Athenian Politics and Society: From Origins to Democracy
Athenian Politics Today: Democracy
Geographical Location of Attica: Attica was a city in central Greece, a peninsula stretching into the sea between the island of Evia to the north and the isthmus of Corinth to the south. The region has very little land exploitable for agriculture, with only small valleys between the mountains and the sea. They cultivated wheat, barley, grapes, and olives.
Athenian Social Organization: Athenian society was organized around families and genos descended from the first inhabitants. These were called eupátridas, and they ruled the polis. Only they could be supreme judges or members of the Council of Nobles. Farmers and artisans who were not part of a genos had a strict social and political regime.
Disadvantaged Social Classes in Government
Eupátridas: Peasants and artisans, or the people, were disadvantaged because only the nobles knew and interpreted the laws. Farmers, lacking this knowledge, could not comply.
Dracon
Publication of Laws: Laws were written down for the first time. These were not severe punishments for crimes like rape and also ruled that the laws were not customary or based on customs.
Solon
Solon was commissioned to create a new constitution and made the following changes:
- Cancellation of all debts and freedom for enslaved people.
- Prohibition of lending money using a person as a bond.
- Established a limit on the amount of land a person could own.
- Adopted a national currency.
- Introduced a new metric weight system, facilitating trade and wealth acquisition.
- Wealth and birth no longer dictated citizens’ rights and duties.
- Maintained the Archons, the Bule, the Assembly or Ecclesia, and the Heliaia.
Pisistratus
His government was a dictatorship, responsible for leading Athens out of the crisis that Solon had left. This was a period of material prosperity and progress. He relieved the crisis that Solon couldn’t solve, promoting trade and industry, and beautified Athens. However, his successors became tyrannical oppressors.
Governing Bodies
Bule: A council of 400 people chosen randomly from the more fortunate.
Ecclesia: An assembly of all citizens in charge of voting on laws.
Heliaia: A court.
Anarchy: A period in which no Archons were chosen in Athens.
Patriarchal Monarchy: The government was exercised by groups holding power by force.
Aristocratic Republic: The former aristocracy ruled, along with the new rich.
Plutocratic Republic: Participation of the people through elected representatives in city government.
Dictatorship: Ruled by kings whose power was limited by the nobles.
Tyranny: Power exercised by the aristocracy of landowners.
Democracy: Government exercised by a man who legally assumed all the power to make reforms.
Demos and Tribes
Demos: There were 100 divisions of Attica, encompassing the coast, the city, and the provinces. Each demo was run by a demarcation.
Tribes: A set of 10 demos. Demos were spread throughout Attica, so all Athenians belonged to a tribe.
Key Officials and Councils
Basileus: The most important of the 10 rulers, each presiding over a tribe and the Areopagus.
Polemarch: The archon of the tribe who led the army.
Areopagus: The sovereign council.
Boule: Also called the Council of Five Hundred (fifty per tribe), its primary mission was to prepare the laws adopted by the Ecclesia.
Pericles’ Government
Positive Features: Democracy was consolidated, Athens was placed at the head of a maritime empire, and it became the largest city, shaping classical culture artistically and culturally.
Spartan Society: Positive aspects included inexorable laws and well-organized power, preventing concentration in one person’s hands. Negative aspects included the use of natives as servants without rights.
Changes and Reforms
Changes in Archons: The method of selection was modified to selection by lot, allowing representation for all groups, not just the richest.
Changes in Strategists: Their importance and prestige increased. They were elected for one year by the Ecclesia and could be re-elected, taking on diplomatic and political functions in addition to their former military duties.
Benches for Modest People: Pericles ruled that tribunals would be paid, allowing even the poorest to participate. He also facilitated access to parties and religious meals, and entrance fees to theaters began to be covered, integrating the poor into society.
Key Locations and Concepts
Acropolis: An impregnable walled city built on a hill overlooking Athens, serving to defend the city.
Consolidation of Democracy: Pericles respected previous political developments but introduced reforms, decreasing the powers of the Areopagus and transferring them to the Ecclesia and the court. He also empowered the magistracy: rulers and strategists.
Love for Greek Independence: Demonstrated in the 5th-century fight against the Persians (490-449 BC).
Artists of Athenian Reconstruction
Phidias, Ictinus, Callicrates, Alcamenes, and others.