Analyse The Role Of Democracy In Ancient Greece

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

democracy is a form of government in which people come together and make laws for the benefit of the country for example, here in the united states people have the right to vote, have equal rights, pursuit of happiness and practice in any religion of your choice. ancient athens did not have a true democracy. In ancient athens Women, free foreigners and slaves were excluded from voting, the government body could decide if you were a citizen or not. Also, women weren't allowed to vote unless they married a citizen. Therefor there constitution did not favor democracy.

Even though Athens was the birthplace of democracy Athens, itself, was not a democracy. The reason why they are not considered a democracy is because of the 240,235 people only 12% or 29,900 of the population were allowed to vote. Men were the only citizens who could vote (Document C). The Franchise was open to all the men who were citizens by birth only. Both parents had to be citizens as well. Women weren’t allowed to be part of the Franchise (Document B).

Classical Greek Era, one of the most advanced eras ahead of its time. However, what made the democracy that the Greeks established so significant to the Greece’s overall development? How did they do it? How did the Greek democracy last for long as it did? What factors caused the downfall of the infamous Greek democracy?

On account of Athens, the idea of a democracy, or as it was called then Demokratia, ensued. The idea of a rule of the people/eligible citizens that we now have today, in example America, was originated from this. This idea concocted by this ancient civilization, provides a sound foundation in which the current government called democracy in the world today.

The citizens of ancient Greek were oppressed and suffered under the strict monarchy; they had no input until a new form of government was born---the birth of democracy changed their life entirely. Democracy is defined as a system of government by all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. The concept of democracy is still frequently disputed today, and is tangled with many world affairs. Back in 510 BCE, soon after the notion of democracy was first born, the world witnessed the development and thriving of democracy in ancient Greece. Although it was not direct democracy in the beginning and had a limited number of people voting, it brought prosperity as well as harmony to the society for both citizens and the government.

The Ekklesia was the assembly in Athens. It consisted only of men, they were able to make laws. The ordinary citizen in Athens was allowed to voice their views on certain matters. This allowed them to engage in debates around the laws of Athens and was a very different set up to how things were done in Sparta. The minimum number needed for a meeting to be viewed as valid was 6000 members. If the members were absent from the meeting with no legitimate reason for their absence, then they would be fined severely for not attending. The Thetes (serfs), the Zeugitai (ordinary soldiers), the Hippeis (horsemen) and Pentakosiomedimnoi (500-bushel men) were all members of the Ekklesia and most were part of the Boule. The Thetes were the only ones that were not part of the Boule but were part of the Ekklesia.

Ancient Athens could be defined as a period of time roughly around 330 BC where democracy and its meaning and purpose were called into question. Democracy, otherwise known in Greek as demokratia, is defined per root as “rule by the people”. Struggling to find a fair and civil way to rule the government, many rules were called into question as to whether they were truly lawful and fair. In the end, the Athenian constitution was written in a way where the rich and privileged were favored over the poor despite morals and character. As will be further explained, the Athenian community of 330 BCE was not truly a democracy.

Due to the prosecution of the Chalcis decree, the power Athens held over the rest of the League was undoubtedly clear.

The rise of democracy in Athens started when a man named Solon overturned something that was named the Draconian law. Draconian law was mainly focused its punishment on debtors, and even forced them to become basically slaves, but with its annulment, the debts were gone and slaves were set free. Solon presented a board of 400 hand-picked proprietors, which introduced policy, but these policies could be prevented by the citizens. After Solon’s restructuring, the oppressor Pisistratus governed over the Athenians. While he did as he wanted, he managed to keep the peace between the three main groups of citizens under his rule. He was particularly supported by the farmers because his main focus was agricultural advancement. After this, Pisistratus’

About 500 BCE, the Greek city-states or poleis were still largely divided. They had a common language and culture, but they were very often rivals. Some years earlier, Athens implemented a socio-political innovation by which all free male citizens had equal rights regardless of their origin and fortune. They named it democracy. Before the time of democracy, government decision-making was in the hands of a few, often aristocratic and noble families. Democracy allowed all free citizens to be part of the important decisions of the polis. They could engage in the discussions held during deliberative assembly and tribunals, their voices could be heard everywhere and had the same value as any other voice. In this context, speech was king: being able

In contrast to our political systems today, the lifestyle of the Greeks were centered around the virtue of reason that allowed for the growth of the city state, especially during the Classical Age. As a result of the failing democratic system in Athens that led to its downfall, Plato believed that the highest virtue was the triumph of reason over emotion and spirit.(T) Before reason, the main virtues were focused on strength and bravery, since Greece’s climate and geography didn’t allow for many resources.(MS1) As trade rose, Greeks were exposed to new ideas that contradicted their beliefs in the gods, so they began to focus on philosophy and the system of democracy, which made them rational.(MS2) In a reaction to Athens’ democratic system,

The democracy in Ancient Greek civilization claims the distinction of developing the first democracy in a country. The word democracy, meaning “rule of the people,” comes from the Greek words demos, meaning “people,” and kratos, meaning “power.” Different types of governments that the Athens used are monarchy, aristocracy, and oligarchy. Athens was one of the largest and most powerful city in Greece. Citizens were allowed to make different types of decisions in Athens. Only the males in Athens were allowed to vote or help make the choices. The citizens

Democracy in Greece did slowly die, however one of the main hits Greek democracy took was from the rise of Macedonia (large Greek region) run by Philip, then his son Alexander (also known as Alexander the Great). Philip led his army against Athens and Thebes army, and won, which made Athens join the “League of Corinth”, which gave Philip power of Athens and it’s government. When Alexander began his rule, the Athenians didn’t fight back against the Macedonians (Alexanders army), which made them an easy government to keep rule over. Sparta tried to fight back around 330 BCE to keep what control they had left over Greece, but sadly they did not succeed at the battle of Megapolis. Since the Spartans and Athenians were not under their own control,

During the Golden Age in Greece, many things changed. Things that changed were the diversity of political views and the social doings of the Athenians and the organization of the Athenians economy. With the Golden Age, many groups worked together that wouldn’t normally interact. The biggest example of that is the relationship between Athenians and their democracy.