At the meetings, the ekklesia made decisions about war and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials.
Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from the Athenian city-state for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia. The group made decisions by simple majority vote. The second important institution was the boule, or Council of Five Hundred.
The boule was a group of men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Unlike the ekklesia, the boule met every day and did most of the hands-on work of governance. It supervised government workers and was in charge of things like navy ships triremes and army horses. It dealt with ambassadors and representatives from other city-states.
Its main function was to decide what matters would come before the ekklesia. In this way, the members of the boule dictated how the entire democracy would work. Positions on the boule were chosen by lot and not by election. This was because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity.
The lottery system also prevented the establishment of a permanent class of civil servants who might be tempted to use the government to advance or enrich themselves. However, historians argue that selection to the boule was not always just a matter of chance.
They note that wealthy and influential people—and their relatives—served on the Council much more frequently than would be likely in a truly random lottery. The third important institution was the popular courts, or dikasteria. Every day, more than jurors were chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens older than There were no police in Athens, so it was the demos themselves who brought court cases, argued for the prosecution and the defense and delivered verdicts and sentences by majority rule.
There were also no rules about what kinds of cases could be prosecuted or what could and could not be said at trial, and so Athenian citizens frequently used the dikasteria to punish or embarrass their enemies.
Jurors were paid a wage for their work, so that the job could be accessible to everyone and not just the wealthy but, since the wage was less than what the average worker earned in a day, the typical juror was an elderly retiree. Since Athenians did not pay taxes, the money for these payments came from customs duties, contributions from allies and taxes levied on the metoikoi. Around B. Modern representative democracies, in contrast to direct democracies, have citizens who vote for representatives who create and enact laws on their behalf.
Along with encouraging and supporting cultural endeavors, he gave more power to the Ecclesia of Demos and lessened the impact of the noble classes. He also redistributed land, encouraged foreign trade and farming and established or expanded various cultural and religious events, including the City of Dionysia. Although in many ways Peisistratus helped further the development of democracy, he was not interested in relinquishing his power as much as redistributing and lessening the power of the wealthiest classes.
After Peisistratus, Athens went through various rulers, including those who were instituted by Sparta. But in , Cleisthenes was swept into power by the people. His rule and reforms, which lasted until , would create Athenian democracy. First, he gave all free men living in Athens and Attica, the area around the city, the power of citizenship. That meant they could participate in all parts of the government.
He established a council that would hold administrative and executive power in the city-state. If a citizen was over 30 years old, he could be a member of the council.
Selection to the council, which occurred every year, was by lot. Although the council had the power to rule, the Assembly, which was comprised of all male citizens, could veto any decisions made by the council. The Assembly was also the only body that could declare war. Unlike modern day democracies, in which citizens elect lawmakers who represent their interests, the Athenian government was run and influenced by the votes of each and every citizen.
It was truly government of the people by the people. Forums Contact. Ancient Athens. Athenian Government Prior to Democracy Share. The political system known as "Athenian Democracy" was the single greatest influence on the later development of democracy in Rome, and arguably the most important historical influence upon our modern Democratic states.
Children in Ancient Athens. Athens in the Classical Age. The United States has a representative democracy. Representative democracy is a government in which citizens vote for representatives who create and change laws that govern the people rather than getting to vote directly on the laws themselves.
Ostraka are shards of pottery that were used as a voting ballot in ancient Greece. These artifacts were found at the Acropolis of Athens and date to around B. They are on display at the Agora Museum, in Athens Greece. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.
Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society. National Geographic Society. For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.
If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website.
You cannot download interactives. Ancient Greek politics, philosophy, art and scientific achievements greatly influenced Western civilizations today. One example of their legacy is the Olympic Games. Use the videos, media, reference materials, and other resources in this collection to teach about ancient Greece, its role in modern-day democracy, and civic engagement.
0コメント