The History Book

50

excluded. In the 4th century bce,

out of the 300,000-strong total

population of Attica—the region of

Greece controlled by Athens—just

30,000 men comprised the voting

population. In theory, men became

voting citizens at age 18, but as

they were generally liable for two

years of military service they were

not enrolled on the rosters of the

council until they turned 20, and

did not come into their full political

rights until the age of 30.

During the “Pentekontaetia”—

the decades between Greek victory

in the Persian War (479 bce) and

the start of the Peloponnesian War

(431 bce)—Athens reached the

height of its glory. In 447 bce,

Pericles appropriated the treasury

of the Delian League (the anti-

Persian confederation that had

become a vessel for Athenian

hegemony) to build a magnificent

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

temple (the Parthenon) on the rocky

hill known as the Acropolis.

Citizenship of Athens was highly

coveted, and in 451 bce Pericles

passed a law restricting it to men

whose parents were both Athenians.

A center of philosophy

As well as being the most powerful

city-state in ancient Greece,

Athens was also the crucible of

a revolutionary new direction in

philosophy, in large part due to

Socrates (c.469–399 bce). Earlier

Greek philosophers, collectively

known as the pre-Socratics, had

introduced a revolution of their own

in human thought in the 5th and

6th centuries bce. They rejected

supernatural explanations for the

Our ordinary citizens, though

occupied with the pursuits

of industry, are still fair

judges of public matters.

Pericles

The Athenian constitution relied on a careful

separation of powers. This was essential to make the

practical operation of direct democracy possible. It

also ensured that all citizens (men aged 20 and above)

could serve and that power could not be abused.

Military

magistrates

commanded

the military

Ecclesia

voted on

new laws,

decrees,

and treaties

Boule

proposed

new laws for

consideration

Tribunal

tried civil

and criminal

cases

300,000 Atticans (living in

the region of Athens)

120,000 Athenians

(adult men and women)

30,000 male citizens

Citizens

could vote in

Citizens aged

30+ volunteer for

Citizens were

chosen by lot for

DEMOCRACY

Citizens could

stand for

Elects Administers Supervises

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51

An Audience in Athens (1884),

by Sir William Blake, captures the

atmosphere at the Greek tragedy

Agamemnon by Aeschylus c.450 bce.

This period is regarded as the Golden

Age of drama in ancient Greece.

world, the explanatory power

of mythology, and the authority of

tradition, and set out to discover

the origins and workings of the

natural world through reason and

observation. The pre-Socratic

natural philosophers developed

theories about the elements,

classifications of nature, and

mathematical and geometric proofs.

Socrates turned his enquiries

inward to more human matters—

as Cicero said of him, “he brought

philosophy down from heaven.”

Socrates’ method was simply to ask

questions—What is friendship?

What is justice? What is knowledge?

The Socratic method tended to lay

bare the limits of existing thinking,

often making people look foolish or

pompous. Accordingly, Socrates

was unpopular and eventually he

was accused of two crimes by his

enemies—corrupting youth by

encouraging them to go against the

government, and impiety, or lack of

respect for the gods. Consequently,

he was sentenced to death.

Socrates’ successors

The fate of Socrates was taken as

an indictment of democracy by his

successors, particularly Plato

(c.428–348 bce), who saw him as

a martyr for truth. Plato ran a school

(the Academy) and developed

ideas about universal truths and

metaphysics that have shaped all

subsequent religion and philosophy

in the Western world. His student

Aristotle (384–322 bce) became

equally influential, setting up the

Lyceum school and writing on such

diverse topics as politics, ethics,

law, and natural sciences.

Plato opposed democracy, as

he believed that the people were

not sufficiently equipped with

philosophical grace to legislate and

if governance were left in the hands

of the ordinary, citizen tyranny

would emerge. In his ideal republic,

enlightened philosophers would

rule as kings. He also challenged

the basic principle of democracy—

that of liberty (eleutheria)—which

he believed could divert people

from the proper pursuit of ethics

and cause social disunity.

The fall of democracy

During the Peloponnesian War

(431– 404 bce), in which Athens was

ultimately defeated by the Spartans,

Athenian democracy was twice

suspended, in 411 and 404 bce.

Athenian oligarchs claimed that

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Athens’ weak position was due

to democracy and led a counter-

revolution to replace democratic

rule with an extreme oligarchy. In

both cases, democratic rule was

restored within one year.

Democracy flourished for the

next eight decades. However, after

the Macedonian conquest of

Athens under Philip II and his son

Alexander (later Alexander the

Great) in 322 bce, Athenian

democracy was abolished. It was

intermittently restored in the

Hellenistic age in the 1st and 2nd

centuries bce, but the Roman

conquest of Greece in 146 bce

effectively killed it off.

Although democratic rule had

been quashed, Athenian science

and philosophy lived on. The

renown and influence of Plato

and Aristotle endured through

the ages that followed, and much

of their work continues to influence

Western thought to this day. ■

Dictatorship naturally arises

out of democracy, and the

most aggravated form of

tyranny and slavery out of

the most extreme liberty.

Plato

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