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
In doc A paragraph two, I think that The Ancient Athens Democracy is democratic because it claims in the document that the Athens leader clearly respects his soldiers. This is noticed because he made a speech at a funeral for all of them that had died in the first year against Sparta’s soldiers.The leader did this to respectfully show his appreciation about how they fight for their democracy.
Athens was a Democracy because, sense they created Democracy then it is what they want it to be. For example, if you created the word “Welcome” and that word meant nothing in that point in time, then wouldn't you be able to use that word anyway you want and no one could argue it isn’t what you want to be. So if Athens created Democracy wouldn’t it be what they wanted it to be. I read in Document D all male landowner citizens come together in a small group and vote over future laws.
Ancient Athens prided itself upon being a democratic society, but was it really? It's true that it was ruled by the people, however only a small percentage of people. Document C states that only 12 percent of people actually vote. And who are those 12 percent? The 12 percent of the whole population that voted was men whose parents were both citizens of the city (see Document B). Slaves, women, and resident foreigners were barred from voting.
their high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian was most criticized for being
The Athenians had good citizenship because when people were granted citizenship they had a say in the government. Unlike in the Roman Republic when citizens were only elected, ambassadors had a say and most of the time the ambassadors came from wealthy Roman families. This action showed discrimination of wealth against the Roman citizens, meanwhile the Athenians had the freedom of speech and could participate in government actions. One example is taken from Document B, which shares that the Athenian government was fulfilled by “Lottery or by-election and that any citizen who wishes should be allowed to speak” in the Athenian government. What is important to notice is how the government was chosen by lottery.
In my opinion Athens Life was not truly democratic for many reasons. For my first source I am going to use document c for evidence on my performance task. I would consider this type of government to be more of an oligarchy with just a few ruling a whole civilization out of 240,000. My first piece of evidence from (Doc C Paragraph Two Line 5), it states “therefore by our modern standards it is more of an oligarchy,” not a democracy.” This evidence supports my answer because it shows that they did invent democracy but it wasn’t truly a democracy because only the free males could rule or
I believe that Athens truly was a democracy. There are pieces of evidence and proof supporting that Athens ran on a Democratic Government.
Democracy is a “Government by the people”, Democracy was a central part of Athenian society and everyday life. The Athenian government held Ekklesia or assembly where citizens could go to vote on laws, issues and practically everything affecting Athenian life. They also had The Boule or council and the Dikastiria or the courts that helped make decisions and enforce laws. Through their actions the Athenians established a very early democracy.
What is democracy? Historians have, for a long time, kept this question in mind as they studied the methods and laws of the Ancient Athenians. After studying the given evidence it can be determined that Ancient Athens was not truly democratic.
Democracy. A democracy is a government which all the people of the state are involved in making decisions, such as voting for representatives. So was there a democracy that was set by the Athens? Or was it an oligarchy that represents how everyone is supposed to live. Although many say the athens lived a democratic life, the evidence says it itself, they didn’t.
Athens was Democraticless Democracy can be defined as the power of the people. For example, America is a democracy. Athens claimed to be a democracy. Based on recorded speeches and the Athenian Constitution they did not favor the people. In some ways they did, but there is credible evidence showing Athens was not a democracy. There are statistics, facts, and examples. For instance, in a speech by Aristotle, he states, the citizens had to vote a new citizen. Voting is unjust based on citizens unfair judgments. If the potential citizen is declined citizenship, he must have a trail. If the citizen loses, he is then sold as an Athenian slave. Both of those laws do not favor the people. It is very easy for current citizens to mistreat the system.
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,
A democracy is a type of government in which each eligible member of a state can vote. But this was not the case in the Athenian way of democracy, this is because rights were only given to adult male citizens making it was very limited for Athens population. Here are the reasons as to why the Athenian way of democracy was not truly a real democracy.
Democracy is a government in which it is ruled by the eligible people of its society. Three men Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenis had a part in introducing democracy to Athenian society. Draco devised a legal code that was based on the idea that rich and poor Athenians were all equal under the law. Not long after, Solon laid the foundation for democracy by dividing the Athenian citizens into four groups based on wealth. Cleisthenes broke the power of the nobility by arranging Athenian citizens into ten groups based on where they lived rather than wealth; he allowed all citizens to propose laws so they could go up for debate and passage; he also assembled the Council of 500.
Ancient Greece was famous for its art and ideas. Greek people were very creative in great epics, history, dramas, philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicines. The ancient Greece was covered with mountains, rocky hills, and narrow valleys. Greek later became educated about trading with the Mediterranean. Modern Democracy is more concerned about peace, division of power and providing equal rights of every citizen of a country however, in the ancient Greece was involved with war among the state, misuse of political power, discriminate slaves and poor farmers.