Voting was usually by show of hands (χειροτονία, kheirotonia, 'arm stretching') with officials judging the outcome by sight. Term: Athens' Government Definition: Only in Athens, and only for a short time, "rule by many" meant that all citizens had to be willing to take an active part in government. Democracy in Greece could be described as the rule of the people by the people. [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. Athenian democracy is often described as the first known democracy in the world. The ancient city of Athens, Greece, had a democratic government. Officials and leaders were elected and all citizens had a say. 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. Most people today think of democracy as an inherently good thing. As the system evolved, the last function was shifted to the law courts. Unlike Athens, the US has representatives from the House of Representatives for each state, to speak for them, whereas Athens government and legislative bodies form together and the people speak to them, and they then resolve the issues at hand. Every male citizen over 18 had to be registered in his deme. In Athens this ruler was called a Tyrant. https://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Government/. The percentage of the population that actually participated in the government was 10% to 20% of the total number of inhabitants, but this varied from the fifth to the fourth century BC. Jurors were required to be under oath, which was not required for attendance at the assembly. This feeling was especially evidenced in the demonizing of the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes, the tyrants par excellence. Government and Politics of Ancient Athens. Sometimes, mixed constitutions evolved with democratic elements, but "it definitely did not mean self-rule by citizens".[78]. Payment for jurors was introduced around 462 BC and is ascribed to Pericles, a feature described by Aristotle as fundamental to radical democracy (Politics 1294a37). [37], Athens had an elaborate legal system centered on full citizen rights (see atimia). According to tradition the last Attic king was Codrus, who was killed in the … Two examples demonstrate this: While Plato blamed democracy for killing Socrates, his criticisms of the rule of the demos were much more extensive. [3], Athens was never the only polis in Ancient Greece that instituted a democratic regime. Democratic regimes governed until Athens surrendered to Sparta in 404 BC, when the government was placed in the hands of the so-called Thirty Tyrants, who were pro-Spartan oligarchs. Officials and leaders were elected and all citizens had a say. 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. For the Greeks (or more particularly the Athenians) any system which excluded power from the whole citizen-body and was not a tyranny or monarchy was described as an oligarchy. [81], Size and make-up of the Athenian population, Shifting balance between assembly and courts. A member had to be approved by his deme, each of which would have an incentive to select those with experience in local politics and the greatest likelihood at effective participation in government. [28] For a small category of votes, a quorum of 6,000 was required, principally grants of citizenship, and here small coloured stones were used, white for yes and black for no. By blurring the distinction between the natural and political world, democracy leads the powerful to act immorally and outside their own best interest. Thayer's Greek Lexicon. Similar in function to the boulē was the council of elders (selected men over 60), the gerousia, of Sparta, which also had the two Spartan kings as members and had certain legal powers. 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” . In each of the ten "main meetings" (kuriai ekklesiai) a year, the question was explicitly raised in the assembly agenda: were the office holders carrying out their duties correctly? Bertoch, MJ., The Greeks had a jury for it. In a group, one person is more likely to know the right way to do things and those that do not may learn from those that do. Democracy was suppressed by the Macedonians in 322 BC. In Athens this ruler was called a Tyrant. [61], The representativeness of the Athenian offices (councils, magistrates and juries) selected by lot was mathematically examined by Andranik Tangian, who confirmed the validity of this method of appointment, as well as the ineffectiveness of democracy during times of political instability.[62][63]. See information on boards, commissions, and committees. New York, This page was last edited on 14 January 2021, at 00:02. athens had an alliance system that gave all members a voice in the government, while the united states has a democratic system that elects officials to make decisions. Democracy - A government ruled by the people, or assembly. 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]. However, there were officials, such as the nine archons, who while seemingly a board carried out very different functions from each other. Unlike a parliament, the assembly's members were not elected, but attended by right when they chose. If you're one of those people, it's remove that silly notion from your brain. 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. 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). Cleisthenes formally identified free inhabitants of Attica as citizens of Athens, which gave them power and a role in a sense of civic solidarity. One reason that financial officials were elected was that any money embezzled could be recovered from their estates; election in general strongly favoured the rich, but in this case, wealth was virtually a prerequisite. These were known as the nomothetai (νομοθέται, 'the lawmakers'). A democratic Athens with an imperial policy will spread the desire for democracy outside of the polis. Later, and until the end of World War Il, democracy became dissociated from its ancient frame of reference. [58] In addition, there were some limitations on who could hold office. Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part,[26] and it was a duty to do so. Athenion allied with Mithridates of Pontus and went to war with Rome; he was killed during the war and was replaced by Aristion. [18] This excluded a majority of the population: slaves, freed slaves, children, women and metics (foreign residents in Athens). These were probably elected by the assembly of Sparta and they held office for only one year. 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. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. 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. Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion, which was the provisional capital from 1829. The archons made decisions regarding Athens, and then submitted these decisions to the Areopagus for approval or denial. 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. Although democracy predated Athenian imperialism by over thirty years, they are sometimes associated with each other. In the mid-5th century the number of adult male citizens was perhaps as high as 60,000, but this number fell precipitously during the Peloponnesian War. The assembly of Athens met at least once a month, perhaps two or three times, on the Pnyx hill in a dedicated space which could accommodate 6000 citizens. In 508 B.C., Athens became one of the first societies in ancient times to establish democracy. Even most high government officials were decided by lottery. "Funeral Oration", Thucydides II.40, trans. Under the 4th century version of democracy, the roles of general and of key political speaker in the assembly tended to be filled by different persons. [24], Citizenship applied to both individuals and their descendants. Much of his writings were about his alternatives to democracy. In addition, sometimes even oligarchic systems could involve a high degree of political equality, but the Athenian version, starting from c. 460 BCE and ending c. 320 BCE and involving all male citizens, was certainly the most developed.The contemporary sources which describe the workings of democracy typica… There were no lawyers as such; litigants acted solely in their capacity as citizens. [22], Also excluded from voting were citizens whose rights were under suspension (typically for failure to pay a debt to the city: see atimia); for some Athenians, this amounted to permanent (and in fact inheritable) disqualification. In 404 BCE, following the defeat of the Athenian military forces in Sicily, there was an oligarchy of ‘the Thirty Tyrants’ in Athens which was a particularly brutal regime, noted for its summary executions. Unlike office holders (magistrates), who could be impeached and prosecuted for misconduct, the jurors could not be censured, for they, in effect, were the people and no authority could be higher than that. Books Athens was the first city-state to have a true and efficient form of democracy. As the system evolved, the courts (that is, citizens under another guise) intruded upon the power of the assembly. Citizen families could have amounted to 100,000 people and out of these some 30,000 would have been the adult male citizens entitled to vote in the assembly. The type of democracy practiced in Athens of the fifth and fourth centuries may not have been perfect. Usually, the types of government relevant to ancient Greece are listed as three: Monarchy, Oligarchy (generally synonymous with rule by the aristocracy), and Democracy. Thucydides the son of Milesias (not the historian), an aristocrat, stood in opposition to these policies, for which he was ostracised in 443 BC. 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