How Did Athens Code Of Law Influence Athenian Government

Athens established what is generally considered the first democracy in the fifth century BC. It took over three hundred years for it to evolve from a monarchy. The Athenians were far ahead of other countries in their structure of government. The revisions of laws, representative justice, and citizen-based law making impacted Athens’ movement from a monarchy to a democracy, influencing the United States’ government today.

The Athenian Code of Laws was an important step in the protection of the rights of the individual. Before this was enacted, there was no standardization to apply punishment. In 624 BC, Draco was appointed Archon Eponymos, the leader over the archons, by the Athenian citizens to establish laws for Athens. Draco’s Code of Laws

As the democracy in Athens further developed, impartial and just juries were created. First, Solon started giving power to the Athenian citizens by allowing them to serve on juries to decide court cases. The citizen-based juries ensured that an alleged perpetrator was yielded fair results. Juries consisting of multiple people from diverse backgrounds could arrive at a better verdict than one person acting alone. In 594 BC, Solon formed the Council of Aeropagus, a group of retired archons empowered to make new laws, but eventually became a much esteemed judicial body. This council made sure the laws were upheld and retained guardianship of the laws. Around 564 BC, Peisistratus, a tyrant that ruled over Athens, gave all citizens the chance for equality. He confiscated land from the wealthy to give to the poor, and he subsidized and gave federal taxes to the poorest farmers. Through this redistribution of land and wealth, the lower class benefitted and began to receive the same advantages and opportunities as the wealthy. In this time period, the lower class benefited significantly due to the redistribution of land and wealth and also receiving fair juries that protected them from the

The leaders of Athens created councils and meetings that permitted the Athenians direct participation in the government. In 594 BC, Solon created the Council of Four Hundred, also called the Boule, which was an elected body of men that selected the archons and set the agenda of items to be discussed at the Ecclesia. Formed by Solon, the Ecclesia was a meeting where the citizens could directly vote about issues and propositions. In 525 BC, a tyrant named Cleisthenes redistricted power. He distributed members from each of the three social classes of Athens into a new unit called a tribe. Each tribe now consisted of members of the wealthy, middle, and lower class. The population of Athens was divvied up into ten different tribes. The members in each tribe were forced to work together, and thus the loyalty was to a member’s tribe and not to their social class. In many elections the citizens voted by tribes, returning a tribal official who might also serve the central government. Cleisthenes set up the Council of 500 to make the Athenian government more flexible. Each of the ten tribes elected fifty people from their tribe to comprise the 500 councilors for the year. The importance of the Council of 500 was that all Athenians were involved for the first time in the political process, and any citizen could voice their problems or concerns to the