Democracy in Athens: summary of the political and social organization desired by Cleisthenes, the first democratic form in history.
Democracy in Athens
In 508-507 BC the Greek politician Cleisthenes was elected , who can be considered one of the fathers of democracy. Cleisthenes transformed the political system by breaking the dominance of the aristocrats and guaranteeing equal rights for all. The territory of Athens was divided into 30 districts called Trictyae , which in turn were divided into 10 tribes in which there were all the social classes of Attica.
The Council of 500
Each tribe had a certain number of hoplites and horsemen, and also 50 advisors who made up the so-called council of 500 ( 50 advisors for each tribe ), which replaced the council of 400 created by Solon . It performed important functions: it prepared decrees, controlled the work of the magistrates and public finances and managed foreign policy. The council of 500 was the most important body and all citizens could be part of it. This boule worked like this: the year was divided into 10 Prytanies , one for each month of the year.
The 50 prytanes of the council of 500 chose by lot a president who remained in office for one day. One could not be elected more than twice so any citizen could sooner or later become president. The assembly was composed of all Athenian citizens and met to approve, reject or modify the council’s proposals and for any topic. Ordinary justice was administered by the heliaia , formed by judges chosen by lot among free citizens, who organized the individual courts ( dikasteria ).
Cleisthenes’ democratic system
The assembly had the task of electing 10 strategists who commanded the army led by an archon. These provided for the security of the polis while the magistracies were accessed by drawing lots: the positions were annual and, here too, never repeated.
Power of the “ demos ”: this system, proposed by Cleisthenes , gave birth to a form of government, democracy , that is, power in the hands of all citizens.
The Athenian one was the first democracy in the world. Democracy in Athens was based on the direct participation of all citizens in political life. All citizens had equal rights, all had full freedom of speech, which was called isegoria . On the contrary, in the assembly of the oligarchic Sparta it was not possible to discuss while in the democratic Athens every citizen had the right to express his thoughts.
Those excluded from democracy
Athenian democracy was not a better system of government than others, it was simply an innovative alternative. However, there were some excluded from the polis:
- Newborns who had any malformation were left to die, as were children born from an illegitimate union, if one was not economically able to raise them and to avoid dividing the family estate.
- Slaves were also excluded from the polis: the slave was considered inferior and was an object of the master’s property, they could have wives and children but these too were the property of the master.
- Foreigners had no political rights. In Athens, foreigners, called metics, were free men who resided in the city temporarily or permanently .
- Women were excluded from political life, their duty was to bear children and to govern the house. The woman had to have a guardian: first the father, then the husband; if she was widowed she passed under the guardianship of a son. Women belonging to wealthy families could rarely leave the house; poor women were freer. Only in Sparta did women enjoy a certain autonomy. The hetaerae: the only truly free women were the hetaerae: they went out, participated in banquets and received at home.
