Athens
(continued from page two)
The Pnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met
With Hippias gone and the tyranny
over, the leader of the Alcmaeonid
family, Cleisthenes, began to put his own political system into power. Cleisthenes
wanted power for himself, but he didn't want another tyranny. Instead, he
wanted the ordinary men (though not women) of Athens to feel that this was
their government, and that they could change things they didn't like by
voting instead of by fighting wars. He decided to create a democracy
in Athens - the first democracy anywhere. Cleisthenes (KLY-sthen-eez) even had to make up the word!
In the Athenian democracy, ordinary men could make all
the most important decisions, like whether to go to war. They just went
to meetings of the Assembly (Greek Ekklesia), on a hill in Athens called the Pnyx
(slaves, women,
children, and foreigners
could not go, though). You had to have 6000 men at a meeting of the Ekklesia (ek-LAYZ-ee-ah) before
they could decide anything. It met about once a month, unless there was some sort of emergency.
The Athenians also chose five hundred men every year
through a lottery to be in the Council of Five Hundred, or Boule, which
met more often and decided things that weren't as important. The Boule (boo-LAY)
suggested new laws to the Assembly, made sure the laws were being enforced,
and took care of things like street repair, fixing public stoas
and temples, and building ships
for the Athenian navy.
The Athenians also had some elected officials who took
care of specific things. There were nine men were called archons (AR-kons).
Archons were also chosen by a lottery. In the time of Cleisthenes and later,
archons mostly took care of religious things like organizing public sacrifices.
There were also ten strategoi (generals), who were elected by the Assembly. These strategoi (STRAT-eh-goy) were often elected year after year, and although at first they just commanded the Athenian army and navy, by the time of the Peloponnesian War the strategoi were basically running the government, like the United States President. Pericles is the most famous strategos; others include Themistocles and Alcibiades.
There were also ten strategoi (generals), who were elected by the Assembly. These strategoi (STRAT-eh-goy) were often elected year after year, and although at first they just commanded the Athenian army and navy, by the time of the Peloponnesian War the strategoi were basically running the government, like the United States President. Pericles is the most famous strategos; others include Themistocles and Alcibiades.
The fourth part of Athenian democratic
government was the justice system - the judges and courts. Men (women couldn't
serve) volunteered to be on juries. They needed six thousand volunteers
every year. Then for each day, they picked about five hundred men to be
on that day's jury and hear cases. The jury decided cases by a simple majority
- whichever side got more votes won. You could not appeal. If the jury convicted
you, then they would hold another vote to decide on a sentence, as in the
trial of Socrates. Athenian juries
not only decided criminal and property cases, but also decided whether laws
passed by the Assembly were legal or not.
More about Ancient Athens
Ancient Sparta
Ancient Corinth
Main Greek Government page
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