History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Intellectual anti-democrats such as Socrates and Plato, for instance, argued that the majority of the people, because they were by and large ignorant and unskilled, would always get it wrong. Ostrakon for PericlesMark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). The 50-man prytany met in the building known as the Bouleuterion in the Athenian agora and safe-guarded the sacred treasuries. Modern representative democracies, in contrast to direct democracies, have citizens who vote for representatives who create and enact laws on their behalf. Our selection of the week's biggest Cambridge research news and features sent directlyto your inbox. Athens transformed ancient warfare and became one of the ancient world's superpowers. At one point, the Romans carried a ram to the top of one of the mounds fashioned from the rubble of the Long Walls. The competition of elite performers before non-elite adjudicators resulted in a pro-war culture, which encouraged Athenians in . This page has been archived and is no longer updated. ', replies Alcibiades; 'even when it decrees by fiat, acting like a tyrant and riding roughshod over the views of the minority - is that still "law"?' The constitutional change, according to Thucydides, seemed the only way to win much-needed support from Persia against the old enemy Sparta and, further, it was thought that the change would not be a permanent one. Sulla ordered another retreat, and turned his attention to Athens, which by now was a softer target than Piraeus. The government and economy were also weak causing distress all over Athens. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the WHE Publishing Director. World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. and the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The name of "democracy" became an excuse to turn on anyone regarded as an enemy of the state, even good politicians who have, as a result, almost been forgotten. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. Sullas solution: rob the Greek temples of their treasures. The effect on the citys model democracy was also staggering. 'Why', answers his guardian Pericles, who was then at the height of his influence, 'it is whatever the people decides and decrees'. They butchered and ate all their cattle, then boiled the hides. There were no police in Athens, so it was the demos themselves who brought court cases, argued for the prosecution and the defense and delivered verdicts and sentences by majority rule. Suffering dearly, the Greek cities on the Anatolian coast went looking for help and found a deliverer in Mithridates VI, king of Pontus in northeastern Anatolia. The boul represented the 139 districts of Attica and acted as a kind of executive committee of the assembly. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. Perhaps the most notoriously bad decisions taken by the Athenian dmos were the execution of six generals after they had actually won the battle of Arginousai in 406 BCE and the death sentence given to the philosopher Socrates in 399 BCE. The mighty Persian empire (founded in Asia a generation earlier by Cyrus the Great and expanded by his son Cambyses to take in Egypt) is in crisis, since a usurper has occupied the throne. Of all the democratic institutions, Aristotle argued that the dikasteria contributed most to the strength of democracy because the jury had almost unlimited power. They therefore in a sense deserved the political pay-off of mass-biased democracy as a reward for their crucial naval role. Critics of democracy, such as Thucydides and Aristophanes, pointed out that not only were proceedings dominated by an elite, but that the dmos could be too often swayed by a good orator or popular leaders (the demagogues), get carried away with their emotions, or lack the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions. All male citizens of Athens could attend the assembly which made political decisions. Last updated 2011-02-17. A Council of 500 and Assembly were created. Read more. Meanwhile, our democratically elected representatives are holding on to the fuse in one hand and a box of matches in the other. License. This, fortunately, did not last long; even Sparta felt unable to prop up such a hugely unpopular regime, nicknamed the '30 Tyrants', and the restoration of democracy was surprisingly speedy and smooth - on the whole. Athens, therefore, had a direct democracy. Realizing the citys defenses were broken, Aristion burned the Odeon of Pericles, on the south side of the Acropolis, to prevent the Romans from using its timbers to construct more siege engines. That was definitely the opinion of ancient critics of the idea. It only hastened Athens' eventual defeat in the war, which was followed by the installation at Sparta's behest of an even narrower oligarchy than that of the 400 - that of the 30. Antiphon's regime lasted only a few months, and after a brief experiment with a more moderate form of oligarchy the Athenians restored the old democratic institutions pretty much as they had been. As below ground, so above. Indeed, for the Athenian democrats, elections would have struck at the heart of democracy: They would have allowed some people to assert themselves, arrogantly and unjustly, against the others. However, more difficult was the fact that Athens now had to recognize and accept Sparta as the leader of Greece. The first, rather obvious, strike against Athenian democracy is that there was a tendency for people to be casually executed. To some extent Socrates was being used as a scapegoat, an expiatory sacrifice to appease the gods who must have been implacably angry with the Athenians to inflict on them such horrors as plague and famine as well as military defeat and civil war. After defeating the Bithynians, Mithridates drove into the Roman province of Asia. Positions on the boule were chosen by lot and not by election. But why should they be? Illustrating the esteem in which democratic government was held, there was even a divine personification of the ideal of democracy, the goddess Demokratia. Athens was forced to destroy its main defenses, abolish the Delian League and its fleet was handed over to the Spartans. The Athenian statesman Pericles defined democracy as a system which protects the interests of all the people, not just a minority. Therefore, women, slaves, and resident foreigners (metoikoi) were excluded from the political process. Thank you for your help! Knowledge of the life of Pericles derives largely from . He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series 'The Greeks'. Sulla attacked again the next morning with his entire army, hoping the wet mortar of the lunettes would not hold. Nevertheless, in one sense the condemnation of Socrates was disastrous for the reputation of the Athenian democracy, because it helped decisively to form one of democracy's - all democracy's, not just the Athenian democracy's - most formidable critics: Plato. Books This being the case, the following remarks on democracy are focussed on the Athenians. Solon Put Athens on the Road to Democracy. Around 460 B.C., under the rule of the general Pericles (generals were among the only public officials who were elected, not appointed) Athenian democracy began to evolve into something that we would call an aristocracy: the rule of what Herodotus called the one man, the best. Though democratic ideals and processes did not survive in ancient Greece, they have been influencing politicians and governments ever since. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! If they did not fulfill their duty they would be fined and sometimes marked with red paint. Under this system, all male citizens - the dmos - had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. Ultimately, the Romans grew exhausted, and Sulla ordered a retreat. Less than two years separate these scenes. World History Encyclopedia. Rome responded, rushing 20 warships and 1,000 troops to Piraeus to keep Philip V at bay. In 129 BC, after Rome established its province of Asia, in western Anatolia across the Aegean, Delos became a trade hub for goods shipped between Anatolia and Italy. The resulting decision to try and condemn to death the eight generals collectively was in fact the height, or depth, of illegality. Only around 30% of the total population of Athens and Attica could have voted. Athens, meanwhile, was devastated. S2 ep2: What did the future look like in the past? All Rights Reserved. was part of the first Persian invasion of Greece. Athens was already a waning star on the international stage resting on past imperial glories, and the book argues that it struggled to keep pace with a world in a state of fast-paced globalisation and political transition. Our word demagogue -- that is, an irresponsible "rabble rousing" populist politician -- is lifted directly from Athenian debates about the nature of democracy. At last, Archelaus saw that the game was up and skillfully evacuated his army by sea. But without warning, it sank into the earth. When Athenion sent a force to seize control of Delos, a Roman unit swiftly defeated it. Eventually Archelaus realized someone was divulging his plans, but turned it to his advantage. One unusual critic is an Athenian writer whom we know familiarly as the 'Old Oligarch'. But geometry worked against him. Traditionally, the concept of democracy is believed to have originated in Athens in c508 BC, although there is evidence to suggest that democratic systems of government may have existed elsewhere in the world before then, albeit on a smaller scale. democratic system failed to be effective. At the kings order, the locals slaughtered tens of thousands of Romans and Italians who lived among them. Critically, the emphasis on "people power" saw a revolving door of political leaders impeached, exiled and even executed as the inconstant international climate forced a tetchy political assembly into multiple changes in policy direction. In a new history of the 4th century BC, Cambridge University Classicist Dr. Michael Scott reveals how the implosion of Ancient Athens occurred amid a crippling economic downturn, while politicians committed financial misdemeanours, sent its army to fight unpopular foreign wars and struggled to cope with a surge in immigration. Yet, with the advent of new technology, it would actually be possible to reinvent today a form of indirect but participatory tele-democracy. Buildings in the Agora and on the south side of the Acropolis remained damaged for decades, monuments to the poverty in postwar Athens. I wish to receive a weekly Cambridge research news summary by email. It was from the creation of this empire that the sovereign Athenian demos gained the authority to exercise the will of Athens over other Greek states and not just her own. The first concrete evidence for this crucial invention comes in the Histories of Herodotus, a brilliant work composed over several years, delivered orally to a variety of audiences all round the enormously extended Greek world, and published in some sense as a whole perhaps in the 420s BC. In addition, in times of crisis and war, this body could also take decisions without the assembly meeting. He also helped himself to a stash of gold and silver found on the Acropolis. One of the indispensable words we owe ultimately to the Greeks is criticism (derived from the Greek for judging, as in a court case or at a theatrical performance). But where Athenion failed, Mithridates was determined to succeed. The heart of this story is a months-long battle featuring treachery and clever siege warfare. 500 BC Athens decided to share decision making. This was because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity. Not all the Anatolian Greeks wanted to do the dirty work: the citizens of the inland town of Tralles hired an outsidera man named Theophilusto kill for them. 04 Mar 2023. "In many ways this was a period of total uncertainty just like our own time," Dr. Scott added. 'Certainly', says Pericles. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. Athenian democracy refers to the system of democratic government used in Athens, Greece from the 5th to 4th century BCE. Indeed, there was a specially designed machine of coloured tokens (kleroterion) to ensure those selected were chosen randomly, a process magistrates had to go through twice. Paul Cartledge is Professor of Greek History at the University of Cambridge. It survived the period through slippery-fish diplomacy, at the cost of a clear democratic conscience, a policy which, in the end, led it to accept a dictator King and make him a God.". From Democrats To Kings is published by Icon Books. Macedonians under Philip IIfather of Alexander the Greathad defeated Athens in 338 BC and installed a garrison in the Athenian port city of Piraeus. Passions ran high and at one point during a crucial Assembly meeting, over which Socrates may have presided, the cry went up that it would be monstrous if the people were prevented from doing its will, even at the expense of strict legality. During the 600s B.C., Athens was a small city-state. Now, Roman senators and Athenian exiles in Sullas entourage asked him to show mercy for the city. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. While I was in training, my motivation was to get these wings and I wear them today proudly, the airman recalled in 2015. Read more. "If history can provide a map of where we have been, a mirror to where we are right now and perhaps even a guide to what we should do next, the story of this period is perfectly suited to do that in our times," Dr. Scott said. They note that wealthy and influential peopleand their relativesserved on the Council much more frequently than would be likely in a truly random lottery. There is a strong case that democracy was a major reason for this success. Democracy, however, was found in other areas as well and after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization, it became the norm for both the liberated cities in Asia Minor as well as new . The Pontic army used scythes mounted on chariots as weapons of terror, cutting swaths through the Bithynian ranks. It was in the courts that laws made by the assembly could be challenged & decisions were made regarding. When that failed, the Romans settled in for a long siege. Centuries later, archaeologists discovered some of these in the ruins of the Pompeion, a gathering place for the start of processions. The real question now is not can we, but should we go back to the Greeks? Demagogue meant literally 'leader of the demos' ('demos' means people); but democracy's critics took it to mean mis-leaders of the people, mere rabble-rousers. Sulla had the tyrant and his bodyguard executed. Athenian Democracy. Inevitably, there was some fallout, and one of the victims of the simmering personal and ideological tensions was Socrates. According to a fragmentary account by the historian Posidonius, Athenions letters persuaded Athens that the Roman supremacy was broken. The prospect of the Anatolian Greeks throwing off Roman rule also sparked pan-Hellenic solidarity. Two scenes from Athens in the first-century BC: Early summer, 88 BC, a cheering crowd surrounds the envoy Athenion as he makes a rousing speech. Special interests include art, architecture, and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share. The events that led to renewed hostilities began in 433, when Athens allied itself with Corcyra (modern Corfu ), a strategically important colony of Corinth. Once near his target, Sulla moved to isolate Athens from Piraeus and besiege each separately. Although this Athenian democracy would survive for only two centuries, its invention by Cleisthenes, The Father of Democracy, was one of ancient Greeces most enduring contributions to the modern world. Following standard Roman procedure, Sullas men made a quick assault on the walls of the port, trying to catch the defenders by surprise. Although the 4th century was one of critical transition, the era has been overlooked by many ancient historians in favour of those which bookend it - the glory days of Athenian democracy in the 5th century and the supremacy of Alexander the Great from 336 to 323 BC. By Athenian democratic standards of justice, which are not ours, the guilt of Socrates was sufficiently proven. The boule was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Under Macedonian control, Athens had dwindled to a third-rank power, with no independence in foreign affairs and an insignificant military. Since Athenians did not pay taxes, the money for these payments came from customs duties, contributions from allies and taxes levied on the metoikoi. Any member of the demosany one of those 40,000 adult male citizenswas welcome to attend the meetings of the ekklesia, which were held 40 times per year in a hillside auditorium west of the Acropolis called the Pnyx. The Pontic king sent his Greek mercenary, General Archelaus, into the Aegean with a fleet. But what form of government, what constitution, should the restored Persian empire enjoy for the future? Sulla had reason to let Mithridates off easyhe was anxious to deal with his political opponents back in Rome. Inside Piraeus, Archelaus countered by building towers for his siege engines. Into this dangerous situation stepped Solon, a moderate man the Athenians trusted to bring justice for all. In the dark early morning of March 1, 86 BC, the Romans opened an attack there, launching large catapult stones. The masses were, in brief, shortsighted, selfish and fickle, an easy prey to unscrupulous orators who came to be known as demagogues.
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