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How Did The Areopagus Influence Greek Government

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Our government today has a lot to do with Ancient Athenian government and without there democracy back then our civilization now might not have existed. We owe a lot to Greece for giving us somewhat of an idea on how we should run our own government. By 682 B.C power of the Archons started to take place in Athens. Archons were a group of nine elected officials who shared religious, military, and Judicial powers handed by the King. They were to serve for life until they decided that they would limit the position time to 10 years. Then they went back to life positions to members of the Areopagus.If you were an Archon you were automatically a member of the Areopagus. Now the Areopagus was a the earliest aristocratic council. It practiced general …show more content…

They were also the king's advisors and the position later fell after a case on Homicide that ruined the Areopagus. If you weren't a noble or someone in high power then you could join the Ecclesia assembly. This assembly was for males who could try out for a position when they turned old enough for citizenship. It was a very popular assembly for Ancient Athenian democracy. A boule was another council of about 400-500 men and almost every city state had a council like this one. Boule’s started to show up when the Greeks were transforming to a democracy. To be in the Boule you had to be at least 30 years old and usually a member was a landowner and was somewhat wealthy. There was not a lot of poor people in this council. Now how did the courts work? The courts worked like this, if you had an action on someone you were to bring it to court. By going to court you needed to get a witness with you, who could tell you there side of the story. Second you had to write what the problem was, who was involved, the date and time and …show more content…

To be considered a citizen in both america and ancient greek is the same. To become a citizen you have to either be born in the state or area, or become one through a written test. Ancient Greek elected their officials by using their king to elect them, but later on they had elections on who was going to be in office. In America almost every official is chosen by the common people except the judicial branch where the president elects his officials. Greeks court system was different because you had to post a note and wait back to see if the judge wanted to take your case. America's system is different because you can go straight to the court and get a court date and the judge has no choice but to take your

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How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? In Athens the assembly was made up of every adult male citizen of 20 years. It met 2 to3 times a month and voting could be done on the day. This was the way the Athenian participated in public life and made decisions affecting the community.

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Athens was known for its democratic system, allowing its citizens to participate directly in the political process. The Athenian democracy was characterized by institutions such as the Ecclesia (Assembly), where citizens voted on laws and policies, and the Boule (Council), which set the agenda for the Ecclesia (Kelepouri, n.d.). In contrast, Sparta had an oligarchic system with power concentrated among a few. The Spartan government included two hereditary kings, a Gerousia (Council of Elders), and the Ephors, who were elected officials with significant power. The Spartan Assembly had less influence than its Athenian counterpart and was primarily involved in electing the Gerousia and Ephors (Kelepouri, n.d.).

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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.

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Ethialtes, another well respected Athenian politician and Pericles, set out to reduce the power of the judiciary in the Areopagus. At this time Pericles also abolished the system whereby the archons were appointed by lot, only being chosen from a select number of pre-elected candidates. Pericles’ and Eltialtes reforms resulting in “appointed by lot from all the eligible citizens [who now] had an equal chance of holding political office, and taking part in the conduct of political affairs” This system was also extended to the Boule, also known as the Council of Five Hundred. Pericles also reformed the role of the Areopagus with the dismantlement of the hereditary powers of the Areopagus. Restricting its activities in order to redefine its role as little more than a “supreme

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Based on information provided in Document E all of Athens citizens were eligible to attend The Assembly. Athenians chose their officials and had an executive committee that oversaw the Assembly in contrast to the Roman Senate that passed down through heredity of the oldest Roman families. Athenians had opportunities to speak out and voice their opinion for a better way of life however the Romans did not. In addition, Document C states that in the Roman Republic not all citizens received the same rights or political participation, whereas in Athens all citizens had full rights and political participation. In Rome, citizenship was given out freely but was unfair and in measured amounts.

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In Athens. People obtained the right to participate in public life, by the following: First, it was necessary that the ones who wanted to participate in the public life, should be free-born adult males, wealthy enough to call the attention of other wealthy men, in the council. In Sparta.

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Every portion of the government directly represented its people - from the Council of 500 to the Ecclesia and the Court and Jury System - and citizens were payed and thus incentivized to participate in the system. They did their best to make an equitable system with the allocation of members through the 10 tribe system, the potential for scrutinization for any member of the government, and the randomization of jury members for trials. The Greeks were a tier above their Roman counterparts when it came to

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Each council would have a kind of leadership group within it. 4 members would be chosen who would lead, and out of those there would be the leader of the city. This leader would not only control the city but the surrounding area to. Although the nobility provided leadership, they weren 't automatically put in government

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These superpowers had an assembly of elected members who served term lengths dissimilar from their counterparts. Members of the Athenian assembly (ekklesia) were known as archons when serving their one-year terms. The ekklesia consisted of 500 people chosen from a vast number of candidates in a “lot” vote before being separated into groups of 50. While the archons served their term, they would deliberate matters of the community, military, and public life (politics). Members of the Spartan assembly (gerousia) served a similar purpose as the Athenian assembly.

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He did not have to be a part of a class or wealth class. They would vote for a council that would manage the legal and governmental systems of Athens, called the Council of the 500. They could only serve a maximum of two years and they were picked

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In earlier times the main executive officials had been the nine archons, one of who supervised religious functions. After their year of service an Archon became a lifetime member of the Council of the Areopagus. But after 487 BC, the power of the Archons was reduced and Pericles than reduced the Council of the Areopagus's power to the supervision of religious rites. The only officials elected by public vote were the city architect and the Board of 10 Generals. Pericles was a major figure on this board during the 5th century.

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