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Changes And Continuities In Athens

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In 590 BCE Athenians were suffering from debt and famine throughout Athens. The government and economy were also weak causing distress all over Athens. Draco writing the first written law code in Athens was the initiating event that brought democracy to Athens. In 621 BCE Draco wrote the law code in order to ease discontent in Athens since there was no previous law code. Unfortunately the law code was too harsh on the people of Athens, which caused more trouble amongst the people. Later on, due to the growing complaints about the law code, Nobles gave Solon the power to change the law code that Draco had created. Solon made economic and political changes which further shaped Athens. For example, he increased trade in Athens and abolished debt slavery. Solon didn’t create democracy in Athens, but made Athens more democratic. Solon did so by changing the qualifications for office from lineage to wealth. Solon also gave more power to the poor citizens and gave the poor noncitizens more privileges. When Solon gave up his power aristocrats took over Athens. Since Aristocrats favored the wealthy, the poor people of Athens went back to having virtually no power. …show more content…

He gave the poor class jobs in construction and took control of Athens’ grain supply. Peisistratus and other scholars decided upon the best rendition of the Iliad which was an important cultural change considering the fact that the epic poem is still studied in modern times. When Peisistratus died, his son Hippias came into power. He ruled oppressively which caused more feuding in Athens. Fortunately, he was driven out of Athens with help from the Spartans and Cleisthenes. The Spartans were not on board with the rising idea of a democracy in Athens so they had to be removed from Athens to establish a

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“In 508 BCE, the Athenian aristocrat Cleisthenes instituted the first Athenian political democracy.” As the Greek playwright, Euripides wrote in his play that,“ Nothing is worse for a city than a tyrant.” (Section 2.2The Rise of Democracy and the Threat of Persia) Cleisthenes knew that, so he gave every

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As member of the Assembly and also of the Athenian navy, I would like to point out all of the cons that this reform will bring to us if passed. Athens has been a republic with ambition, that ambition did get us to the top, but now, in current time that same ambition has brought us down to our knees. We have exceeded on our ambition to power, therefore we have to learn form our own mistakes and as an assembly, make the decision whether or not to rebuilt these longs walls. If the Spartans destroyed our walls once how can we assure that this wont happen again? By making the walls bigger?

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He instituted democracy and allowed for people to have a say in how the city was run. Without these things, Athens could never have entered the Golden Age and would have remained just another polis in the great fabric of Greek history. " All who have taken it upon themselves to rule over others have incurred hatred and unpopularity for a time; but if one has a great aim to pursue, this burden of envy must be accepted, and it is wise to accept it." (Pericles, n.d).

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Athens has been known to have very strong government leaders, such as Draco, Solon, Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes, as their laws and reforms have paved the way for many of our governments today. Among these was an outstanding leader, Peisistratus, who managed to complete the nearly impossible task of pleasing all social classes while maintaining a strong and efficient government. Peisistratus, mentee of Solon, kept Solon’s polished version of Draco’s government, and made reforms such as reduced taxes, introduction of festivals, production of coin money, and increase in trade. Peisistratus also set more jobs for the poor in the form of cleansing and sanitation of the city, which would keep the cities clean and please the aristocrats. Towards

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In Ancient Greece,four reformers changed they way Athens lived their daily lives. Their names were Draco, Solon, Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes. The reformer that believed to have put the most positive impact onto the Athenian government is Peisistratus, the mentee of Solon. Peisistratus was known as the champion of the poor for all he did and the new reforms and laws Peisistratus added on to their government. He gave the poor jobs so they had a way to make some money for them to provide for themselves and reduce taxation, which have helped a lot for most.

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Unlike the Romans, Athenians had a strict but fair schedule that allowed them to enjoy citizenship equally. Equally, hard workers have brought Athens power just as much as hereditary leaders. According to Document B all citizens should be allowed to speak their opinion and have a share in election because of the hard work they do to make the city powerful. Athenians allowed poor and common men to win a position in government which was a transition from the wealthy having power to everyone having power.

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Essentially he went so far as to find enslaved Athenians in faraway lands to bring them back from economical enslavement. The second of his reforms brought an early form of democracy, giving the power of juror to the common man. With such a strong economy supported by their fair justice system, Solon ensured that Athens had room to grow and

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Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons.

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Athens organized a group of Greek city states into the Delian League and eventually lead and dominated all of the city states in the League. Athens’s military prowess allowed them to look down on the other members of the League and treat them as members of an empire instead of equals. This caused some to view them with hostility which sparked the conflicts between Athens and Sparta that lead to the Peloponnesian War. The direct democracy of Athens wasn’t actually as inclusive and steady as the statement at Pericles 's funeral state, “Our Constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people (Doc C).” In fact, of the 450,000 citizens of Athens in 430 BC, only about 40,000 people had the power to vote.

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Which is ironic because around sixty years later in 527, Hippias ruled Athens as a tyrant. Not to fear though, he was chased out of Athens by Cleomenes and Sparta in 510 (Pomeroy 132). And we proudly acknowledge that we have not had one since Hippias, and to make sure that Athens stays a democratic polis a man named Cleisthenes was granted some power to make changes. Seven years ago, Cleisthenes made some more changes on top of Solon’s. The changes that Cleisthenes made however are what made Athens a Democracy.

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In the early 6th century BCE, Solon was an Athenian man who introduced new laws and codes to Athens that changed both social and political aspects of Athens and had a significant impact on the foundations of Athenian democracy. Solon was an Athenian lawmaker who created laws and reforms to change the social, economic and political aspects of Athenian government, and the laws and reforms he made had significant impacts on the Athenian government and had a significant impact on the foundations of Athenian democracy. Solon was born in Athens c.640 BCE and died later in c.560 BCE. He was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet in his life, and in later centuries, was seen as a kind of a semi-mythical founding father figure of Athens that had

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Moise enthusiastically strolled down the smooth cement sidewalk. He safely guarded his books under his tightening grip. He gave out a sigh of relief when he frantically checked his watch for the time. It was his last day of class before he would graduate and earn his second master's degree. He always gave off an amiable, warmhearted look, but his face was much more than that.

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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.

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The concept of leadership was prevalent in the ancient world. It had a place in the way the people of ancient times governed their lives. Greece, and especially Athens, is the cradle of democracy in the western civilization. Athens owes the first penal and civil law code to Draco. An outstanding statesman and poet called Solon acted in Athens at the same time as Draco.

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The first step toward democracy was when Draco, a nobleman, came to power in 621 B.C. Draco created a law code that stated all Athenians were equal under the law, no matter rich or poor. He also established debt slavery, where debtors worked as slaves to repay debts. Another important reformer was Solon, who came to power in 594 B.C He stated that no citizen should own another citizen, which outlawed debt slavery, and organized Athenians into four social classes by wealth.

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