Was Athens truly a democracy? Athens was not a democracy because, the government members were the ones who determined who was a citizen, who obtained rights to vote, and who was a slave. An example would be, citizen men, only of Athens could vote, women and metics were not allowed to vote. This would prove that it indeed was not a democracy, and was proven to be a oligarchy, where as high social class and men would be making the calls, even though stated by Pericles, that social class should not interfere. (Document A, B) A council would gather once a year to see if anyone was a threat to democracy, if the answer was yes, two months later, they would come back with the name of the person and remove them from that political area.…
Ancient Greek democracy appears to have ended as a result of both internal and external factors. Like the subsequent Roman Empire, the Athenian state appears to have over-reached in its militaristic ambitions, ultimately weakening it; while the relative strength of other empires enabled them to take Greece over. The imposition of rule by foreign empires finally ended Greek democracy. From internally, Athens moved from being a defender of its own nation to an aggressor though it would have no doubt maintained that this was in its national security interests. One of the consequences of this aggression and ambition was the loss of the alliances that had helped repel the Persians and in some cases their subjugation (Brand, n.d., p.28).…
I personally think that Athens is not represented as democratic. There were aspects that were considered democratic but there were also aspects that were considered oligarchy. The word democracy means “government by the people.” But in Athens, “Demokratia” was rule by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners, and slaves. The people performed rule candidly, however democracy today means rule by the representatives of the people.…
They may have been the most powerful and well known city-states, but they were polar opposites. One of their major differences was their form of government. History.com states, “While Athens was trying Democracy as a form of government, its rival Sparta had two kings. One king might stay at home, while the other was away fighting battles” (“Sparta”). Athens had a government…
The United States Democracy is different both men and women age 18 and over that are American citizens are allowed to vote , take political view standings in government and make decisions regarding the country or other political matters. The Athenian democracy consisted…
Yet, was ancient Athens truly considered, democratic? With the Athenian’s government being consisted of a civilian voted government, voted laws that give equal justice to all, and the ability to allow foreigners to become citizens, the Athenians were lucidly a democracy. With democracy being considered a people’s government, the thought…
We can't go and ask them so we depend on historians to tell us more about them. The historians are the ones who can make a difference. Historians need to realize that ancient Athens was not truly democratic because of the percent of the population that could vote, the fact that if someone did not do what the higher people wanted they could be punished, and the different levels of government. In a true democracy everyone has a say in everything but in Ancient Athens that was not the case.…
Was ancient Athens truly democratic ? To say about how Athens was more of a democratic civilization, it was not because of how most things that certain people are allowed to do in the city it was because there was not much laws and our order between one another. but between the democracy and the city of Athens it was not so secure about their laws or order because of how most people were citizens at some weren’t because of how they were born in the city with their parent but their parents came to Athens as uncivilized people. But in order to be a citizen there in Athens you would have to be born there and also your parents to be from there as also to be able to have law and order in the population of the city. Also as of how men had more…
Athenian Attitudes Toward the Authority of State Through the Eyes of Plato and Sophocles The first evidence of democracy, a government in which the citizens have say in the rulings, was discovered in Ancient Athens. However, when we study Athenian history, we focus on the democratic system of government and tend to overlook the Athenian citizen’s points of view. Through close examination of the writings of Sophocles and Plato, one can discover that the Athenian’s respect towards the governing power, changed during the Classical Athens period. Although the Ancient Athenian government seemed to have control over its people, Antigone of Sophocles and Crito of Plato reveal that from 441 BCE to 360 BCE, the citizens began to lose respect for the…
Ancient Greece was the very first democracy in history, and their beliefs in Freedom and Liberty for their citizens. The two types of freedoms were political (Governed by their own laws), and individual (do what we want). Freedom is the Central theme associated with democracy. After Greece’s downfall, democracy was not known again till the American Revolution. History is made by Great People.…
During the rise of Athens, Athenians established democracy, and their city-state was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Although Athens was started by the Mycenaean’s, the foundation was built by four tyrants; Draco, Solon, Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes. The first tyrant Draco ruled with an iron fist and started the “Draco’s code”, and all citizens knew the laws. Draco ended aristocracy so that the rich could not decide what the poor has to do, and could not make laws. The second tyrant Solon extended citizenship for artisans and merchants that were not born in Athens.…
I think the athens democracy is in Document B, that the child has to be born with both citizen parents. The child has to be 18 to free born and be a citizen. The kid can’t be a called a citizen if he or she doesn't have a mom or dad. In Document C, the men are the only ones to vote. The women, children, metics and slaves can’t vote.…
Throughout history there has been many cultures with different ideas on how to organize their people. The Athenians, Sparta, and later the Roman Republic are examples of early forms of democracy. There where many systems of government in history some being oligarchy, monarchy aristocracy, and many others with slight variations. Why and how did democracy grow to such popularity, and how has democracy changed since its creation. The exact date of when democracy was first used in society is unknown but historians estimate it is approximately 500 BC in Athens Greece.…
Question: Compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. Democracy Democracy is a form of government in which the people have a voice in the exercise of power, typically through elected representatives (Oxford Dictionary). Athens’ constitution is called a democracy because it allows the interests of all people in the system of government not just minority. We have known that the democratic system of government is governed by the people so it has the most government officials chosen by lottery and served the people for a year.…
He also gave the people the right to a trial. The next ruler Solon, the next Athenian ruler also helped Athens become a democracy. He also wrote many reforms into the laws and gave all citizens the right to vote, an important step in the origins of democracy. Some of his reforms created problems for other people, who wanted to become citizens. In 500BC, Athens looked like a modern democracy.…