Ancient Greek Oligarchies

The leaders who instigated democracy in Athens, Greece in the 6th and 5th century BCE created a functioning system of government that attempted to benefit its citizens. However, the system of democracy included weaknesses that didn’t support all people to the best of its ability and was overthrown in the end due to war. Several significant leaders were necessary in the commencement of Athenian democracy. These included Solon, Cleisthenes and Pericles. All three had heavy influence in the establishment of democracy, but it was Pericles who truly prospered it. Solon was an aristocratic, not a democratic, but he still believed in supporting the people. Cleisthenes began land reforms which made all of Attica connected as one. Pericles made Athens

There are several reasons why I conclude that Athens did not have a commonly viewed democracy. First, only men could vote according to the law or constitution. It was necessary for men to have both parents as citizens, furthermore men needed to be free born, or not slaves (Document B). Men

Women in Athens had no political rights whatsoever. Politics were entirely in the hands of free men. In fact, even slaves had more rights than women at this time. Women couldn’t inherit property, nor could they appear in court as jurors. Women didn’t have the opportunity to commit most crimes, as they were not allowed to participate in public life. Instead, they were expected to stay home and take care of the house.

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a democratic society: The City-State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the citizens of the city-state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens’s collapse during the Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government.

The Athenian government was a direct democracy, meaning the citizens of the city-state take absolute control over any vote. This was the plan for the government to control their people since the citizens

“[…] it is the poor which mans the fleet and has brought the state her power […] these have brought the state her power much rather than the…best-born and the elite […] it seems right that all should have a share in offices filled by lot or by election, and that any citizen who wishes should be allowed to speak […]” presented by Document B. This projects the idea that common men are in fact the backbone to society, rather than picking out the hereditarily wealthy of the people of Rome. As cited in Document E, the Athenian Assembly met forty times a year, all citizens were eligible to attend, and the united citizens chose their five-hundred officials by lot. The fact that there is a healthy amount of meetings per year, allows all of the citizens to be aware of government affairs by witnessing for themselves. The lottery further allowed a fair chance for all citizens to participate from the officials chosen by the Athenians, the Council of

In Document D, it states that every citizen was to write down the name of the person that they thought were most deserving of a high political power, and to govern the democracy. After being elected, each man could only be in power for ten years, meaning that Athens had a sense of organization, and they could prevent someone from getting too much power.

Women in classical Athens could not have had an extremely enjoyable experience, if we rely on literary sources concerning the roles of women within the Greek polis. The so-called Athenian democracy only benefited a fraction of the entire population. At least half of this population was female, yet women seem to have had very little influence and few official civic rights. `The position of women...is a subject which has provoked much controversy.'

Athens was a democracy, which means that the power is with the citizens. “Under this system, all male citizens had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena” (Ancient EU 1). This is important as Athens’ government didn’t just have a group of lousy old men lead their country like Sparta, they had a council of 500 people! One may think that the Athenian council is disorganized and a small group of people, like Sparta's oligarchy, would work a lot better as it would be more organized. This is false due to the fact these people will do things to benefit themselves, not for everyone in the way that the Athenian democracy will

Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always

When Athens first started, it was a Monarchy or ruled by a king. The king would rule Athens with the aristocrat’s money. When the aristocrats realized they were stronger together than the king they overthrew him. The aristocats soon corrupted the government by making the laws only to benefit the rich. Athenians kept making new types of governments to make everything fair and not corrupt, resulting in a Direct Democracy (Everyone votes on everything).

The Modern World was shaped by the many civilizations that came before the ones that exist today. These societies influenced the way we run our societies today. Two of the civilizations that contributed the most to us and the rest of the world are the Ancient Greeks, and the Ancient Romans. These two peoples brought to the world their own customs and skills. The Greeks brought us a revolutionary form of government never thought of before them, but is now taken for granted today.

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.

Prior to the Peloponnesian War, Athens was a model democratic society. The war occurred between Athens and the Peloponnesian League and lasted for twenty-seven years. Unfortunately for Athens, the empire emerged from the war in shambles. The war marked an extreme shift in power. Before the war, Athens was one of the most powerful empires in the world.

Greek government lays the foundation for many different types of government we see today. Across the world, people are still using systems that the Greeks used over 2000 years ago. Starting as early 2000 BCE, and spanning four types of government systems, Greek government was always trying answer one question: who should rule and how.