How democracy began in Athens
Demokratia means "power of the people" (demos = people, kratos = power). It grew step by step:
- Solon (about 594 BCE) ended slavery for debt and let poorer citizens join the Assembly.
- Cleisthenes (508/507 BCE) mixed citizens into ten new tribes so old powerful families lost control, and created the Council of 500.
- Ephialtes (462 BCE) took power from the old aristocratic council (Areopagus) and gave it to the people's bodies.
- Pericles (450s–429 BCE) began pay for jurors, so poor citizens could afford to serve.
Democracy lasted, with short breaks (411 and 404 BCE), until 322 BCE.
Who was a citizen?
Only free adult men (18+, with Athenian parents after 451 BCE) were citizens with political rights. Women were citizens by birth but could not vote. Metics (free foreign residents) paid taxes and served in war but had no vote. Enslaved people had no rights. So roughly 1 in 8 people could take part. This is the biggest limit of Athenian democracy.
The institutions: Assembly, Council, courts, officials
- Assembly (ekklesia): all citizens, about 40 meetings a year on the Pnyx hill; votes on laws, war, peace, treaties. A quorum of 6,000 was needed for some votes.
- Council (boule): 500 men over 30, chosen by lot for a year; prepared business. One tribe's 50 (the prytany) ran daily affairs for a tenth of the year.
- People's courts (dikasteria): juries of 201 to 1,501 citizens, chosen by lot on the day, voted by secret ballot. No professional judges or lawyers.
- Officials (archons and others): about 600 posts, mostly by lot, for one year, checked before and after (euthyna, an audit of their work).
- Ten generals (strategoi): elected, and could be re-elected, because war needed skill. Pericles was elected general many years in a row.
Lot, ostracism and accountability
Athenians thought lot was more democratic than election: elections favour the rich and famous, while lot gives every citizen an equal chance. The kleroterion, a stone slab with rows of slots for name tickets and a tube of black and white balls, made the draw fair and fast.
Ostracism: each year the Assembly could decide to hold one. Citizens scratched a name on an ostrakon (pottery shard). If at least 6,000 votes were cast, the man named most often left for ten years, keeping his property. It aimed to stop any one man becoming a tyrant.
Officials could be put on trial after their year; any citizen could bring a charge against a law proposal (graphe paranomon).
Critics, strengths and legacy
Critics: Plato said ordinary people lack the knowledge to rule; the "Old Oligarch" pamphlet said democracy served the poor; Thucydides showed the Assembly making hasty decisions in war, such as the costly Sicilian expedition (415 BCE). The trial and death of Socrates (399 BCE) is often given as an example of mob rule.
Strengths: huge participation, free speech in the Assembly (isegoria), equality before the law (isonomia), officials checked by citizens.
Legacy: the words democracy, politics and parliament votes; juries; term limits; audits of officials; referendums; and today's Greek republic with its elected parliament (Vouli) and president. Modern democracies are mostly representative: we elect people who decide for us, while Athens was direct. Modern democracy also gives the vote to all adults, which Athens did not.
Try it: run a mini-Athens in class
Write every classmate's name on a slip. Draw 5 by lot to form a "council" that writes 2 questions (for example, the class trip place). Then the whole class votes by hands like the Assembly. Afterwards discuss: was lot fairer than an election? Who was left out in real Athens?
Key formulas and definitions
- Democracy = demos (people) + kratos (power)
- Council: 10 tribes × 50 = 500 members
- Ostracism: at least 6,000 votes, exile for 10 years
- Lot for most posts; election for the 10 generals
- Direct (Athens) vs representative (most countries today)
Worked examples
1. Why did Cleisthenes create ten new tribes?
Each tribe mixed people from the city, the coast and the inland areas, so local noble families could not control voters. This broke old power and made citizens think of Athens as a whole.
2. Why were generals elected while most officials were chosen by lot?
Commanding an army needs special skill and mistakes cost lives, so Athens chose the best person by vote. Ordinary jobs could be done by any citizen, so lot gave everyone a fair chance.
3. Was Athens a democracy by today's standards?
Partly. Citizens ruled directly and equally, but women, metics and enslaved people were excluded, so only about one in eight people had a vote. Today universal adult suffrage is a basic test.
Common mistakes
- Thinking everyone in Athens could vote: only adult male citizens could.
- Saying Athens elected its leaders like we do: most officials were chosen by lot.
- Thinking ostracism was a punishment for a crime: it was a political exile with no trial, and property was kept.
- Confusing direct democracy (Athens) with representative democracy (most modern states).