Athenian Democracy Research Paper

The city of Athens lived under forms of radical democracy from 508 to 322 BCE. During those years, Athens was an unwavering example of a prosperous democratic society. This form of democracy was not only giving citizens a right to vote, but putting much more power in the hands of the middle class. Opposite of a republic, Athenian people were governed by themselves and voted together on all issued big or small (Waterfield 75). In the 7th and 8th centuries BCE, Athens changed from being ruled by a king to being ruled by a group of wealthy aristocrats. In the end of the 7th century, an Olympic athlete named Cylon used his popularity and loyal following to seize the Acropylis in attempt to make himself tyrant of Athens. Even though this attempt was a colossal failure, it was a political disaster. Many of the aristocrats that were attacked feared that this would spark a rebellion among the Athenian people (Blackwell). Roughly a decade later, in about 621 BCE, Athenians enlisted a man named Draco to compose new laws for the city of Athens. According …show more content…
He also gave all citizens the right to a jury, which was a large step in the democratic direction considering all citizens served in the jury. Lastly, he divided the population into four classes based on wealth, allowing only the top three classes to occupy positions in the office of Archnon. Solon’s laws and policies set an example for all Athenian democracy to follow, even though some following periods of time were much more radical. Some of Solon’s policies that were carried into radical democracy included the selection of officials by lot rather than vote, a democratic jury, an Assembly and a Council. After many years of persistent power struggle, the city collapsed back into a state of strife, and after many attempts, Pisistratus finally declared himself as tyrant of Athens