Ancient Greece L.E.G.S.
Government and Law
By Chandler Murphy
There will be questions at the top of each page, kind of like the essential question for each slide. We will
simply answer these questions at the end of each slide before we move to the next one.
Original Governments
What were the original governments of Ancient Greece?
Greece had many different city-states, or self-governing tiny nations. Among them was
Athens. It started out as a oligarchy. An oligarchy is a form of government where the most powerful and
rich people govern. Other city-states had a monarchy, where there is only one leader. The era in which
the government varied between these governments was called the classical era. The government varied
between these two forms for each city-state, until Athenian democracy began under Cleisthenes.
Oligarchy
Monarchy
Same
More than one leader
One leader
No non-aristocratic citizens
were involved in the
government
Rich and powerful people
govern
The monarch makes all
decisions and laws
Democracy in Athens
What was democracy in Athens and what was it like?
Athens was an oligarchy until its citizens revolted, in 508 BC, demanding a voice in their government,
and finally the old government was forced to make a new government. A man named Cleisthenes, who was born in
570 BC, and lead the “democratic revolution” of Athens. Cleisthenes was a ruler before 508 BC in Athens’ oligarchy,
but then he created the idea for a democracy.
Democracy was two Greek words that were put together to mean “rule by the people”.
Only free Athenian men served in government, this promotes fairness, because according to Pericles
“all” viewpoints are heard.
Athenian democracy was a direct democracy where more citizens (but not women, therefore, women
had no role in their government), or a person who has rights and responsibilities to their country had a direct role in
their government. Everything was ordered by vote of the people. The vote was based on black and white pebbles,
black pebbles meant no, and the white pebble meant yes.
Anyone could suggest a change in the laws in the Athenian democracy. However, if the majority didn’t
like it majority ruled, but there was firm respect for the minority’s opinion.
In this democracy everyone had equal rights, rich or poor. Pericles a leader from 450 BC- 429 BC made
this so by letting rich or poor could be in the jury, a jury is a group of citizens who hear evidence and make decisions
in courts of law.
Country side villages and Athenian neighborhoods were units of political organization, referred to as
demes in Athenian democracy. These demes were grouped into ten tribes, before democracy there were just four
tribes.
By 450 BC Pericles was the democratic leader.
Comparison of
Democracy and Oligarchy
How are democracy and oligarchy different?
Old Government (Oligarchy)
New Government (Democracy)
Only the rich and wealthy had a voice in
the government
Everybody had a voice in the government
More than one leader, but not everyone
Had three democratic branches: the
Citizen Assembly, the courts, and the
Council of 500
Upholding the Democracy
How was democracy upheld so there wasn’t chaos?
According to Lycurgus the things that upheld the democracy of Athens were the system of laws, the
vote of the jury, and the method of prosecution. The system of laws upheld the democracy, because without laws
there would be chaos. The vote of the jury upheld the democracy, because without it, it simply wouldn’t be a
democracy. The method of prosecution would uphold the democracy, because if there is no prosecution and
someone does a crime they’re not getting punished for the crime they did.
“The things which in the main uphold our democracy
and preserve the city’s prosperity [wealth] are three in
number: first the system of laws, second the vote of the
jury, and the third the method of prosecution by which
crimes are handed over to them [the juries].”
-Lycurgus
Ostracizing People
What if you didn’t want someone in the city?
If citizens wanted to get someone out of the city they would ostracize them by voting on a broken
shard of pottery, called a ostrica, once a year. The person’s name who appeared most would be banished from
the city. The Athenians could do this to literally anyone, being that they ostracized the man who lead them to
victory in the Persian War, Themistocles.
A picture of an
Ancient Greek
ostracon
Parts (branches) of Athenian
Democracy
Were there different “branches” of the government, like there is in the U.S.
The democracy consisted of three parts or branches: the courts, the citizen assembly (the part that
voted), and the council of 500. Everyone was paid to participate in the branches.
The Citizen Assembly
The Courts
Athenian Democracy
The Council of 500
The Judicial Branch
How did the court system work?
Courts were a crucial part of governing democracy, Aristotle once said that whoever owns the courts
owns the state. The courts in Athens were very large jury courts, the smallest ones had 201 jury members (one
to avoid tie in the vote)! Maybe there would be 500, 1,000, or 1,500! Even one time the court had 6,000
members on one case! There was no lawyers and no official court officials. Although there were no lawyers,
there was two litigants, in today’s terms prosecutor, and defense attorney. One argued the act was committed,
the other was a defense. You had to have witnesses to defend you in court in Ancient Athens.
The court’s decision was based on the laws solely.
The Thetes were masters of the law, because on most cases they were the jury and most cases came
down to the jury.
Only the wealthiest owned these courts.
Green, Middle, Greater, and Red courts (somewhat like the peoples’ courts that dealt with less
serious issues) were meant for lesser offences. Besides this there were four other courts, three that dealt with
homicide, the other was a “high court” the Areopagus, the Palladion, the Delphinion, and the Prythaneion. The
Areopagus was a high court where only serious cases were brought (that existed long before democracy), the
Palladion dealt with unintentional homicide, the Delphinion dealt with cases of justifiable homicide, and the
Prythaneion dealt with homicide cases in which animals, inanimate objects, or unknown person were
responsible for a death.
An Ancient Athens
court of law
(Areopagus)
More on the Areopagus
Before Solon the Areopagus was the only place in Athens that was oligarchic still, each year, the nine
archons (the officials with the highest military and political authority) to be members of the court ultimately.
Solon changed this so there would be ten candidates from each tribe (100 in total) and the nine archons would
chose from a random lot of these to be members of the Areopagus. After an Athenian was one of the nine
archons he was investigated, and from there he could become a member of the Areopagus for life.
The Citizen Assembly
What was the citizen assembly and its functions? Also, how did it work?
The citizen assembly was something where there wasn’t much to it, the citizen assembly just voted
on issues that concerned their city. Also after 462 BC controlled legislation (before this the Areopagus did), or the
citizen assembly approved laws that the council of 500 proposed, this was the early version of checks and
balances. This gave male citizens (18 or older) an opportunity to vote on how to govern the polis. Although this
was rather simple it was the key element to Athenian democracy. About 6,000 citizens were in this assembly who
got together every 9 days 40 times a year.
A portrait of what the citizen assembly may
have looked like.
The Council of 500
What was the Council of 500, and what were its functions? Also, how did it work
The council of 500 (also called the boule) is well… a council of 500, they prepared the agenda for the
citizen assembly’s meetings mainly, they also proposed decrees for laws for the citizen assembly to vote on. The
council consisted of 50 people, who were randomly selected from each of the ten tribes that Aristotle divided
Athens up into. Citizens who were selected could only serve twice on the council. Originally this council was a
council of 400 until Aristotle changed it.
A portrait of what the council of 500 may have
looked like.
Pericles’ Funeral Speech
In the Pericles Funeral Speech Pericles, an Athenian leader talks about how their democracy sets them
apart from other city-states:
• On lines two and three Pericles says that the Athenians don’t copy their neighbors, but are an example to
them with Athenian democracy.
• On lines three and four it says that they are a democracy with public service merit awards, otherwise the
Athenian democracy is a rewarding democracy.
• This speech also says on lines eight-ten that anyone, no matter if he is poor or any other condition can do
public service.
• On one hand you have work and on the other you have pleasure, and the two hands are balanced according
to lines 11-13.
• Lines 14-17 and 19 say that Athenians welcome new products and ideas.
• On lines 18-20 and 23 Pericles explains that the Athenians’ military achievements are only, because they have
strength and a good mind.
• Later on lines 27-29 the speech says that all citizens are expected to be involved politically.
• On lines 32-33 Pericles says discussion is the key to knowledge and success.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and versatility are key traits to success according to lines 35-37.
Laws, in General
No law had more power than a decree (An official order issued by a legal authority), but at the same
time no decree could override a law. All the laws in Athens applied to all the citizens, unless the assembly of 6,000
decided differently by secret ballot. Laws were passed through a process called nomothesia. Every year the citizen
assembly met to discuss the current laws. If the assembly wanted to change the laws, a board of legislators was
selected to review and revise the laws. The board was called the Nomothetai would vote on the changes to the
laws. Any changes would be written down and read aloud at the next assembly meeting. The group reviewed the
laws every year
The Draconian Constitution
What was the Draconian constitution like, the first laws?
There were no laws to start out in Greece in 900 BC, this was after the dark ages. However, soon there
were laws.
In 620 BC (pre-democracy), the first official laws were made, by a man named Draco. Draco was from
Athens. These laws were very harsh, so they had to be written in blood!!!! In fact the word Draconian (meaning
excessively harsh) came from these laws! The only thing good about these laws was they distinguished murder and
involuntary homicide. However, most things about these laws were bad, such as the death penalty being the
punishment for even minor offences. Intentional murders are also punishable by death. However, according to the
preserved part of the Draconian Constitution unintentional homicides aren’t punishable by death they deserve
only a sentence of exile. Murder was a tort law according to Draco and the punishment was exile (tort law- when
someone does harm to you or to harm your property). To make these laws less harsh a man named Solon had to
come in.
In these laws and the ones that followed it equal protection under law was offered, complex rules
made it so this wasn’t corrupted.
With these first laws established it was known that the laws were to be recorded by the six junior
archons (the officials with the highest military and political authority).
Later, fortunately for Ancient Greece
the laws were changed.
Solon’s Laws
These cruel laws couldn’t stay, what were the laws like after this?
Solon’s laws were published in 594 BC (still pre-democracy, but more fair). The only laws that Solon
kept from Draco were his laws of homicide. Solon created a law of amnesty (An official pardon for people who
have been convicted of political offenses.) Solon probably also created laws about governing marriage, adoption,
inheritance, property transfers, treatment of orphans, and the protection of weaker members in society, which
were legally unable to aid themselves. It is also possible that Solon enriched the concepts of succession only by
legitimate heirs (A person legally entitled to the property or rank of another on that person's death), children
born by wedlock, and adoption of heirs in the absence of natural legitimate sons.
Old Laws
New laws
Summary notes
What should you know after watching this PowerPoint?
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Before Athenian democracy the governments varied between monarchy and oligarchy, this was called the
“classical era”
Athenian democracy revolutionized Greek government, by letting more people have a voice in their
government.
Athenian democracy was upheld by the system of laws, the vote of the jury, and the method of prosecution,
according to Lycurgus.
If you wanted someone banished from Athens you could put their name on a shard of pottery, called a
ostracon, the whole city would vote like this, and the person’s name who appeared most would be banished
The courts had many jury members
There were no lawyers or court officials
Green, Middle, Greater, and Red courts were the names for “the people’s courts”
The Areopagus was the “high court” where serious issues were brought (pre-democracy)
The Palladion, the Delphinion, and the Prythaneion Courts all dealt with different types of homicide
The Citizen Assembly had 6,000 members, who voted on issues concerning their city, and proposed laws to the
Council of 500
The Council of 500 prepared the agenda for the assembly’s meetings, and approved or disapproved the
proposed laws from the assembly.
Pericles’ Funeral Speech states that Athenians are different from the other city-states.
There were no laws to start out in Greece
The Draconian Constitution was very cruel (pre-democracy)
A man named Solon made these laws less cruel, only keeping the homicide laws from the Draconian
Constitution (still pre-democracy)
Thanks for Watching!
P.S. This background is made of marble on either side, and granite in the middle, all of which
are very stretched.
Bibliography
•Our World
•Pericles Funeral Speech
•Mr. Baskin’s quote DBQs
• “The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization
•Yale Website
•Canadianlawsite.ca
•Wikipedia Article: Draco
•Mr. Baskin’s Essay on Athenian democracy
•Mr. Baskin’s notes on Athenian democracy