Athenian+Democracy

By: Zachary
==== Ancient Athenians had tried many forms of government including monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny. Finally, in the Fifth Century a new form of government was introduced to the world known as democracy. Democracy is power to the people. This was a breakthrough in ideology of government; now instead of having a tyrant or king the people controlled the government, polices, and laws. Athenian democracy was based on power given to free male citizens; the power was divided into separate branches of government the strategoi boule, ekkisia, judiciary, and prosecution. ====

==== Athenian men had a unique opportunity to exercise the right to vote. Voting is the most important fundamental reason democracy is power to the people. In ancient Athens times, only male citizens were allowed to vote. Many social groups were excluded from voting; for example woman could not vote and neither could Metics or slaves (Sacks). Citizens must have been a part of an Aticca, and be registered to vote with their particular tribe. There were 170 demes, towns, they had their own individual demarchos, mayor, and a local government, the same as a current city council. If a registered voter moved to another deme he still voted in the deme in which he was registered to vote. Phyles were comparable to political parties and Athenian men registered to vote with that phyle (House). The ancient Athenian laws regarding voting were reminiscent of the voting laws in the early 1900’s in the United States. Every citizen voted for men to represent their phyle in the strategoi. ====

==== In the executive branch strategoi acted as a ruling council. Strategoi were the highest ranking officials in the Athenian Government. They represented each of the ten phyles, or states, and were responsible for running the economy and leading the Athenian hopotite army (Sacks). Officials were elected by the citizens for a one year long term, but they could be reelected many times. All decisions made by the strategoi must be ratified by the boule, similar to the senate, and voted on by the ekkiesia except decisions made in the field concerning military strategy. Sometimes the strategoi even acted as ambassadors to other city states. Every strategoi answer to an assembly for the actions and money that they had spent; this was extremely clever idea because in office many politicians became corrupt (House). This idea potentially prevented government officials and politicians from becoming corrupt. The short one year term would also allow for an unsatisfactory politician to be voted out of office. Another system of government that had immense power was the boule. ====

==== The boule is the same as our senate. Solon, a dictator, created the boule. (Carr) Each individual phyle elects 50 men to serve on the 500 man boule. They would serve a one year term and could be reelected more than once. (Sacks) It was an honor to be elected on to the boule, and a privilege. Every 36 days a prytani was chosen from the boule to run the day to day operation of the Athenian state; the prytani would be located at the bouleuterion which was in the agora, analogous to the capital building. (House) An additional purpose of the boule was to suggest new laws and policies for the ekkiesia to debate and implement or discard. (Sacks) Some of the most important political reforms came from the boule. For instance the idea to employ, unemployed middle class men and unemployed lower class men by opening up employment positions in the Athenian Hoplite Army as well as oarsmen positions in the Athenian Navy, and without it an Athenian democracy would not run properly. (Wright) Without the boule the ekkiesia would have no agenda to discuses. ====

==== The House of Representatives is the same as the ancient Athenian ekkiesia. All males registered to vote were encouraged to come and debate ideas the boule had suggested at the ekkiesia. Usually only 5,000 men out of the 40,000 men registered to vote attended the debates at the ekkiesia. (Sacks) They met every ten days in a small auditorium called the Pnyx. Many polices were debated in the ekkiesia, the most frequently debated polices were regarding money from public taxes where to go, declarations of war, and/or the signing of treaties. These were decided on by a vote, requiring 6,000 voters be present for a vote to take place. If there were less than 6,000 male voters present then slaves would be sent out with a rope soaked in red paint, to gather the late comers. They would wrap the rope soaked in paint around the late comers. Having red paint on your clothes was considered disgraceful and in addition, those individuals would be subject to a fine. Rounding up voters allowed the vote to move forward with the required number of participants. Polices that the ekkisia implemented could be deemed unsatisfactory and be discarded by the courts. ====

==== Without the Judiciary branch who was to protect the laws of Athens? In the judiciary system there were no judges or attorneys, only jurors. Every male citizen over the age of 30 was encouraged to be a juror. Reimbursements were made so that even poor citizens could be jurors. (Sacks) The minimum number of jurors was 201 and the only government official that attended the court case was an archon. Defense and prosecution were allowed an equal amount of time to present their case by using a water clock. There were no attorneys, only witness and the defendant. To determine if the jury had convicted the accused they would pass out metal plates. One had a solid center, meaning innocent, and another plate had a hollow center, meaning guilty. Jurors would then pass one plate back in (guilty or innocent) a simple majority would decide the fate of the defendant. Punishment was considered by the city officials, and included the options of death, mutilation, imprisonment, house arrest, fining, and exile. Exile was common among politicians. Ostracism was the Greek word for exile. If exiled you had to leave Athens within ten days and be exiled for ten years. (House) Voters could vote to exile someone as well. Archons were aids to the justice system in ancient Athens. ====

==== The archons were a part of the judiciary branch and acted as prosecutors. Ancient Athenian prosecutors were much different from prosecutors today with the first difference is their name, archons. Another difference from today’s prosecutors is there were nine archons as opposed to the only one prosecutor. (Sacks) Every archons arranged religious ceremonies and prepared legal cases for the ekklesia, the court, but they didn’t act as lawyers. They merely stated the charges against the defendant and every year archons were elected by the people. Not every archon dealt with every legal case. They were specialized for certain types of cases. In charge of legal issues were Metics, a lower class of people. Responsible for the religious ceremony of a dead soldier was the Polemarch Archon. An Eponymous Archon was liable for lawsuits involving inheritance, and he also chooses men to sponsorship choral and drama contests for the Dionysian festival. Finally, the Basileus Archon was the most senior archon managing murder cases (which were only heard on Areopagus Hill). He would also organize religious sacrifices which were extraordinarily important to the Greeks and he supervises the Dionysian festivals. (House) Like the archons the strategoi are elected for a one year term ====

==== Athenian democracy was based on power given to free male citizens; the power was divided into separate branches of government the strategoi, ekkisia, boule, judiciary, and prosecution. Athenian democracy was a huge success. It created more jobs, and the Athenians felt they could trust their government because it was run by the people for the people. The Fifth Century B.C. Athenian government provided the blueprint for the young republic of the United States of America. Americans can thank the Athenians for their blueprint. ====

Work Cited Carr, Dr. Karen. "Athens - History for Kids!" //Kidipede - History for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School//. 4 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .

Hicks, Peter. // Ancient Greece //. Austin, Texas: Steck-Vaughn Company, 2000. 26-30. Print.

"History Of Athens." // HistoryWorld - History and Timelines //. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. .

House, Chelsea. // Living in Ancient Greece //. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. 24-27, 30-33, and 70-73. Print.

Sacks, David. // Encyclopedia Of The Ancient Greek World //. 1st. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1995. 41-43, 258-263 and 80-81. Print.

Wright, Anne. // War and Warfare //. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2008. 19-20 and 38-39. Print.