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36 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Democracy and Law |
Herodotus: all offices are assigned by lot, all officials are subject to investigation, and all policies are debated in public |
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Tenure of Position |
Aristotle stated that the officials were restricted to one year term each (unless they were a general). It made corruption more difficult |
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Development of Democracy in Athens |
Lowest property class' political voice were called thetes due to them being the ones providing sea power. The greek warship was called the trireme. It was propelled by 170 rowers. Unison and precision was important. Free men and not slaves were the rowers because of this. |
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Participation in the Assembly |
Every Athenian male, who was a citizen, over 18 could vote and attend in the Assembly. They made all the important decisions there. They also had one obligatory meeting each of the ten months (prytany) of the greek year in the 5th century. In the 4th century the number of meeting increased. The meeting began at sunrise and lasted until about midday. |
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Assembly and Council |
All the matters discussed by the Assembly must first be presented to the Council. The ability to speak persuasively was very highly esteemed in Athens. No formal discussions of the matter. Voting was done by raising your hand and not counted. The officials judged the amount of hands went up. Any decision could be reversed in the next session -> ex) punish the people of Mytilene when they revolted from Athens. Council met in the Bouleuterion |
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Men Who Attended the Assembly |
Participation in the democracy involved a commitment of time and energy not counting the duties of any office position. Men came from all over Attica to attend the Assembly. This required the use of slaves, women, and non-citizen residents to keep the society running. 1/3 of the population were slaves. 1/7th were adult males |
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Direct Democracy |
There were only about 40,000 adult male citizens so there was a direct democracy. All citizens had the right to participate in the Assembly, which was the main governmental body. All citizens took an active part in Government |
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Democratic Leaders |
The Assembly did not have political parties, but various niches of people had the same POV. Aristophanes, wrote the play, the knights which poops on politicians |
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The Council and Ptytanies |
Government business that required more regular attention than the Assembly was taken care of by the Council. Council of 500 citizens, fifty from each of the ten Attic tribes. They served for one year, and each tribe served as a govt committee for a tenth of the year. Everyday a new chairman was elected and he was given keys to the treasury. The presiding members of the Council ate in a round building called the Tholos and lived in the Bouleuteria. It had a lot of power: set the agenda for ambassy meetings, received embassies, in charge f army and navy, investigated electoral candidates, scrutinized officials, and checked the accounts. |
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Officials |
Group of officials chosen by lot looked after various aspects of the city in groups of 5 (or 10) for one year: Agoranomoi: markets Metronomoi: weights and measures Sitophylakes:grain supply Hodopoioi:roads Hieropopo:sacrifices and religious festivals Asynomoi: dung collecting, street accessibility, and pay for flue girls All these officials underwent investigation at the end of their term. Military leaders and finance officers were still chosen by election due to the high degree of skill and knowledge required |
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Finances |
State offices were paid positions (all but generalship). Some building projects are funded by state, ex) the Partheon under Pericles. They also supported poor disabled people b/c they got money from the Delian League, taxes on the Metics, and custom duties. Citizens were not taxed, the rich were expected to give "liturgies" to the state |
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Legal System |
Jury could be up to 1,000 men. All disputes were handled by the people's courts. There was no judge, no lawyers, and no opportunity for jury to deliberate. Speeches were timed by a water clock and cases had to be decided within one day. 0 |
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Drawbacks |
The Athenian democracy was totally democratic for adult male citizens and not for women, Metics, and slaves. They also ruled the Delian League with an iron fist. |
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Training for Public Life |
Athenian government did not pay for public education. They did recognize the importance of physical fitness. Poorer boys learned a trade like pottery and richer boys studied oratory by observing older men who would teach them to speak well. |
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Sophists |
(wise men) who were a new type of teacher who offered a more organized form of instruction to young men focusing on oratory skills. THey were disliked and even feared by some Athenians. Protagoras from Abdera was the most famous Sophist. |
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Sophist Ideas about the Gods |
They were not able to be convinced of the existence of the gods. Sort of formed "subjectivism" . They thought there was not ultimate truth about the Gods |
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The Impact of Sophists |
Some ideas were very disturbing to the traditional minded Athenian. Miasma means an impurity of which murder might product. |
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Houses |
Were like Roman houses, were plain on the outside and faced an inner courtyard on the inside. The greeks had very little furniture. |
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Clothes and Accessories |
Clothing were plain for both men and women. Men wore short chiton and women wore long. Perfume existed for women. |
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Food |
Greek food mainly consisted of bread. They also ate fish, eggs, and olives. Wine was drunk after dinner, especially after symposia |
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Dinner parties (symposia) |
An important part of Athenian culture |
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Cities |
A strange combination of private poverty and public magnificence in classical Greece. |
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Agora |
(city center or marketplace). This is where the Assembly and the Council and the law courts met. |
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Baths and Parks |
The Greeks did have public baths but not that of the Romans. Gymnasia were outside the city and it means "naked places" |
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Work and Trade |
in Athens, all citizens were required to practice a trade. In Athens, specialization in a certain skill was valued |
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Women and the Polis |
In Athens, the only legal position of free women of citizen families was that they were allowed to marry a citizen and give birth to legitimate citizens |
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Androcentric Sources |
One challenge when investigating the lives of women back then was that most f our written sources were by upper class males. |
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Hetairai and Pornai |
"hetairai' literally means 'female companion". It refers to women who entertained men in both a social and sexual manner. "pornai" were lower-class prostitutes. |
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Exposure of Infants |
Exposed infants could be picked up by anyone, and raised either as a free person or a slave |
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Marriage and Childbirth |
Girls were carefully guarded as a potential risk to family honor so they were kept in certain areas of the house and looked after. Married women associated only with only women and their female slaves. A girl would be married in her early to middle teens to a man about 30 years old |
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Women's Daily Lives |
Women did not join in the public life of the city or join their husbands at civic events or even dinner parties. They were allowed to participate in religious rituals like the Thesmophoria- which is exclusively for women. Women could read |
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Women who do appear in sources |
Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassos- fought with Xerxes and was the bravest of his warriors. This was mentioned by Herodotus but was he belittling by saying they were lead by a women?, or is he praising her? Apasia (according to the "Menexenus"- parody written by Plato) has been seen in the parody where she's writing speeches of Pericles, and also said to run a brothel. |
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Metics |
Another marginalized group were the non-citizen residents, or Metics. They could be anyone. Being born in Athens doesn't just make you a citizen. There were a large number of Metics in Athens, and some even grew quite rich. Most worked as craftsmen or merchants and required to perform military service. |
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Slaves |
Athens and the rest of Greece couldn't be where they are now without slaves. Most average citizens had few slaves. Most slaves were non-Greek |
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Slaves |
By the 430's, it's estimated that about a quarter to a third of the population of Attica were slaves. Even Metics could have slaves. Slaves were not used to row the triremes. They could buy their freedom but they could never become citizens. Best they could hope for was to be a Metic |
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Conclusion |
Democracy was important to the Athenians but it wasn't for everyone. Women, Metics, and slaves were all crucial to the continuing function of Athens, while the male citizens participated in the running of the democracy |
