Download Athens and the Fall of the City

Athens and the Fall of the City-States
Vocabulary
• Constitution – a set of rules for government
• Democratic – favoring equality for all people
• Magistrates – Judges
• Council of 500 – group of 500 random Athenian
citizens that were chosen to make the laws in
Athens
Vocabulary
• Mercenaries – hired soldiers from another
country
• Thetes- craftsmen that lived in the city in
Athens
• Metics – craftsmen that lived outside the city
I. Athenian Government
• The original form of government looked a lot
like Sparta, but fear of an uprising from the
lower non-citizen classes forced them to
change
I. Athenian Government
• The noble, Salon, set up a constitution for Athens
that set the following rules:
- a limit was placed on how much land a
person could have
- All land owners had voting rights
- All laws were passed by Assembly
- All debt was erased
- Citizenship was extended to artisans working
in the city, Thetes
- Every father was ordered to teach his son a
trade
I. Athenian Government
• Salon lost power and was replaced by Pisistratus
who kept much of Salon’s constitution but added to
it.
– More land was divided among the poor
– Citizens did not have to own land
– Encouraged sculpture and art
I. Athenian Government
• After Athens regained power from Sparta a noble by
the name of Cleisthenes , who set up the 1st
Democratic Government in Athens.
– The citizens of Athens made the laws by setting up the
Council of 500
• This made it possible EVERY citizen to have a chance to
participate in legislature
• Each person could only serve 2 terms
I. Athenian Government
• Cleisthenes also set up other parts of the Athenian
Government:
– 10 Army and Navy Generals were elected to run
the military and serve as Magistrates in a high
court
– 1 Commander-in-chief was elected
– Freedom of speech was given to Athenian
Citizens
– All Athenian men 20 and over voted in Assembly
II. Athenian Education
• Boys were to be educated starting at age 7
– There weren’t public schools, so they either attended
private schools or were given a private tutor
– They learned how to read, write, do math, play music,
and play sports
– Emphasis was placed on sports, poetry, plays and music
– At age 18 boys born to Athenian Families became
citizens
II. Athenian Education
• Girls were kept in the home to learn house hold
duties from their mothers.
– Duties included, ordering slaves around, spinning and
weaving, and caring for other children in the house
– They were forbidden to interact with men or to even
leave the home except for funerals and a few other
religious events
– Considered a woman at age 13, Married off at age 14/15
– Women couldn’t even take part in the arts, all female
roles in plays were acted out by men
III. Social Structure
• All citizens belonged to the group called
Freemen, there were 3 groups that made up
this top class:
1. Aristocrats
2. Farmers
3. Thetes = urban craftsmen
III. Social Structure
• The next class of people were the Metics
– Lived outside the city and could not own land
– They could operate their own business
– Some were eventually allowed to become
Athenian citizens
III. Social Structure
• Slaves were the lowest of the social classes
– Most Athenian households owned slaves
– Slaves held important jobs such as teachers and nurses
IV. Decline of Athens
• The decline of Athens occurred when they
fought a 30 yr war with Sparta
• Many of the young Athenian soldiers left to
become Spartan mercenaries and Athens lost
control to Sparta
• When Athens did regain control, they never
regained the power they lost
V. Decline of the City-State
• The City-States began to fight amongst one
another which weakened all of them
• Leaders began to focus on individual wealth
and having a good time
• Outside forced were able to take over all of
Greece