Sioumpara and Vincent Azoulay

Special thanks to the British School at Athens and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture