Athenian Democracy

Name – Anomitro Sengupta

The democratic revolution that Athens underwent in 5th century BCE was
boldest ever undertaken in human political history. Unlike the American
system of government, under which representatives are elected to
Congress, the Athenian state invested total faith in the ordinary man
who was empowered to vote directly on questions of the utmost
importance without any intermediary elected to represent his interests.
Addition to political equality, the other pillar upon Athenian democracy
was founded was trial by jury.
Athenian Democracy Characteristics

 Athenian democracy had both a political and legal base. The political base was right of
direct participation in the decision- making process while the legal base was equality
before the law and the right to be judged by a jury of one’s peer.
 Athenian democracy featured a belief in the common good. The individual was in the
service of the state to a degree that would be unacceptable to any modern
democracy.
 Athens had a strong emphasis on religion. The Athenian Demos was a religious body
and it funded a number of festivals.
 Democracy in Athens was the result of a process of evolution that took place over the
course of nearly 300 years, from the beginning of the 6th century BCE to the late 4th
century BCE.
 People didn’t get on bandwagons touting democracy in preference to other forms of
government. In fact aristocrats played the major role in its advancement by coopting
the masses largely to further their own interests.
 Democracy at War

 The Greeks regarded military service as a privilege, and it was tied to citizenship. The
Athenian military was amateur in the sense that Athenians couldn’t make a career out
of service in the armed forces.
 No commander in chief was there in the Athenian army. Instead, there was a board of
10 strategoi. They were elected by popular vote because it was one of the few offices
that Athenians thought required experience and skill.
 The strategoi were naval as well as army commanders. The Athenians assumed if
someone was qualified to lead an army, they could also direct a fleet.
 The Athenians built a fleet of triemes. Triemes were warships with three banks of oars.
 In 478, Athens became protector of the Greek world against the Persians. It was
possible because of its fleet was second to none.
 Athen’s rising stature played a large role in the Delian League, which was an initially
free association of Greek states under the leadership of Athens.
 The Delian League was established on democratic lines. Each member state, about
150 in all, exercised one vote in the council.
 Assembly

 In the 5th century BCE, the Ecclesia ( assembly) may have met fewer
than once a month, with more frequent meetings during times of war.
By the 4th century BCE the group met 40 times a year.
 The meeting of the assembly was conducted by the chairman, who
determined who got the chance to speak on whatever was under
discussion. It was council or Boule that published the agenda.
 With the Assembly all men were equal, and anyone could speak. The
chairman would open the meeting by asking who wished to speak.
 Political leadership was tested with each new proposal that came
before the assembly. Every vote was referendum, and the assembly
reached decisions by simple majority.
 The Council and The Magistrates

 The agora was a place where the most important democratic institutions
were located.
 Nothing could be discussed by the assembly that hadn’t been proposed by
Boule. The Boule presented a motion in the form of probouleuma.
 The archons were another organ of government. The institution was at least
as old as the 7th century BCE.
 There were about 700 junior magistrates in addition to the archons who were
responsible for the administration of the Delian League.
 In the Athenian democratic system, wealthy and poor people weren’t taxed.
Only the extremely rich were taxed on a regular basis.
 The state took no responsibility for educating its citizens. There was no state
– sponsored, public education. The wealthy would have sent their sons to fee-
paying schools, and the poor would have been left out.
 Citizens of Athens

 Estimates of the Greek citizen body vary considerably. In Athens, initially any male over the age of 18 whose
father was Athenian and mother was a freeborn citizen.
 One of few ways a person could become Athenian citizen if they were a rich benefactor who gave benefaction in
the form of cash or corn.
 Women had no political rights at all because they weren’t citizens as such.
 Though some Athenian women could read, the majority probably only received education in what might be called
household management.
 Just as women had no political identity, they had no legal identity, either. They couldn’t serve as jurors or act as
plaintiffs in a lawsuit – a male relative had to take on that role.
 Slaves had a less political or legal identity than women. Many Athenians owned several, and a few hundreds,
whom they employed in industry.
 Slaves worked in silver mines and marble quarries in Attica, which was deadly work. Occasionally, the demos
called on slaves to serve in the army.
 Metics lived within its borders of any Greek state but they could not buy land or inherit land in Attica. Instead,
they engaged in trade, manufacture and banking. In times of war, they were obligated to serve in infantry or navy.
 A disabled person in Athen’s democracy might have been confined to the home, kept out of sight. Avery civic-
minded individual might perhaps have struggled to have their voice heard and play a part in politics.
 Conclusion

Athens was now a direct, radical democracy in 462/1 BCE. But not
everything changed as a result of the radicalization of Athen’s
democracy. Political leaders continued to be aristocrats until the early
years of the Peloponnesian War. Athenian citizenship was a tradeoff.
There were freedoms, such as the ability to criticize democracy, and
there protections, such as protection from torture. There is no first
person evidence from either slaves or women or the disabled, so we
can’t know for certain. Women and the elderly seem to have had a
better deal in Sparta than in they did in Athens