Download Athens and Experiments in Democracy

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* City states emerge from dark ages
* Population increases
* Lack of arable land causes problems
* Era of colonization 750 BC to 550 BC
* People went out to establish new colonies
* 150 different cities along the Mediterranean
Sea
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* Panhellenic sanctuaries – religious centers that
belonged to no one city but rather served as
gathering places for all the Greek city-states
* Oracle – a place the Greeks believed the gods
spoke to mortals
* Delphi – most famous oracle for over 1,000
years – 800BC to 390 AD
* Greeks felt it was the center of the earth
* Discusses ?s from going to war to basic daily
problems
* Will I become rich?
* Will I get a divorce?
* Will I get a vacation?
* Have I been poisoned?
* Advice – know yourself and practice
moderation
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* Tyrants – men who controlled city-states
through revolution
* Not all tyrants were bad
* Bad tyrants surrounded by bodyguards
* Most tyrants are eventually overthrown
* Drinking songs about tyrants
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* Coinage – introduced about 6th century BC
* Value was based on actual worth
* Each city stamped a symbol on it’s currency
* Athens was most valuable with Athena on one
side and an owl on the other
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* Athens was the largest, richest and most
populated city-state
* Produced the most writers so we know more
about it
* Plagued by class warfare (?)
* Poor were debtors and rich were unhappy
* Poor could not pay or earn enough
* Rich could not attain political posts
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* Close to civil war when they put the wisest man,
Solon, in charge
* Solon abolished debts (How does that work today?)
* Divided citizens into 4 groups based on wealth
* Top 2 groups could become elected officials
* Establishes Heliala – new court of law
* All citizens had the right to appeal to a jury of their
peers
* Anyone could bring a lawsuit
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* Solon was good at compromising
* Solon not popular at times and Athenians had to
take an oath not to change laws for 10 years
* Solon leaves Athens and travels
* Peisistratus rules as a tyrant for decades after
fooling people with a fake 6’ Athena declaring him
the leader
* Assassination attempt on his life over a girl
* Exiled twice, championed the poor, he was wealthy,
improved trade and agriculture, and built the 1st
acqueduct
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* 1st democracy begins in 508 BC after people
grew tired of tyrants
* Wise man, Cleisthenes, sets up 1st real
democracy
* Divided Athenians into 10 tribes made up of
people from 3 different geographical locations
* People had to work together
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* Council of 500 – 1st legislature chosen by 10
tribes with 50 reps. chosen by random lottery
* Each citizen had a chance to serve
* Could vote people they didn’t like (600 votes)
out of Athens for 10 years (ostracism)
* Some ballots had similar handwriting
* How would this work today?
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* Each citizen could speak at Council of 500
* Democracy was only for those that qualified as
citizens
* Women, children, slaves and foreigners did not
count as citizens
* Athens experimented with different ways of
sharing power
* Did not want God kings and power with 1
person
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* Many forms of democracy were tried over the
years
* Many other city-states, except Sparta,
experiment with democracy.
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