In mid-6th c. BCE Athens, just five years after the government of Solon (594), the Athenians found themselves encompassed by dissension and internal disorder. Athens created the first democracy-based government, although their government became more of a republic with democratic attributes. They, the electors, were unable to elect an Archon for five years due to their dissent with the former principles ran by the State. All people within Athens viewed these principles with contempt, those in the elite[upper] class were ‘estranged because of the abolition of debts,’ while the poor people wanted the distribution of all land and property. Both parties were unhappy with the changes made by Solon’s reforms and so many refused to vote for any new
Many of the ancient lands we learn about in school are situated in river valleys teeming with silt that’s just waiting for stuff to be grown in it. This doesn’t make things easy for them, exactly, but, at the very least, that part of their life is taken care of. They can get both water and food from these river valleys they call home, as well as wealth from trading their crops. This was the case for both Mesopotamia and Egypt. Ancient Greece, however, as stated in Document 1, did not have these advantages.
This was the first instance in history where one can find traces of the classical Athenian democracy, ever since organizing Attica into the political landscape which would have a lifetime of about two hundred years. Cleisthene’s reforms took two formulas, one of which distinguished the basic foundations of the Athenian democracy, redefining how people within Athens viewed themselves with regards to one another and their relationship to the state. Cleisthene’s reforms were directed towards breaking the chain of power in which the aristocratic families held, interchanging regional loyalties with pan-Athenian solidarity, averting the rise of a new tyrant. He also, made the village or in the terms they used, “deme,” into a central unit of political organization, while managing to sway Athenians to assume their deme-name into their own. Therefore, whereas an Athenian man would have previously identified himself as “Demochares, son of Demosthenes,” he would now more than likely refer to himself as “Demochares from Marathon.”
The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed the people's government known as demokratia (democracy) was less desirable than other forms of authority such as aristocracy, polity, and monarchy. The root word "demos" has several meanings in the Greek Language. The term democracy means mob or assembly and Aristotle believed a democratic government was an authority ruled by the lesser educated or mob rule. During the period of Athenian Democracy, native male born citizens were strongly encouraged to participate in politics while women, slaves, and aliens were without decision-making priviledges. Some Athenians purchased their positions, while others were not equipped to contribute to politics properly.
The complex dynamics involved are demonstrated by the brief oligarchic rule of the Thirty Tyrants who were allies of Sparta and worked to hinder the city's democratic aspects. following the surrender of Athens in 404 BCE. The fact that democracy was later restored in 403 BCE emphasizes how resilient Athenian democratic ideals were and shows that the war was not the only factor in its downfall (“The Peloponnesian War.”, n.d.).
The ancient Rome and ancient Greece Government had some similarities and some differences. Both governments had a specific structure or organization. Each part of their government had specific roles or jobs. The similarities between the two governments were small, but important. We still see some aspects of the governmental structure they both practiced then, in modern times.
In ancient Athens or Athenian democracy, the word “Demos” had three different definitions or meanings. The first definition is that it was a word they used for a local village. They also translated it as “deme” which means “a smallest administrative unit of the Athenian state like a voting precinct or school district” (Stoa, 2017). This is where men who were 18 years of age and were Athenians with Athenian parents “presented themselves to officials of their deme”, to prove that they were free men, 18 years of age, and with Athenian parents after which they were enrolled into the Assembly List to enable them to participate in politics or voting (Stoa, 2017).
The first definition of Demos in the Greek language means a village. In the Athenian state, the village was regarded as the smallest unit of the administrative setup. It is compared to a voting center or precinct where eligible male citizens would often congregate to be enlisted as a member of the assembly. According to Blackwell (2003), there were specific requirement Athenian male citizens had to meet before they were enlisted in the deme (village) assembly list. Once they were enlisted in the assembly list, there and then, were they qualified to participate in matters
Government is a form of political structure that rules over a group of specific people and while stability is important, in most societies government is fluid in its form and changes over time. As different forms of government take power, typically one demographic is favored over another. While the Athenian democracy favored the masses, oligarchic sympathizers like Pseudo-Xenophon, displayed their discontent with it. In his negative critique of Athenian democracy titled “The Constitution of the Athenians,” Pseudo-Xenophon supports the oligarchic system over the democratic one, yet still maintains a respect for the Athenian’s democracy as he comments on its longevity and stability.
Evaluation: This source was written by Aristotle in 350 BCE as he was present at the time that democracy was developed it makes this source a primary source making it more reliable. The source provided a detailed explanation of the ancient Greeks democratic processes and development as the source was highly detailed it provides for a more reliable source. The source is translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon he is a palaeographer and a biblical and classical scholar this means that the source has been translated by a qualified professionally, thus meaning it is more reliable. This source is useful as it provides insight into the laws and rules of ancient Greece at the time this helped in the understanding of the ancient Greek society and what
As far as democracy is concerned, critics of democracy, such as Thucydides and Aristophanes, both are pinpointing on that the demos in which that they thought that it could be too easily swayed by a good orator or popular leaders the firebrand and get carried away with their emotions. Democracy Democracy in Athens the government officials are chosen by sweepstakes and worked for 1 year for proposing and enforcing decrees but didn’t have much individual power. Democracy in Athenian government the way that the citizens pass a vote is getting done, in elected by the assembly annually for making decisions about military matters and by showing hands.
The three definitions of "Demos" According to the Blackwell (2003), Athenian Demos has three meanings, that "was the local village, the population generally, and the assembly of citizens that governed the state. " For me, it seems that demo is a just similar word for the public. So, I focused on the word, people on its meaning as follows. Ober (2007) explained that demos could be translated as "the people, "which is "native adult male residents of a polis."
The Greeks displayed their humanistic values through government by they utilizing an effective system of self governing. This system was a direct democracy, defined as “government by the people” or “rule of the majority.” In the Athenian Democracy, the Assembly was the regular
Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, ¨Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.¨(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, “Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.¨(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy.
However when analyzing the etymology of the word democracy we come to find out that demos means the people and kratia means rule or power in greek. As stated in the article “The Problem with Democracy Today,” contrary to other political institutions who holds the power is not clearly stated “if the regime is a
