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Direct Democracy

Athens, however, every governmental decision had to be made by a big assembly of all eligible citizens who wanted to take part – in some cases, this had to be at least 6,000 citizens. This is called a "direct democracy".

The Athenian assembly – which is the ancestor of a modern day parliament sitting – would meet in a large open-air area on the side of a hill in Athens called the Pnyx. Only male citizens over the age of 20 were allowed to take part. Women, children, slaves and foreigners were not permitted to participate in any part of Athenian democracy. Any member of the assembly could speak and make proposals (at least in theory), and everyone at the assembly voted on each issue by a show of hands. The assembly met at least 40 times a year. Sometimes, the authorities had trouble rounding up enough people to attend the assembly, so they would send out slaves carrying ropes dipped in red dye. Anybody that they hit would be fined, so people would run from the slaves to the Pnyx where they were safe and join the assembly.

Government in Athens         Pericles was the leader of Athens for thirty years.  He was not a monarch or despot. The people of Athens elected him year after year.  He declared that Athens was a democracy.  In Athens, power was “in the hands of many rather than the few.”  Pericles was correct about saying that Athens was a democracy at that time.  Compared to other ancient governments, Athens was democratic, but it does not seem that way today.  When he spoke of government by the people, he should have said government by the citizens.       Citizens had more rights in Greeks cities than any of the others.  They could do almost anything they wanted to do.  They could own property, take part in politics and the law.  Most of the men in Greece were citizens, but women, slaves, and foreigners could not be.

n Sparta only rich men were citizens. Citizenship was like a family.  It depended on birth.  Only children of citizens could be citizens themselves.  Children that lived in Athens all of their lives were not citizens if their parents came from other places.  Athens seems undemocratic to us because women had no voice in government.       Slaves were normally captured prisoners of wars.  They were sold to people and whoever bought them owned them.  Some slaves lived good lives with their owners.  Others lived in terrible conditions or toiled in mines until death.  Unlike slaves in America, slaves in Greece got paid and if they saved their money they might be able to buy their own freedom. 

Athens did not have a king, it was ruled by the people as a democracy. The people of Athens believed that no one group of people should make the laws and so citizens could choose the government officials, and vote for or against new laws. The people of Athens chose their ruler. They held a large meeting on the slopes of a hill in Athens where any citizen could speak, and tell the government what it should be doing. This was called the Assembly, and there had to be at least 6,000 citizens at every Assembly. Athenian democracy was not like modern democracy. Only citizens over 18 could vote. Women, slaves and foreigners could not become citizens. So democracy in Athens meant rule by the men of Athens. Slavery Slaves made up about a quarter of the working population on Athens. Most were people who had been captured in warfare and sold to slave dealers. They were then put on sale in the slave market.

Sparta’s government was primarily an oligarchy, but it included democratic elements.   Sparta had two kings, who came from two different families. But these monarchs did not have absolute power. They shared power with each other, and they also had to answer to council of elders, or gerousia.

The Spartan government also discouraged pursuits that had no direct relationship to the military. As a result, the Spartans did not make significant achievements in art, literature, and philosophy. Nor did they leave much architecture. The Spartan leadership regarded most aspects of culture as frivolous and possibly corrupting.