Ancient Athens: Athenian Democracy

Cleisthenes then introduced his own reforms for Athens. He gave more power to the Assembly of Athens and less power to the aristocrats. He then divided all of Attica into ten tribes, which were called phylai. Each tribe in turn was given three pieces of land, which each contained many little villages called demes. The demes all together would then participate in the government by voting for people to make up the Council.

“During the 40 annual meetings of the Ekklesia, any of the roughly 40,000 male citizens of Athens was allowed to appear and participate. That's a lot of people vying for floor time. In the U.S. this system has been improved upon with the implementation of a Congressional legislative body made up of elected senators and representatives from each state” (Classroom Synonym). Clearly in the U.S. it takes less people to make decisions then it did in Athens. The Council of Athens did not have elected leaders similar to how the United States has it today. People in the council were chosen by lottery. In America the President and his staff have to be elected. The President has executive power in the United States. In Athens, 500 men had the same power that one person has in the US. As for the Judicial branches Athens had hundreds of men on the jury and they finished court in one day. In the United States, there are 12 jury men and women and it is a very long

Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Some may say yes and some may say no. But the answer is yes. The reasons are these. “ Fear is our chief protection against this, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws.” (Doc. A) This was one of the many statements Thucydides gave during his speech for Pericles’s funeral. The quoted statement essentially meant that during Thucydides time (460 – 395 BCE) there were laws and government rules that had to be followed. Men, women, and even slaves obeyed the laws and government rules because they thought they made sense and had no other reason to disobey. In that case, they wouldn’t have the need to be angry at their neighbors if they were too loud. This document written by Aristotle is a great example

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens could be said to have been a democracy in theory yet not in practice, as can be proven through a variety of primary sources recounting Athenian political institutions and practices. Such primary sources that can demonstrate this include Herodotus’ History, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, and Demosthenes’ Oration Against Eubulides.

Athens had high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian were mostly criticized for being more democratic than a democracy. And that it wasn't okay back then. After Pericles death the Athenian Democracy was brutally interrupted by Revolutions toward the end of the Revolutionary War. For example, they had a huge debate towards everyone settling down

Although the Athenians didn't quite meet the correct standards of democracy, they did give an effort to try and have one. In Document A Pericle states that “Our constitution favors the many instead of the few. If we look to the laws, they give equal justice to all” (Doc A). The people in Athens did have equal rights but, what were the chances

Despite having a Limited Democracy, Athens enjoyed many freedoms. An example of these freedoms would be people voting, the Athenians could vote. Athens had a democracy with a very high citizen participation. Athens had a democracy where there was large amounts of participation in it. An example of this would be the Vase in Document 1, it shows multiple Athenian people that are working together on a project.

My first point is that the people of Athens held annual meets to vote people in and out of their government. “In other words, the Athenians not only voted people into office, but they had a regular procedure for voting one person per year out of office. “(Doc E) This was only done when they believed it be necessary. If they voted someone out of office, they were exiled from any political area. This also supports my second point.

their high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian was most criticized for being

People may say Athens was not a democracy because of the fact that only 12% of the population could vote. Although, if you look at the definition of democracy, it says, “all the eligible members of state.” In Athens, the eligible members of state were any citizens that were men. It may also be argued that because they had slaves,

The Gerousia was a body of older aged men of Sparta from noble families who were appointed because of their virtue by the Ecclesia (the Spartan Assembly) for life. The Gerousia formed aristocratic elite. Supposedly any male citizen could be considered for the role, if he was over age of sixty, but in practice, those chosen came from a small circle of wealthy aristocratic families. This council was composed of the two kings plus 28 Spartan citizens aged at least 60. The Gerousia prepared motions or “Rhetra” for the wider citizen assembly, to vote on. The Gerousia could also veto motions passed by the Apella and was consulted by the ephors in matters of interpretation of the law. Additionally, the Gerousia filled the role of a Supreme Court. It could try murder cases — and had the power to condemn, fine, or banish. It could even try the kings for any alleged crime. As a Supreme Court, it had the ultimate say in what was or was not lawful. In effect, it was the supreme institution in the Spartan constitution, and could override any decision by any other part in the Spartan political system.

After being repopulated, the people of Miletus restored the old constitution. They changed a few things like abolishing the associates with their jobs being taken over by other officials. They also started the business of religious matters again at Didyma at the temple of Apollo. They continued to divide the population into the six tribes. It became strong enough to play a role later in the fifth century in the struggle for Greece between Athens and Sparta. Athens had Miletus join into the Delian League, but they were still too weak to contribute partly due to the destruction of the city. Miletus also faced internal political conflict and Athens became involved in the situation. Athens supported the upper class to continue to rule rather than a democracy which is what Athens used to rule its city-state. However, this upper class of rulers started to take advantage of the workers causing more tension. “The oligarchs revolted from Athens and massacred their opponents. By 442 at the latest Athens put down the revolt and established a democratic government on the Athenian model.” Gs Pg 398 After they created some stability, they appointed a commission of five to revise and change the constitution of Miletus. The appointed commission of five followed the structure and order of the Athenian form of government. They had a council with superior magistrates called wardens. They also had assistant magistrates called colleagues. The Psalmist

The Milesian system was structured originally on six tribes, but when they changed to a more democratic system under Athenian influence they changed over to 12 tribes. It is highly probable that they submitted their candidates for offices from these tribes. In order to become a citizen one had to be enrolled in these tribes. Milesian territory was broken up into 5 or 7 demes or districts. “The earliest officials mentioned in decrees of Hellenistic Miletus are the synedroi, whose status is not clear. They have been considered as either a standing committee of the city council or as an ad hoc commission created to deal with specific problems.” cg p. 67 They worked with other city officials and institutions and were possibly responsible to the assembly. In the third century there were around 75 members, which was reduced down to 10 in the late second century. However, it is hard to know how frequent and the dates that the assembly met, but it is probable that the assembly met at least once a month. It is also probable that they held special sessions that dealt with matters prescribed by the law along with the other Greece cities. It was also likely that they held the most important

The two of the biggest things that makes Athens so iconic are the education and government. The boys would go to school at the age of seven while the girls were taught by their mothers. The education of Athens focused on philosophy, astronomy, law, math, and science. A few famous scientists and philosophers are from Athens such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It was so good that many people of different countries sent their sons to Athens. The government of Athens is the earliest form of democracy. All male citizens had the ability to vote at an Assembly. An Assembly is a place where debates about new laws and policies could take place. New laws and policies are created in a Council made up of 500 citizens, 50 from the 10 Athenian tribes.

The reforms of Cleisthenes established the basis for the Athenian democracy. All citizens enrolled in ten tribes and each tribe chose 50 members by lottery each year for a new council of 500 people. These 500 people had the responsibility to take care of foreign and financial affairs. There was also an assembly of all male citizens, and they had the final authority in passing laws through free and open debate. In Sparta there were two kings who led the army and ruled their city-state. There were five ephors elected each year and they were responsible for the education of the youth and the behavior of citizens. There was also a council of elders that consisted of two kings and 28 citizens over the age of 60. They decided on issues to present to the assembly who were also all male citizens. There was no debate on resolution to these issues, only voting.