What were the main features of Athenian democracy according to Pericles? While there seems to have also been a type of citizen assembly (presumably of the hoplite class), the archons and the body of the Areopagus ran the state and the mass of people had no say in government at all before these reforms. Both of these occurred in the Athenian government, and historians use this as proof that it could not have been a truly democratic organization. Direct Democracy . Furthermore, they used the income from empire to fund payment for officeholding. An unknown proportion of citizens were also subject to disenfranchisement (atimia), excluding some of them permanently and others temporarily (depending on the type). This principle extended down to the secretaries and undersecretaries who served as assistants to magistrates such as the archons. To the Athenians, it seems what had to be guarded against was not incompetence but any tendency to use the office as a way of accumulating ongoing power.[61]. While wars today are fought in the name of democracy as if democracy were a moral ideal as well as an easily identifiable government style, it is not and never has been that black and white. [14] An example of this was that, in 307, in order to curry favour with Macedonia and Egypt, three new tribes were created, two in honour of the Macedonian king and his son, and the other in honour of the Egyptian king. This was generally done as a reward for some service to the state. [19], The non-citizen component of the population was made up of resident foreigners (metics) and slaves, with the latter perhaps somewhat more numerous. Lets call it a work in progress. Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. One downside to this change was that the new democracy was less capable of responding quickly in times where quick, decisive action was needed. For the first time in recorded history, citizens had a say in what laws were to govern them . The competition of elite performers before non-elite adjudicators resulted in a pro-war culture, which encouraged Athenians in increasing numbers to join the armed forces and to vote for war. Jurors were required to be under oath, which was not required for attendance at the assembly. Equality in voting. It would be misleading to say that the tradition of Athenian democracy was an important part of the 18th-century revolutionaries' intellectual background. In this: A new law might be proposed by any citizen. The victorious Roman general, Publius Cornelius Sulla, left the Athenians their lives and did not sell them into slavery; he also restored the previous government, in 86 BC. By and large, the power exercised by these officials was routine administration and quite limited. Athenian democracy: that it was economically parasitic on the empire and on slavery. The allotment system was another important trait of the Athenian democracy. This writer (also called pseudo-Xenophon) produced several comments critical of democracy, such as:[69], Aristotle also wrote about what he considered to be a better form of government than democracy. Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or through freely elected representatives. In the 5th century BCE, the Athenian democracy was made up of a set of assemblies and courts staffed by people with very short terms (some as short s a day)—over one-third of all citizens over the age of 18 served at least one year-long term over the course of their lives. ), It is unknown whether the word "democracy" was in existence when systems that came to be called democratic were first instituted. Several German philosophers and poets took delight in what they saw as the fullness of life in ancient Athens, and not long afterwards "English liberals put forward a new argument in favor of the Athenians". And what is more, the actual history of Athens in the period of its democratic government is marked by numerous failures, mistakes, and misdeeds—most infamously, the execution of Socrates—that would seem to discredit the ubiquitous modern idea that democracy leads to good government. The age limit of 30 or older, the same as that for office holders but ten years older than that required for participation in the assembly, gave the courts a certain standing in relation to the assembly. All this was offset by Athenian democracy's rigorous debating of war, which reduced the risks of Athenian cultural militarism. STUDY. Hist. Henceforth, laws were made not in the assembly, but by special panels of citizens drawn from the annual jury pool of 6,000. Democracy, literally, rule by the people.The term is derived from the Greek dēmokratiā, which was coined from dēmos (“people”) and kratos (“rule”) in the middle of the 5th century bce to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens. Military service or simple distance prevented the exercise of citizenship. Solon (in 594 BC), Cleisthenes (in 508/7 BC), and Ephialtes (in 462 BC) contributed to the development of Athenian democracy. The first conceptual articulation of the term is generally accepted to be c. 470 BC with Aeschylus' The Suppliants (l. 604) with the line sung by the Chorus: dēmou kratousa cheir (δήμου κρατούσα χειρ). Nevertheless, in one sense the condemnation of Socrates was disastrous for the reputation of the Athenian democracy, because it helped decisively to form one of democracy's - … "[C]omparisons with Athens will continue to be made as long as societies keep striving to realize democracy under modern conditions and their successes and failures are discussed. [37], Athens had an elaborate legal system centered on full citizen rights (see atimia). By being inclusive, opponents to the system become naturally included within the democratic framework, meaning democracy itself will generate few opponents, despite its flaws. [41] Some convictions triggered an automatic penalty, but where this was not the case the two litigants each proposed a penalty for the convicted defendant and the jury chose between them in a further vote. Gravity. [48][49][50] But the sense history of the word does not support this interpretation. Sch. Around 338 BC the orator Hyperides (fragment 13) claimed that there were 150,000 slaves in Attica, but this figure is probably no more than an impression: slaves outnumbered those of citizen stock but did not swamp them. The proposal would be considered by the Council, and would be placed on the agenda of the Assembly in the form of a motion. Every male citizen over 18 had to be registered in his deme. The assembly meetings did not occur at fixed intervals, as they had to avoid clashing with the annual festivals that followed the lunar calendar. Athenian Democracy. This allowed Athens to practice the forms of democracy, though Rome ensured that the constitution strengthened the city's aristocracy. In 416 BC, the graphē paranómōn ('indictment against measures contrary to the laws') was introduced. He argued that only by giving every citizen the vote would people ensure that the state would be run in the general interest. Although citizenship was determined by birth in the city-state, interchangeable citizenship treaties existed whereby citizens of one city-state could be considered citizens of another. [30] After the restoration of the democracy in 403 BC, pay for assembly attendance was introduced. The Athenian definition of “citizens” was also different from modern … PLAY. The shadow of the old constitution lingered on and Archons and Areopagus survived the fall of the Roman Empire. The allotment of an individual was based on citizenship, rather than merit or any form of personal popularity which could be bought. [16], After Rome became an Empire under Augustus, the nominal independence of Athens dissolved and its government converged to the normal type for a Roman municipality, with a Senate of decuriones. Athenian democracy was unique among political systems of the ancient world which were all monarchies where a king or another single ruler had supreme power over everybody else or shared it with a few selected aristocrats. [23] Although the legislation was not retrospective, five years later, when a free gift of grain had arrived from the Egyptian king to be distributed among all citizens, many "illegitimate" citizens were removed from the registers. The authority exercised by the courts had the same basis as that of the assembly: both were regarded as expressing the direct will of the people. [18] Athenian citizens had to be descended from citizens; after the reforms of Pericles and Cimon in 450 BC, only those descended from two Athenian parents could claim citizenship. The Assembly, at least in Athens, was composed of 500 members, chosen by lot from the various “tribes” or clans in Athens. However, when Rome fought Macedonia in 200, the Athenians abolished the first two new tribes and created a twelfth tribe in honour of the Pergamene king. ParmidaNazarloo. However, there are also several significant differences between those two systems. Democracy in Ancient Greece: We think of democracy as a modern form of government, but in reality, it goes back to ancient times. Pericles, according to Thucydides, characterized the Athenians as being very well-informed on politics: We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all. Democracy may not be the best form of government, but it is the best one that we know of. Pericles describes Athenian democracy as a system of government where men advance on merit rather than on class or wealth. They had public offcials and so does most of the countries today, for example the president. In 561 BC, the nascent democracy was overthrown by the tyrant Peisistratos but was reinstated after the expulsion of his son, Hippias, in 510. Though there might be blocs of opinion, sometimes enduring, on important matters, there were no political parties and likewise no government or opposition (as in the Westminster system). One historian, for example, estimates that the citizenry of Alexandria in Egypt was a very small percentage given that the indigenous Egyptian population was barred from citizenship. The Greek idea of democracy was different from present-day democracy because, in Athens, all adult citizens were required to take an active part in the government. classes and the notion that poverty couldn’t hold you down. Citizens active as officeholders served in a quite different capacity from when they voted in the assembly or served as jurors. XI (I953) 1-26. Decisions were made by voting without any time set aside for deliberation. By the mid-4th century, however, the assembly's judicial functions were largely curtailed, though it always kept a role in the initiation of various kinds of political trial. Unprecedented, flawed, relevant to our time, and captivating in its own right, the story of Athenian Democracy: An Experiment for the Ages explores … abbydarnold. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the Athenian model, but none are as well documented as Athens' democracy. Jurors did talk informally amongst themselves during the voting procedure and juries could be rowdy, shouting out their disapproval or disbelief of things said by the litigants. Start studying Characteristics of Athenian Democracy. Direct democracy (Athenian): which refers to the system of government in which all the citizens gather at a particular venue for the purpose of governing and administering the state. In 621 BC, Draco replaced the prevailing system of oral law by a written code to be enforced only by a court of law. He was a Greek statesman and gave his speech during a funeral to honor those who had lost their lives. Even though the majority have the final decision, minority views should be tolerated. (In present-day use, the term "demarchy" has acquired a new meaning. Generals were elected not only because their role required expert knowledge, but also because they needed to be people with experience and contacts in the wider Greek world where wars were fought. [64], Similarly, Plato and Aristotle criticized democratic rule as the numerically preponderant poor tyrannizing the rich. Thus, the Founding Fathers of the United States who met in Philadelphia in 1787 did not set up a Council of the Areopagos, but a Senate, that, eventually, met on the Capitol. The crafting of the U.S. Constitution, for example – though owing its greatest inspiration to English freedoms dating to Magna Carta, was heavily influenced by both Greek and Roman historical models. In the 5th century BC, there were 10 fixed assembly meetings per year, one in each of the ten state months, with other meetings called as needed. If another citizen initiator chose, a public figure could be called to account for their actions and punished. From the time of Hadrian, an imperial curator superintended the finances. Starting in 355 BC, political trials were no longer held in the assembly, but only in a court. Bertoch, MJ., The Greeks had a jury for it. Sometimes, mixed constitutions evolved with democratic elements, but "it definitely did not mean self-rule by citizens".[76]. [56] The Areopagus kept its power as 'Guardian of the Laws', which meant that it could veto actions it deemed unconstitutional, however, this worked in practice. According to Samons: The modern desire to look to Athens for lessons or encouragement for modern thought, government, or society must confront this strange paradox: the people that gave rise to and practiced ancient democracy left us almost nothing but criticism of this form of regime (on a philosophical or theoretical level). Write. One thing must be said about Athenian democracy and that is that it was a full time job Goodykoontz writes that, “…the references to ancient history by the advocates of constitutional change were intended to show that the early confederacies had often failed because of faulty organization; and that they had been in more danger from the insubordination of their own members than from the tyranny of rulers.”. Another group, on the other hand, considers that, since many Athenians were not allowed to participate in its government, Athenian democracy was not a democracy at all. All fifty members of the prytaneis on duty were housed and fed in the tholos of the Prytaneion, a building adjacent to the bouleuterion, where the boule met. Democracy - Democracy - Features of ideal democracy: At a minimum, an ideal democracy would have the following features: Effective participation. However, by the 4th century, citizenship was given only to individuals and by a special vote with a quorum of 6000. Anything higher had to go before a court. These are the assembly (in some cases with a quorum of 6000), the council of 500 (boule), and the courts (a minimum of 200 people, on some occasions up to 6,000). Some characteristics of Athenian democracy included having a constitution with set laws. [51][52], Although, voters under Athenian democracy were allowed the same opportunity to voice their opinion and to sway the discussion, they were not always successful, and, often, the minority was forced to vote in favor of a motion that they did not agree with. Characteristics of Athenian Democracy. The only exception was the boule or council of 500. Additional meetings might still be called, especially as up until 355 BC there were still political trials that were conducted in the assembly, rather than in court. They were both simply passed by the assembly. In the 5th century, there were no procedural differences between an executive decree and a law. Athenian democracy was established in 508-7 B.C. However, any member could demand that officials issue a recount. The other citizens of Athens, like women and slaves, do not have any rights. and Wagner, P., "Ostracism: selection and de-selection in ancient Greece", https://books.google.com/books?id=z9garz74CJ0C&dq=athens+kagan&q=%22Plato+and+Aristotle+must%22#v=snippet&q=%22Plato%20and%20Aristotle%20must%22&f=false, Ancient History Encyclopedia – Athenian Democracy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Athenian_democracy&oldid=994373055, 1st-century BC disestablishments in Greece, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, In 406 BC, after years of defeats in the wake of the annihilation of their vast invasion force in Sicily, the Athenians at last won a naval victory at. Democracy, however, was found in other areas as well and after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization, it became the norm for both the liberated cities in Asia Minor as well as new cities built in conjunction with Greek occupation. Weaknesses of the Athenian democracy include: The Athenian form of democracy was a contradiction in the sense that it did not allow participation of a large section of the public, namely, women and slaves. Spell. Gravity. PLAY. Given the exclusive and ancestral concept of citizenship held by Greek city-states, a relatively large portion of the population took part in the government of Athens and of other radical democracies like it, compared to oligarchies and aristocracies. In a public suit the litigants each had three hours to speak, much less in private suits (though here it was in proportion to the amount of money at stake). of Class. This cannot be adequately explained by simply referring to the immature ‘objective’ conditions, the low development of productive forces and so on—important as may be—because the same objective conditions prevailed at that time in many other places all over the Mediterranean, let alone the rest of Greece, but democracy flourished only in Athens” . Historian A. H. M. Jones writes that, ideally, the council was designed to, “accurately reflect the general sentiments of the people.” [1] Members of the council usually reflected the wealthier classes who saw political leadership as a civic obligation. No office appointed by lot could be held twice by the same individual. According to Pericles, what were the characteristics of Athenian Democracy? According to Jones, by the time of Alexander’s death, “democracy was the normal constitution of every city.”. What did democracy really mean in Athens? Like our modern democracy, the Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to a concentration and abuse of power by the rulers. SH website uses cookies to improve user experience. It is based on ensuring the common welfare and respecting individual rights. While citizens voting in the assembly were free of review or punishment, those same citizens when holding an office served the people and could be punished very severely. onwards. In a democracy, “class considerations [are not] allowed to … [11] After a year, pro-democracy elements regained control, and democratic forms persisted until the Macedonian army of Phillip II conquered Athens in 338 BC. The entire complex system was designed to curb and limit the powers of executives and magistrates so prevalent in the times before the advent of democracy. In all, the Macedonian War was the immediat e cause which led Athenian democracy to the end. Therefore, as people's ideas and opinions evolve, so will the characteristics of a democracy. 3. A chairman for each tribe was chosen by lot each day, who was required to stay in the tholos for the next 24 hours, presiding over meetings of the Boule and Assembly. Their chairman or designated leader was also chosen by lot and only served for the one designated meeting. Although democracy predated Athenian imperialism by over thirty years, they are sometimes associated with each other. In a democracy, “class considerations [are not] allowed to interfere with merit” – any man capable enough to rule is allowed to do so. that authority as implemented by the people in the Assembly has power. If a mistake had been made, from the assembly's viewpoint it could only be because it had been misled.[27]. These were known as the nomothetai (νομοθέται, 'the lawmakers'). This eliminated foreign residents, aliens, even if they had lived in the city-state for many years. The council’s function was to limit the Assembly’s power by proposing legislation and, in the later centuries, vetoing measures coming out of the Assembly. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. This may have had some role in building a consensus. It Is also through elections that peaceful change of government is effected 2. Neither was compulsory; individuals had to nominate themselves for both selection methods. Democracy in Ancient Greece: We think of democracy as a modern form of government, but in reality, it goes back to ancient times. Instead, it became the only possible political system in an egalitarian society. In Aristotle's works, this is categorized as the difference between 'arithmetic' and 'geometric' (i.e. At times the imperialist democracy acted with extreme brutality, as in the decision to execute the entire male population of Melos and sell off its women and children simply for refusing to become subjects of Athens. By continuing to use the portal, you agree to receive cookies. [57], Ephialtes, and later Pericles, stripped the Areopagus of its role in supervising and controlling the other institutions, dramatically reducing its power. A new version of democracy was established in 403 BC, but it can be linked with both earlier and subsequent reforms (graphē paranómōn 416 BC; end of assembly trials 355 BC). This was almost inevitable since, with the notable exception of the generals (strategoi), each office had restrictive term limits. Popular consultation: A democrat… In the 5th century, public slaves forming a cordon with a red-stained rope herded citizens from the agora into the assembly meeting place (Pnyx), with a fine being imposed on those who got the red on their clothes. Under this, anything passed or proposed by the assembly could be put on hold for review before a jury – which might annul it and perhaps punish the proposer as well. [38], Essentially there were two grades of a suit, a smaller kind known as dike (δίκη) or private suit, and a larger kind known as graphe or public suit. This is the position set out by the anti-democratic pamphlet known whose anonymous author is often called the Old Oligarch. Among publications, I owe most to A. W. Gomme, Historical Com-mentary on Thucydides, Vol. The oligarchy endured for only four months before it was replaced by a more democratic government. [15], Under Roman rule, the archons ranked as the highest officials. Athenian society was a patriarchy; men held all rights and advantages, such as access to education and power. A case can be made that discriminatory lines came to be drawn more sharply under Athenian democracy than before or elsewhere, in particular in relation to women and slaves, as well as in the line between citizens and non-citizens. Cleisthenes issued reforms in 508 and 507 BC that undermined the domination of the aristocratic families and connected every Athenian to the city's rule. Yet after the demise of Athenian democracy few looked upon it as a good form of government. Not every democracy is alike, as culture and society influence people's democratic ideals; however, the fundamental principles remain consistent in every form of democracy, and true democracies share essential characteristics. Rather than any citizen partaking with an equal share in the rule, he thought that those who were more virtuous should have greater power in governance.[70]. 4.1292a4ff., 1298a28ff., , 6.1319blff.) In the 5th century BC, there is often a record of the assembly sitting as a court of judgment itself for trials of political importance and it is not a coincidence that 6,000 is the number both for the full quorum for the assembly and for the annual pool from which jurors were picked for particular trials. In Athenian democracy the people were to choose every single law to be passed. classes and the notion that poverty couldn’t hold you down. In particular, those chosen by lot were citizens acting without particular expertise. Ancient forms of democracy, though limited in some respects, were predicated on the belief that citizens had the right and the intellectual ability to make sound decisions affecting their communities. Since the Areopagus was made up of ex-archons, this would eventually mean the weakening of the hold of the nobles there as well. This approximately translates as the "people's hand of power", and in the context of the play it acts as a counterpoint to the inclination of the votes cast by the people, i.e. There were no lawyers as such; litigants acted solely in their capacity as citizens. [58] In addition, there were some limitations on who could hold office. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Increasingly, responsibility was shifted from the assembly to the courts, with laws being made by jurors and all assembly decisions becoming reviewable by courts. It could also be granted by the assembly and was sometimes given to large groups (e.g. Approximately 1100 citizens (including the members of the council of 500) held office each year. Cartledge, P, Garnsey, P. and Gruen, ES., agathe.gr: The Unenfranchised II – Slaves and Resident Aliens. Around 460 BC an individual is known with the name of Democrates,[2] a name possibly coined as a gesture of democratic loyalty; the name can also be found in Aeolian Temnus. However, beginning in 403 BC, they were set sharply apart. After his death, Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolutions towards the end of the Peloponnesian War. If the Assembly voted in favor of the proposed change, the proposal would be referred for further consideration by a group of citizens called nomothetai (literally "establishers of the law").[18]. "(Democracy Building 2012) The democracy in Athens represents the events leading up to modern day democracies. Unlike a parliament, the assembly's members were not elected, but attended by right when they chose. What are the Unique Traits of Athenian Democracy? appears at many points from his preliminary classification of constitutions (3.1279a21ff.) The values of freedom of equality include non-citizens more than it should. What were the characteristics of Athenian democracy? However it did not last long and the [35], The boule also served as an executive committee for the assembly, and oversaw the activities of certain other magistrates. By so strongly validating one role, that of the male citizen, it has been argued that democracy compromised the status of those who did not share it. [10], In the wake of Athens's disastrous defeat in the Sicilian campaign in 413 BC, a group of citizens took steps to limit the radical democracy they thought was leading the city to ruin. If they wanted raise taxes, build a navy, or to fight the Spartans, the people would decide. Learn. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. Each of Cleisthenes's 10 tribes provided 50 councilors who were at least 30 years old. For instance, the system of nomothesia was introduced. Dinsmoor Jr., and appears in Mabel Lang, Socrates in the Agora (Am. The longest-lasting democratic leader was Pericles. Journ. In the play The Eumenides, performed in 458, Aeschylus, himself a noble, portrays the Areopagus as a court established by Athena herself, an apparent attempt to preserve the dignity of the Areopagus in the face of its disempowerment.[10]. Powerful to act immorally and outside their own best interest Organised opposition allowed. 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