Ancient Greece Democracy

Ancient Greece Democracy

Athens was the birthplace of democracy. Other places in the world had kings, pharaohs, or emperors. This concept was introduced by a statesman named Cleisthenes in 508 B. C. Cleisthenes divided the Athenian citizens into small communities called demes. Demes were grouped together into ten tribes. Each tribe had an equal number of citizens.

Between 508 - 338 B.C. Athens formed a government called demokratia. It was ruled by the people. Every ten days the male citizens met in an assembly called the ecclesia. Each man who wished to could speak or propose laws. The men voted to determine the final laws.

Metics, slaves, and women were not considered citizens and were not allowed to participate in this process.

At times the police had to gather the Athenian citizens so there would be enough to participate. They used ropes dipped in bright red powder. The men were embarrassed to go to the Pnyx, the hill where the assembly met, with red marks. Soon almost every citizen was participating in the assembly.

Before each assembly pigs were sacrificed to the gods. The priest used the pigs' blood to draw a sacred circle around the assembly. The meetings were usually very long with so many speaking. Food and drinks had to be served.

Because the meetings were so long, a Council of 500 citizens prepared the laws ahead of time. Fifty members of the Council took turns running the government for one tenth of the year. The Council's ideas were later voted on by the entire assembly.

Every 24 hours a new president called an epistates was drawn from a container. This way each citizen could hold the position. Each magistrate was elected for one year. Pericles was so well liked that he was reelected 15 times. The assembly could vote to banish a statesman. This often led to a 10 year exile. Citizens voted by writing the name of the statesman on pieces of broken pottery called ostraka.