What were the most significant elements of ancient athenian democracy. Why Ancient Greece's Democracy Was Important 2019-01-07

Cleisthenes

Two of the more famous cases can be found in and the island of Rhodes. Being aware of the important distinction between these two. The most famous strategus in Greek history was Themistocles, the Attic general who won the day against the Persians at Salamis. The group made decisions by simple majority vote. The office of Archon eponymous was held for only a single year, and that year was named after him. For Madison, whereas democracies like Athens were territorially small and allowed citizens to directly govern themselves, republics like the United States were spread out over a large territory and were governed by representatives rather than by the people themselves.

Who held most power in the Athenian democracy

The Ancient Athenian population was divided into social classes that together created a hierarchy, but just because you lived in Athens or the surrounding areas of the greater empire of Attica, it did not mean you were inherently an Athenian citizen. Two of the largest demographics in the city—women and slaves—never earned the right to vote. Greece was not a single political entity it was a collection of about 1500 separate poleis or cities scattered around the Mediterranean and black sea shores. Such ideas are propagated not only by those who are ignorant, but even by many teachers of the Classics. The set up of Athenian democracy and American democracy are the same in some cases, they also differ in many.

The Development of Athenian Democracy

Crucially, citizens voting in both were not subject to review and prosecution, as were council members and all other officeholders. In addition to being subject to review prior to holding office, officeholders were also subject to an examination after leaving office euthunai, 'straightenings' or 'submission of accounts' to review their performance. It tries to rationalize the activities. During the period of holding a particular office, everyone on the team would be observing everybody else as a sort of check. If a mistake had been made, from the assembly's viewpoint it could only be because it had been misled. So it would be dominated by people who lived in the city or the immediate vicinity. Participation in Government As we have seen, only male citizens who were 18 years or over could speak at least in theory and vote in the assembly, whilst the positions such as magistrates and jurors were limited to those over 30 years of age.

What are the Unique Traits of Athenian Democracy? Essay

Having lost the use of a portion of their land, they were even more vulnerable to subsequent hardships see. The Council whose numbers varied at different times from 300 to 750 was appointed by lot. Unlike officeholders, the citizen initiator was not voted on before taking up office or automatically reviewed after stepping down; these institutions had, after all, no set tenure and might be an action lasting only a moment. Lured out by promises of their own safety, and his men were killed by members of the aristocratic family called the see ; ; ;. In this way, the 500 members of the boule dictated how the entire democracy would work.

Ancient Athens

In this: A new law might be proposed by any citizen. History of Greece: Athenian Democracy A Brief Outline of Athenian Democracy The type of democracy practiced in Athens of the fifth and fourth centuries may not have been perfect. Upon reflection, it was concluded that this case had been decided wrongly, and the legislators who proposed the execution of the generals were themselves executed for misleading the jury. The most famous Athenian strategus was , the primary commander of Athenian and allied forces against the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War. They were elected, and even foreigners such as and held the office as a mark of honour.

History of Greece: Athenian Democracy

He was murdered for this buthis deputy Pericles kept it going and then radicalised it withtotal power to the popular assembly. Although Athenian women were protected by the state and did not know a different way of living, they were very stifled and restricted. This slump was permanent, due to the introduction of a stricter definition of citizen described below. Nothing Less Than , and. This was the Athenian democracy, warts and all. It is not fair, but under the old oligarchy system, only male Athenians that owned land had a say in the government. Most modern democracies have a representative democracy.

The Athenian Democracy Essay

They were given salary and held their office for one year and could not hold the same. For its part, Athens used the league to advance its growing commercial and colonial empire in the Mediterranean. His views that bias Athens was profound and courage was Socrates. The Roman Republic was set to be a type of government in which the people would choose the rep. Cases involving one or more officials of the state were tried before a jury of 1001. Democracy was at center stage while the Parthenon was built, as it was restored in Greece in 1974. In the second part I will discuss the most important characteristics of the Athenian democracy, highlighting its fundamental elements that are now present in the modern reality.

Top 10 Little

These were the center of the city, the coast and the area beyond the hills. Although democracy predated Athenian imperialism by over thirty years, they are sometimes associated with each other. And they could also be removed from office at any time that the assembly met. The age limit of 30 or older, the same as that for office holders but ten years older than that required for participation in the assembly, gave the courts a certain standing in relation to the assembly. Photo credit: The old aristocrats of Athens distrusted the hoi polloi. In part, this was a consequence of the increasingly specialized forms of warfare practiced in the later period.

Cleisthenes

All of the duties - professional government officials, judges or soldiers — were performed by ordinary people chosen by lot. Ecclesia literally meant a gathering of those summoned. Every day, more than 500 jurors were chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens older than 30. There are several traits that make Athenian democracy unique not only in the ancient world but also in the modern world as well. The quantity of these suits was enormous.