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Greece in the Classical Age (1):
The greatness of Athenian Democracy
STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. Based on your prior knowledge and research if necessary, please complete the
graphic organizer called “The US System of Checks and Balances” by checking the
right answers
2. Based on the reading, complete the graphic organizer called “The Athenian System
of Checks and Balances” by checking the right answers
3. Who in the Greek population could become Archons until the Archaic Age?
4. What major social and political change occurred in the Archaic Age that led to the
transformation of the Council of Areopagus into the Council of 400?
5. After the victory against the Persians, what social crisis in Athens led to the
transformation of the Council of 400 into the Council of 500?
6. Why did Reason become the most important virtue for the Athenians during the
Classical Age?
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US SYSTEM OF
CHECKS AND BALANCES
Executive Branch
(check correct answer)
 Enforces the laws?
 Makes the laws?
 Passes the laws?
(check correct answer)
Legislative Branch
Is represented by ?
 Congress?
 The President?
 The Supreme Court?
(check correct answer)
 Enforces the laws?
 Makes the laws?
 Passes the laws?
(check correct answer)
Is represented by ?
 Congress?
 The President?
 The Supreme Court?
Judicial Branch
(check correct answer)
 Enforces the laws?
 Makes the laws?
 Passes the laws?
(check correct answer)
Is represented by ?
 Congress?
 The President?
 The Supreme Court?
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ATHENIAN SYSTEM OF
CHECKS AND BALANCES (AAA)
Executive
(checkBranch
correct answer)
Was represented by ?
 Archons?
 Apella?
 Areopagus?
(check correct answer)
 Enforced the laws?
 Made the laws?
 Passed the laws?
Legislative Branch
(check correct answer)
Was represented by ?
 Archons?
 Apella?
 Areopagus?
(check correct answer)
 Enforced the laws?
 Maked the laws?
 Passed the laws?
Judicial Branch
(check correct answer)
Was represented by ?
 Archons?
 Apella?
 Areopagus?
(check correct answer)
 Enforced the laws?
 Made the laws?
 Passed the laws?
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In 508 B.C., the people of Athens had successfully revolted against their last tyrant
Isagoras. They then had turned to Cleisthenes to come up with a new political organization
whereby the citizens would take a more forceful and more direct role in running the city-state.
He came up with a new political organization which he called demokratia, or democracy – rule
by the entire body of citizens. Cleisthenes hoped to create a harmonious system that would give
an equal voice to all its citizens. Democracy was born, and this new political system would be
the single most important contribution of the Greeks to Western civilization.
A three-branch government dominated by the aristocracy
Similar to our current system of Checks and Balances, Athens began the Archaic Age
with a typical three-part government made of an executive branch enforcing the laws (kings), a
legislative branch making the laws (council of elders), and a judicial branch approving the laws
(assembly of warriors). One variation was that Athens had placed its kings with a nine-person
council called the archons. With fewer wars and more stability, the Athenians felt no need to
have the constant presence of a king. The nine archons were elected and served a one-year term
of office. Their duties were to basically run the city on a day-to-day basis. They did not make
laws, but simply enforced them. In the early Archaic Age only nobles, the largest landowners,
were allowed to be archons.
The assembly of citizens was called the Apella and was composed of only the largest
landowners of Athens. The Apella had the same basic powers it had always had since the Dark
Ages. It elected the Archons and said yes or no to laws proposed by the Council of Areopagus.
The average farmer, merchant or goat herder possessed little power until the late Archaic Age.
The council of elders in Athens was known as the Council of Areopagus. The
Areopagus was the name of a hill in the city where the council gathered for their meetings. The
real power in Athens resided in this group as they were the ones who made the laws for Athens.
Its members were once again drawn from only the most powerful noble families and they served
for life.
The inclusion of the merchant class in the government (Council of 400)
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All that began to change with the new style of hoplite
warfare in the late Archaic Age and especially with the success
of the Athenian phalanxes at the Battle of Marathon in 490
BCE. The Athenian army was made up of citizens. It was
considered an honorable duty to fight for one’s polis and every
citizen was expected to participate if at all possible. The
problem was that hoplites were expected to provide their own
armor and weapons, which were certainly not cheap. Nobles
obviously could afford the equipment, but there were never
enough nobles in Athens to form and entire army. Remember
that the phalanxes which hoplites fought in required large
numbers of men, in thousands if at all possible. Who else could
afford armor? The mid-size farmers who had some decent land
could generally get their hands on armor, but more hoplites
were needed. This is where the merchant class comes into play.
We discussed in a previous handout the rise of a merchant class throughout Greece who made
their money off trade, yet owned no land. Many in this group could afford armor also. The poor,
which were the mass of the population of Athens, generally were given duty as slingers throwing
rocks at the enemy... a rather low-class job which matched their status.
So how did the rise of hoplite warfare affect the political situation in Athens? The
merchant class, who played a large role in the phalanx, were offended that they had no political
power in the government. They put their lives on the line just like the nobles and large
landowners, so why didn't they get a voice? The merchants in Athens demanded a voice and the
nobles, despite their hatred of the business class, had no choice but to give in. If the nobles didn't
give the merchants a voice, then who would fight in the phalanxes? And who knows, maybe
these same merchants could also start a civil war!
The government was altered in the following ways in the late Archaic Age: There were
still nine archons and they still served for one year and they still simply enforced the laws of the
city. Now, however, anyone who could afford armor could run for office, which meant
merchants or nobles.
The Council of Areopagus basically became the Council of 400. Again, anyone who
could afford armor could run for this council, and serve for a 1-year term. They made the laws
for Athens and thus held most of the power.
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Lastly, the Apella was also opened to anyone who could afford armor. They still had a
yes or no vote to the laws proposed by the Council of 400, and they now elected the members of
the Council of 400 as well as the Archons.
The inclusion of the lower classes in the government (Council of 500)
Within the Classical Age, however (480-323 BCE) this government would change yet
again. And yet again, it would be warfare that was the cause of the change. If the Battle of
Marathon proved the worth of the hoplite, then the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE proved the
importance of having a navy. It was the Athenian navy which had saved the day and defeated
Xerxes’ forces. And if Athens wanted to become the protector and leader of the Aegean, then it
would have to maintain a large and permanent naval fleet of three hundred or more ships. Who
was the navy, though? Nobles, merchants, and the successful farmer were all hoplites. That was
considered to be the highest goal, brave and noble, fighting in the phalanx. But what of the poor
of Athens; the thousands of small farmers who barely managed to scrape a living off of their
land, the goat herders who wandered the mountains around Attica? In land battles, as was
mentioned before, they became the light-troops who had no armor and would just throw rocks at
the enemy before the main action began. And they became the navy.
Those who rowed the ships for Athens were the poor and they were the mass of the
population, tens of thousands of them. In the later Roman period it would be slaves who rowed
the warships, but in the Greek period they were all free citizens who couldn’t afford armor. It
certainly wasn’t glamorous, hundreds of men rowing at once, sweating and half-naked, cramped
below decks and unable to even see where they were going or what was happening. For most of
the Archaic Age the navy had just been used to move foot soldiers from place to place, but the
Battle of Salamis showed that having a powerful fleet was far more important than that. In this
case, it was the poor who had saved Athens. They had risked their lives and saved Greece from
Persian domination and now they were being asked to continue rowing in the Delian League. If
Athens wanted to keep an empire across the Aegean, it needed the cooperation of the poor and
the poor knew it. Besides, the merchants needed the poor to row if there was to be any trade.
The masses of Athens began agitating for a voice. Civil war threatened to rip Athens
apart. Oddly enough, the poor Athenians never demanded more land or equal amounts of wealth.
What they wanted was a political voice, a say in their own government. Ten years of social
unrest followed the aftermath of the Persian Wars until it was clear to all that the government
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needed to change. Therefore, a new council was created to replace the old Council of 400: the
Council of 500.
Even though the archons were still elected, the members of the Council of 500 were now
chosen by a random lottery (similar to the way random citizens are selected today to become
jurors) for one year. A lottery system now meant that each person (poor or rich) would get an
absolutely equal chance to be on the Council of 500, and having lots of money or a fancy noble
heritage would be meaningless. So, anyone who was a free male citizen now had a fair shot at
being in the Council of 500!
Reason as main virtue in a direct democracy
What this system meant was that, in general, if you were born a free male citizen of
Athens and lived long enough, it was more likely you would be serving in Athenian government
at some point in your life; probably more than once. How many Americans can say that they
served in the government during their lives? For this reason, many political scientists and
historians consider the government of Athens during the Classical Age to have been the pinnacle
of democracy in the ancient world, and probably even more democratic than the United States
today (at least in some ways). This government comes close to being a pure democracy, which is
a system where the people actually decide their own laws and future. Our system in the United
States is a representative democracy where we elect people to decide our fates for us.
If the Athenians believed that their system was best, and most Athenians did, what does
that say about the Athenians’ view of virtue? Since they believed that everyone (at least all free
males) should participate in the government as a right and duty, then it seems to suggest that for
them, being reasonable and logical was vital to the survival of the State. They believed that their
fellow citizens (poor and rich), and even though they have an emotional and irrational side, could
control those emotions when it came to political decisions. If you really thought that people were
basically crazy and stupid, would you support a democracy where all people have a voice? Well,
the typical Athenian believed that his fellow Greeks could and should be rational, and that using
one’s reason was the best way to live. Reason leads to right judgments. The question became for
them: how can we ensure that all of our fellow citizens become reasonable enough to be ready to
serve? Through education. This will be the topic of our next handout folks!
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