GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT AND CONTEXT: 600 – 400 BC
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ATHENS, Greece saw the rise and fall of the world’s first democracy. From 600 – 400 BC, A political power struggle
(Oligarchy vs. Democracy) happened, where at times political rights were allowed to only a privileged few, and then to times
when more and more people were allowed political rights. What caused Democracy to occur in Athens though?
Geographically, Greece (Hellas as it was known during this time) was made up of individual, highly independent city-states
(polis): Athens, Sparta, Thebes, etc. Although each city-state shared the same language and religion, the mountainous land of
Greece and lack of any large river sources made it impossible to join the city-states, unlike the empires of Egypt and Persia.
900 -700 BC: Athens was ruled over by an oligarchy where only a few noblemen shared political power over the city-state.
They had a council of noblemen, the Areopagus, with 3 leaders, like presidents, called Archons. As city-states grew, people
were kicked out because there was no available land. Some fell into slavery or exile, and farmers became increasingly fearful
of their economic vulnerability and the uncontrolled power of the oligarchs. As less and less land was available, many Greeks
went to the sea to find new communities. City-states established hundreds of colonies everywhere and trade increased
throughout the Greek world. Athens’ olive trees, which provided many highly valued products in the ancient world, provided
a large, new wealth to Athens. All of this trade gave Athenians a newly discovered freedom, the freedom to travel and trade
and the opportunity to learn about different cultures and ideas.
694 BC: Political unrest finally rose to a high because of these political and economic stresses. Solon, an oligarch but
democratic supporter, was appointed archon in 694. He handled the problem through a series of economic and political
changes:
Economic changes
► All debts involving land or personal liberty as security are ►
cancelled; in future, no Athenian can be enslaved for debt;
those who have been enslaved for debt are freed
►
► Skilled craftsmen from abroad encouraged to settle in
Athens
►
► Athenians divided into four property classes:
→ “500 measure men” - with an annual income worth 500
medimnoi (1 medimnos = about 85 lbs. of grain or 11
gallons of oil/wine)
►
→ horsemen/knights - with annual worth of 300-500
medimnoi – enough to provide own horse in war
→ yokemen - worth 200-300 medimnoi – enough to provide ►
own armor and serve as a hoplite in war
→ laborers - in war, those who rowed the ships) worth <200
medimnoi: about 50% of Athenian population.
Political Changes
Election to archons now open to all (whether
of noble birth or not)
Other public offices open to anyone from top
3 property classes
A new Council of 400 (the boulē), 100 from
each of the 4 tribes, now oversees state
officials and sets agenda for Assembly. Top 3
property classes may serve on Council
Assembly (ecclesia) now open to all 4
property classes (i.e., all male citizens) – but
agenda set by Council
New court system in which all 4 property
classes may serve as jurors; any citizen may
appeal to these courts against the decision of
an archon (serves as a democratic check on
archons’ powers).
*Notice that these changers are still largely oligarchic (more property = more power), but with democratic
checks (the Assembly, the courts). The power of the noblemen council had begun to lessen though:
membership was opened to more people and other institutions were created.
560-527 BC: Peisistratos rules as TYRANT – understand that “tyrant” is only a technical term, meaning a king-like ruler
who holds power through the support of the people; often tyrannies grew out of oligarchies when one oligarch gained power
over the others by appealing to the masses (e.g. Peisistratos made popular promises to the lower classes such as the
cancellation of debt and the redistribution of land to gain power). Pisistratus was a very popular and successful tyrant, but his
sons Hippias and Hipparkhos were not. In 514, the unpopular Hipparkhos was assassinated; Hippias took over but became
unpopular after his harsh rule, executing and exiling many Athenians. He was overthrown by democratic supporters led by a
nobleman named Cleisthenes.
508/507: Reforms of Cleisthenes (Proto Democracy) - Cleisthenes was instrumental in the overthrow of Hippias (510
B.C.); subsequently he became involved in a power struggle with another noblemen, Isagoras and was defeated and exiled.
However, the Boulē, with the support of the people, opposed Isagoras, who fled with his supporters; Cleisthenes was recalled
to Athens and assumed leadership. Cleistenes saw that mentally, politically and economically, Athens could not return to its
old political systems. He proposed more political freedoms that set the way for a proto democracy.
GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT AND CONTEXT: 600 – 400 BC
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Cleisthenes’s political changes
►
►
►
►
Changes the basis of political organization from the four “Ionic tribes” (based on ancient aristocratic
clans, which had fueled the rise of the Peisistratid tyranny) to ten new “tribes” based on area of residence
or deme. There are 139 demes, organized into thirty groups called trittyes (“thirds”); each tribe thus
contains 3 trittyes — one from a city region, one from a coastal region, and one from an inland region.
Political rights not based so much on wealth.
Reorganizes the Boulē so it has 500 members, 50 from each new tribe. President for each meeting is
chosen randomly by LOT. Role of Boulē is to propose laws to the Assembly (held 40 times/year), which
may pass, reject, or return them for corrections.
Reorganizes the court system (dikasteria, law courts): 201-5001 jurors selected each day, up to 500
from each tribe.
May have introduced ostracism (first used in 487 B.C.), whereby a citizen considered a threat to the
democracy could be exiled by a vote of 6,000 or more citizens in the Assembly.
Eventually, with the rise of the popular statesman, Pericles, Athens became an actual democracy.
462-429 Pericles’s changes – Radical Democracy
►
Takes away all constitutional powers of Areopagus council; makes power of the Assembly and the
dikasteria (law courts) absolute.
►
Passes law limiting citizenship to those with two Athenian parents; this slightly reduces number of citizens and
therefore size of Assembly; has effect of making citizenship, rather than wealth, appear as basis for elite membership
in lawmaking bodies.
* Notice, that at most, political rights were only so far granted to Athenian born men. Women were never given
political rights during this time. Also, Athens had many slaves who never gained political rights either.
Despite its success, democracy certainly had its critics. Oligarchs argued that democracy was the self-interested rule of the
majority (tyranny of the mob), rule of the uneducated poor who were not qualified to make such important political decisions.
If they are given power, a tyranny will surely occur, just as the tyrant Pisistratus gained power by appealing to the common
people. Democrats argued that Oligarchs looked out for their own interests, however, and did not look out for the safety,
health, and success of all of Athens. Pericles argued furthermore that Democracy allowed more people to contribute to
society and grow their talents (the Greeks invented philosophy, science, architecture, to name a few things), thereby
improving the city-state. Athenians, Pericles also thought, were more willing to defend their political freedom and support
their fellow citizen in a democracy. In general, both supporters of democracy and oligarchy argued that the other side ignored
the common good of the city-state.
Plato, a famous philosopher during this time period, argued for a political system quite different: his Republic. In his view,
both oligarchy and democracy were poor types of government, with oligarchy only a little better than Democracy. He
believed both were ruled by individual desire, which leads to tyranny. Plato believed that people were, by nature, only made
to be good at one job, and the perfect city state would have each person accept their chosen role in society; the souls of
individuals and the state would be in balance (happy). Plato would have social classes based upon a person’s job, not their
wealth. The ruling class, of course, would be philosopher kings, who would lead, making all political decisions with their
reason and wisdom. There would be no need for written laws or courts. These special citizens would attend specialty schools
that would teach them to use their reason for the benefit of the city-state. Plato was radical at this time because he thought
women could become philosopher kings too. Soldiers, or auxiliaries, would be the next class of people, whose only job
would be to defend the city-state. The last class would be normal, working citizens, who had no political power and were
only expected to produce the necessary products for the city. People would give up personal freedoms for the overall
happiness of the city-state.
Discussion Questions
What factors led to the rise of Democracy in Athens? Geographical/Economic/Political?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of Athenian Democracy?
How was Democracy in Ancient Athens different from modern Democracies?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of Plato’s ideas for his Republic? Is it a possible choice instead of
democracy/oligarchy? Is Plato’s idea worth giving up personal freedom for happiness?