1.

The development of democracy in Athens

I. Society in Athens:
In the 8th century BC There was an aristocratic political system in Athens.  Solon abolished all the debts of the demos, abolished debt slavery
(these two measures were called seisactheia)
 The aristocracy was the upper class of society. They were nobles  He opened the government to wider layers: he divided society into
who had political power. four classes according to their annual income: (500 medimnoi, 300
 The members of demos were the common people: traders, merchants, medimnoi, 200 medimnoi, less than 200 medimnoi) → this division was the
peasants and craftsmen. They had economic power. basis for the amount of tax payed, the military service and political
rights
 Athens was a classical slaveholder society. The institution of debt
slavery was in practice.  all the adult citizens could attend the assembly and the work of the
people’s court (heliaia)
The strengthening of the demos: in the 8-7th century B.C.: Greek
colonization → new markets, developing trade (export goods: ceramics) →  only those who were from the first three classes could hold offices
economical strengthening → increased influence & importance of demos  he created the boule (council of four hundred) to which all the four
(especially traders and craftsmen) → strengthening of the demos. classes could delegate 100-100 people
 with his measures Solon laid down the fundamentals of democracy
II. The Struggle of the Demos
Unfortunately, the reforms of Solon didn’t work properly which created the
The members of demos – traders, merchants, peasants and craftsmen - started possibility of tyranny.
a struggle for political rights and economic advantages. The demos wanted
to achieve the following goals: to have political rights, receive land and
security of property, abolish the institution of debt slavery and put laws in III. The Peisistratid tyranny (560-527 BC)
writing. Solon left Athens and a confused period began. Peisistratus was a successful
military leader who became a tyrant (a self-made dictator) of Athens with
Draconian laws: In 621 BC Draco archon took office. He codified the
the support of the demos and established the tyranny (government by one
common laws. He created a law code: Laws were put down in writing and
ruler with unrestricted power). The tyranny was actually based on the
were published so it became harder to manipulate judges. The laws were
particularly harsh: corporal punishment was introduced even for minor temporary balanced situation between the demos and the aristocracy;
crimes. The laws protected private property. the demos was not yet strong enough to take control, the aristocracy was
no longer strong enough to keep the power.
The reforms of Solon: In 594 BC Solon archon took office. He tried to After Peisistratus’ death, his sons Hippias and Hipparchus took over power.
destroy the privileged position of Athenian aristocracy. The most important As they started to kill their opponents, the people rebelled against the tyrants.
steps of the reforms were the following: Hippias was exiled, while Hipparchus was killed in 510 BC. That’s why 510
BC marks the end of tyranny in Athens.
IV. The reforms of Cleisthenes – (Archon in 508 BC) responsible for nominating and electing magistrates (state officials) who
were mainly chosen by lot (except for the election of strategoi.
He relied on demos. He established democracy in Athens. He classified the
citizens on a territorial basis instead of wealth. (It meant the abolition of To prevent tyranny Cleisthenes introduced OSTRACISM: The members
birth and property privileges, so the aristocracy lost its predominance.) of the assembly were asked annually to vote for the politician who tried to
become a tyrant. It was a secret voting system. The votes were valid only if
He created 10 phyles (Phyle: military, political and administrative unit). A
at least 6000 people participated in voting. The suspected person’s name had
phyle had three parts (trittyses): the city (aristocrats, merchants, craftsmen),
the coast (craftsmen, traders) and the mainland (aristocrats, farmers). to be written on an ostraka (a piece of broken pottery) and the ostracized
person was exiled from the city-states of Athens for ten years. It was often
Every phyle could send 50-50 people over the age of thirty into the boule.
used to get rid of political opponents.

The Council of 500 = BOULE → executive power

• had executive function (fulfilled the decisions of the Assembly)
• prepared the agenda for the Assembly

HELIAIA = Court of 6000 / Popular tribunal → judicial power.

The Heliaia / jury took over the authority of the Areiopagus.

• It had 6,000 members (600 / phyle) elected by lot .

ARCHONS
9 Archons (magistrates) were chosen by lot. They were the heads of state.

Institutions of Athenian democracy AREOPAGUS: It was the assembly of the former archons. Function:
supervising of the officials. It was restricted from 461 BC.

(Public / Popular) Assembly / Ecclesia → legislative power STRATEGOI

10 strategoi / generals were elected by phyles each year, one person from
About 30,000 male citizens over 20 had the right to attend, speak and vote each phyle. The strategos could be re-elected after one year in office (the only
at the Assembly. This body exercised supreme power. It was a decision- such office.) The first strategos was the actual head of the state. Pericles held
making body by majority vote. It met at least 40 times a year. this office for fifteen years without interruption (every year he was re-
The Assembly was the main lawmaking body and also decided on finance, elected).
taxation, foreign affairs (war or peace, military strategy), etc. It was Society:
 Athenian citizens and their families with
  Metics / metoikoi (foreigner) and their families Citizens were free Athenian males with full rights over the age of 20. They
had the opportunity to participate in the legislative, judicial and executive
 Slaves
power. → So, citizens had the right to vote in Athens, they had equal rights
Cleisthenes created the institutions of democracy, but only the 20% of the and duties to govern and equal rights under law. Citizens were responsible
population got political rights. The other 80% (women, metics - foreigners for justice and could claim justice for others.
and slaves) did not have citizen rights.
Athens was a classical slaveholder society. Only 10 or 20 % of the
inhabitants were citizens. Women, children, metoikoi (or metics – foreign
V. The Golden Age of Athens – Pericles (5th century BC) residents), slaves or freed slaves were excluded from political life. They had
no or few legal rights.
In the 5th century BC, one of the most powerful city-states was Athens,
located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League. The so-called golden Poor citizens had more rights than wealthy metics. So, due to this fact, there
age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles who were growing property conflicts.
was a brilliant general, orator, politician and patron of the arts. He was ”the
The evaluation of the Athenian political system can be different according to
first citizen” of democratic Athens according to the famous historian
historians. On the one hand, Thucydides evaluates it from the perspective of
Thucydides. the demos. He only emphasizes equality and freedom. But, on the other hand,
The golden age of Athenian culture is usually dated from 448 to 431 BC, the Pseudo-Xenophon also highlights the disadvantages of democracy. The
years of relative peace between the Persian War (492-448 BC) and difference in perception is due to the authors' different social situations and
Peloponnesian war (431-404 BC). attitudes. Thucydides belonged to the demos, so he supported the Athenian
democracy. While Pseudo-Xenophon came from a wealthy equestrian
The Age of Pericles came with the flourishing of democracy. family, so he opposed it. He thought that the Athenian democracy is the
• He strengthened democracy. government of the poor and ignorant.

• He paid public officials: Pericles introduced a daily payment for

attending council and court. Public officials received salaries – daily
payment (DAILY WAGES) for civil service – to compensate for
the lost income so that the poor could also take an active part in
politics.
• He ended the political power of aristocracy: the functions of the last
aristocratic institution, the Areopagus were restricted.
• Pericles beautified the city: a building programme was started, the
Acropolis and the Parthenon were developed.
Evaluation of Athenian democracy
The form of democracy practiced in Athens was direct democracy, meaning
that all citizens participated in running the government.