Download Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens

Name______________________________________________ Date_____________________________ Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens
Directions:
• Read the descriptions of direct democracy in Athens.
• Answer the questions as you read!
• Be sure to use evidence from the text in your response.
The Assembly
Ancient Athenians
practiced direct democracy in
several ways. The first way
was through the general
assembly. All citizens were
able to vote, but first they
would debate the issue.
Anyone could choose to speak
for or against a proposal,
responding to the call “Who
wishes to speak?” However, it
was difficult to address a crowd
of thousands, so often only the
best speakers, called orators,
would speak on different sides
of an issue. After the debate,
View of the Pnyx from the Observatory with the Speaker’s platform (bema) citizens could vote using either
visible right of center. http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_ekklesia.html a show of hands, writing their
vote on a broken piece of
pottery, or voting with either or black or white pebble. Usually there had to be at least 6,000
participating and if there weren’t enough men there, slaves with red ropes would be instructed to
harness nearby folks to get them to the Pynx, or meeting place. If they had red on their robes,
they could be fined. Later, however, pay for participation was introduced and this helped to get
citizens there to vote and made sure that even poor citizens could take time away from work to
participate.
1. How were decisions made in the general assembly?
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2. How did Athenians make sure that citizens showed up at the assembly?
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The Council of 500
In addition to the assembly, there was a council that met daily to set the agenda and
carry-out day to day decisions. There were five hundred members that were randomly chosen,
and each served as the leader, or “president” for a month. They met together in the circular
Tholos and even ate there. Some of them were even expected to take turns living there as well.
The Council of 500 were chosen randomly through a selection system. Names were randomly
placed in slots in a device, and then small black and white marble balls were sent through a chute
that would line up with the names. Citizens were chosen and not chosen based on whether or not
they were placed next to a white or black marble.
3. How were “the assembly” and “council of 500” similar and different?
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The Juries
At first the assembly often acted as juries,
groups of people who decided whether someone
was guilty or not guilty of an accused crime or
wrongdoing. Later, however, juries were created.
Jury members were also randomly selected.
There was oftentimes a minimum of 200 citizens,
but there could be over 2,000. Juries were
scattered across the city and the “courts.” Just
like the Council of 500, jurors were randomly
selected through a sorting machine to ensure
fairness and equity. Jurors were also paid to
participate. People defended themselves, but
sometimes had orators speak on their behalf.
Trials didn’t last longer than a day, and they kept
the trials on time by using water clocks—tubes of
water that kept time as they were emptied and
poured out. Jurors voted by using bronze ballots
and were selected through a jury allotment device
like the one pictured here. Ten rows of narrow slots were used to hold the juror's tickets. The hollow tube held black and white balls. When cranked, a black or white ball issued forth, determining who would serve that day. The machine assured random selection of the jury and equal tribal representation.
Reconstruction drawing of the jury-­‐allotment device (kleroterion). Agora Museum Archives. According to Aristotle, a pair of such kleroteria stood at the entrance to each court (Athenian Constitution 63). http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_jury.html 4. What did juries do? How did they make sure the juries were fair?
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Conditions for Direct Democracy
Atheninans were able to participate in direct democracy partly because the city state
population was small enough to do so and wealthy enough to do so. Athenians depended heavily
on slave labor, which freed them from work so that they had the time to meet, debate, and
participate in government decisions. Later laws also required payment for participation in the
assembly and juries so that they all citizens, no matter how rich or poor, could participate. While
these conditions allowed greater participation, eligible citizens still only made up not more than
20 percent of the total populations because citizenship did not include women, slaves, or anyone
who was not Athenian by birth.
5. What are the conditions of direct democracy?
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Protecting Democracy
Athenians took great measure to ensure fairness and equality in their direct democracy,
such as secret balloting for jurors, random selection of assembly leaders, and participation in the
generally assembly. They also took measure to make sure no tyranny developed by using a
system called ostracism. If Athenians felt that one person was becoming to powerful or
influential, once a year they could vote to have them leave Athens for ten years. Athenians
protected freedom of speech, but even they had their limits, as witnessed by the untimely death
of Socrates, an ancient philosopher who asked too many questions and who, according to many,
became too influential. He was not just exiled (forced to leave the city-state for at least ten
years), but sentenced to death by hemlock poison.
If someone received at least 6,000 votes, they were exiled. This was also known as ostracism. First a vote was cast by simple show of hands majority. Two months later, the citizens would meet again and cast votes on ballots. The ballots, like the ones to the left were names written on broken pieces of pottery. http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/practic
e_of_ostracism.html 6. Why might someone be ostracized in Ancient Athens?
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Bonus Activity: Do you think it was fair to exile people when citizens felt they had too much
power? What else could the ancient Athenians do to prevent tyranny? Write your response on a
separate piece of paper