Athenian democracy
In 594 BC, Solon stood before the Athenian Assembly and issued a decree that would shatter the power of noble families. He cancelled existing debts and freed those who had been enslaved for owing money to creditors. This act, known as the seisachtheia or shaking off of burdens, transformed Athens from an aristocracy into a system where free residents could participate in government meetings. Before this moment, only members of powerful noble families held office. The archons were chosen exclusively from these elite circles, leaving the mass of people with no say in state affairs.
Solon redefined citizenship by establishing four property classes based on annual grain production. The pentakosiomedimnoi produced at least 500 medimnoi, while the thetes produced under 200. By granting political functions to every free resident who owned property, he reshaped the social framework of the city-state. A council of 400 members ran daily affairs and set the political agenda, replacing the exclusive rule of the Areopagus. These reforms laid the groundwork for future changes, but they did not yet grant full equality to all citizens.
Cleisthenes arrived in 508, 07 BC to dismantle the remaining power of aristocratic families. He organized citizens into ten new tribes based on geographical location rather than wealth or family lineage. Each tribe consisted of three trittyes, which were further divided into demes. Every male citizen over 18 had to be registered in his deme, creating a sense of civic solidarity across the entire territory of Attica. This move made traditional tribal affiliations politically irrelevant and connected every Athenian directly to the city's rule.
Ephialtes delivered the final blow to aristocratic dominance in 462/1 BC. While his opponents were away assisting the Spartans, he persuaded the Assembly to reduce the powers of the Areopagus to a criminal court handling only cases of homicide and sacrilege. The membership of the Areopagus was then extended to lower levels of propertied citizenship. These three legislative reforms, Solon, Cleisthenes, and Ephialtes, created the foundation upon which radical democracy would eventually rest.
Estimates suggest that around 338 BC, there were approximately 150,000 slaves living in Attica, outnumbering those of citizen stock but not swamping them entirely. Adult male citizens probably constituted no more than 30 percent of the total adult population, meaning the majority of people in Athens had no political voice. Women, slaves, and foreign residents known as metics formed the non-citizen component of the population, excluded from all government participation.
In 450 BC, Pericles and Cimon passed a law restricting citizenship to children born of both an Athenian father and an Athenian mother. This decree removed many "illegitimate" citizens from the registers when grain arrived from Egypt five years later. Before this reform, citizenship could be claimed by those with an Athenian father alone, but now mixed marriages resulted in exclusion. Metroxenoi, those with foreign mothers, lost their status, and penalties for such unions grew severe under Demosthenes.
Women lived in a state of segregation within the private sphere of the home. They were referred to as astē or Attikē gunē rather than Athenian, terms reserved for men. Orators avoided mentioning wives and daughters directly, finding roundabout ways to refer to them in public speeches. Men believed women possessed higher sex drives and less intelligence, fearing that allowing them into society would lead to promiscuity and jeopardize inheritance systems.
Slavery was more widespread at Athens than in other Greek cities. The extensive use of imported non-Greeks as chattel slaves allowed even poorer Athenians to devote time to political life. While debt servitude had been abolished under Solon's reforms, chattel slavery emerged as a new means to equalize leisure between rich and poor. This economic foundation supported the democratic system, yet it excluded the vast majority of inhabitants from any role in governance.
The central events of Athenian democracy occurred during meetings of the assembly held on the Pnyx hill. In the 5th century BC, there were ten fixed assembly meetings per year, one in each of the ten state months. Later, this increased to forty meetings annually, with four held in each state month. One of these became known as the main meeting, kyria ekklesia, where critical decisions were made.
Three political bodies gathered citizens in numbers running into the hundreds or thousands: the Assembly, the Council of 500, and the Courts. The Assembly made executive pronouncements like declaring war or granting citizenship to foreigners. It elected some officials and legislated laws before shifting its judicial functions to the law courts by 355 BC. Voting usually took place by show of hands, though small colored stones were used for grants of citizenship requiring a quorum of 6,000.
The Boule, or Council of 500, drafted deliberations called probouleumata for the Assembly to discuss and approve. Each of Cleisthenes's ten tribes provided fifty councilors who were at least thirty years old. Members served as a standing committee called prytaneis for periods of thirty-six days, housing and feeding all members in the tholos of the Prytaneion. This body coordinated administrative functions ranging from naval affairs to religious observances.
Courts known as Dikasteria handled legal cases with juries selected by lot from panels of 600 jurors per tribe. A jury pool of 6,000 existed in total, allowing for large juries up to 6,000 on occasions when new types of cases arose. Jurors had to be under oath, unlike assembly attendees, and decisions were made without time set aside for deliberation. Cases lasted no longer than one day, completed before sunset, with no possibility of appeal.
Approximately 1,100 citizens held office each year, mostly chosen by lot rather than election. Allotment was based on citizenship status, not merit or personal popularity that could be bought. The random assignment of responsibility gave citizens political equality since everyone had an equal chance of obtaining government office. This system acted as a check against demagoguery, though it did not prevent pandering to voters entirely.
About one hundred officials out of a thousand were elected instead of chosen by lot. These included those required to handle large sums of money and the ten generals known as strategoi. Financial officials were elected because any embezzled money could be recovered from their estates; wealth became virtually a prerequisite for these roles. Generals needed expert knowledge and experience in the wider Greek world where wars were fought.
In the 5th century BC, generals like Pericles wielded significant power through frequent speeches and respect accorded them in the Assembly. Yet his influence stemmed from his relation with the people, not just his annual generalships. Under the 4th century version, the roles of general and key political speaker tended to be filled by different persons due to specialized warfare practices.
Elected officials faced review before holding office and scrutiny after leaving office. They could be removed at any time if the Assembly met, and inadequate performance carried even the death penalty. No office appointed by lot could be held twice by the same individual, except for members of the Boule who served twice in a lifetime due to demographic necessity. The only exception allowed individuals to serve two non-consecutive years in the Council.
Thucydides argued that common people were often too credulous about contemporary facts to rule justly. He pointed to errors regarding Sparta, noting Athenians erroneously believed Spartan kings had two votes and that a battalion called Pitanate lochos existed. This carelessness reflected a preference for ready-made accounts rather than critical historical analysis. His aristocratic viewpoint saw democracy as flawed because it relied on masses who lacked judgment.
Plato and Aristotle criticized democratic rule as the numerically preponderant poor tyrannizing the rich. Aristotle categorized this difference between arithmetic and geometric equality, arguing that those more virtuous should hold greater power. Plato's works like The Republic contained arguments against democratic rule favoring a narrower form of government confided to those possessing knowledge.
In 406 BC, after defeating Spartans at Arginusae, Athenians sentenced six generals to death for failing to collect survivors during a storm. Technically illegal since generals were tried together rather than individually, the decision showed how the people could act recklessly. Socrates refused to cooperate with the assembly that day, standing against the idea that the people could do whatever they wanted.
Socrates himself was executed in 399 BC for corrupting the young and believing in strange gods. His death gave Europe one of its first intellectual martyrs recorded, often cited as an example of democracy's harmful potential. Thucydides noted that the common people made huge mistakes, while Plato blamed democracy for killing him. These ancient critics viewed democracy as reckless, arbitrary, and unjust.
For much of the 5th century, democracy fed off an empire of subject states. The common people formed the numerical majority in the navy, using their positions as rowers to pursue their own interests through hundreds of overseas administrative posts. Income from the empire funded payment for officeholding, creating a direct link between imperial expansion and domestic political participation.
Democratic Athens acted with extreme brutality toward those who resisted subjugation. In one instance, the entire male population of Melos was executed, and women and children sold into slavery simply for refusing to become subjects. This decision demonstrated how imperialist policy could lead to actions contradicting democratic values of freedom and equality.
The Old Oligarch wrote critical comments about democracy, stating it benefited smaller self-interested factions rather than the entire polis. He argued that collectivizing political responsibility led to dishonest practices and scapegoating when measures became unpopular. By being inclusive, opponents naturally became included within the framework, generating few enemies despite its flaws.
Slavery allowed even poorer Athenians owning just a few slaves to devote more time to political life. While debt servitude had been abolished under Solon's reforms, chattel slavery emerged as a new means to equalize leisure availability between rich and poor. Possession of slaves enabled the system to function, yet whether democracy depended on this extra time remains impossible to determine.
Macedonian forces conquered Athens in 338 BC, leading to Hellenistic control where kings appointed local agents as political governors. Demetrius of Phalerum governed Athens while keeping some traditional institutions in formal existence, though citizens viewed them as puppet dictators. Democracy was restored in 307 BC after Cassander's rule ended, but Athens had become politically impotent by then.
In 200 BC, Rome fought Macedonia, and Athenians abolished tribes created in honor of Macedonian kings, establishing a twelfth tribe for Pergamene rulers instead. They declared for Rome, becoming an autonomous civitas foederata able to manage internal affairs in 146 BC. Roman rule ensured the constitution strengthened aristocracy, with archons ranking highest among officials elected from the populace.
Athenion led a revolution in 88 BC as tyrant, forcing the Assembly to elect whomever he requested. He allied with Mithridates of Pontus and went to war with Rome before being killed and replaced by Aristion. Publius Cornelius Sulla left Athenians their lives without selling them into slavery, restoring previous government in 86 BC.
Under Augustus, nominal independence dissolved as Athens' government converged to normal types for Roman municipalities. The shadow of the old constitution lingered on, with archons and Areopagus surviving the fall of the Roman Empire. Modern societies continue debating whether Athenian democracy should be added to or replaced by direct democracy, while others argue it never matured into an inclusive system.
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Common questions
When did Solon issue the decree that transformed Athens from an aristocracy into a system where free residents could participate in government meetings?
Solon issued this decree in 594 BC. He cancelled existing debts and freed those who had been enslaved for owing money to creditors, which is known as the seisachtheia or shaking off of burdens.
Who organized citizens into ten new tribes based on geographical location rather than wealth or family lineage in 508 07 BC?
Cleisthenes arrived in 508 07 BC to dismantle the remaining power of aristocratic families. He organized citizens into ten new tribes based on geographical location rather than wealth or family lineage.
What percentage of the total adult population were adult male citizens in Athens around 338 BC?
Adult male citizens probably constituted no more than 30 percent of the total adult population in Athens around 338 BC. Women, slaves, and foreign residents known as metics formed the non-citizen component of the population excluded from all government participation.
How many councilors did each of Cleisthenes's ten tribes provide to the Council of 500?
Each of Cleisthenes's ten tribes provided fifty councilors who were at least thirty years old. These members served as a standing committee called prytaneis for periods of thirty-six days.
When was Athenian democracy restored after Cassander's rule ended in 307 BC?
Democracy was restored in 307 BC after Cassander's rule ended. However, Athens had become politically impotent by then under Macedonian forces that conquered the city in 338 BC.