The Athenian democracy in the 5th century
Michelle_Michy
1002.7.1atheniandemocracy.pptxathenian democracy
CLCV 1002 Ancient Greek Civilisation
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Athens: constitutional history
end of “dark age”: aristocratic oligarchy
632: Cylon
621: Draco
594: Solon, plutocratic oligarchy
mid- to late-6th century: Peistratid tyranny
510: Hippias expelled
506/503 (?): Cleisthenes, radical democracy
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Athens: constitutional history
Solon’s reforms gave the wealthy political representation but did not really improve government for the poor
Peisistratus succeeded in seizing power in the late 6th c. (546 or 527) and ruled as tyrant, followed by sons Hippias and Hipparchus (527-510)
Hipparchus assassinated (514), Hippias expelled (510) leads into the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes (~503?)
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economic base:
ideological superstructure
farmers
craftsmen
workers
aristocracy
patronage
government
oligarchic government
interests of workers competition between aristocrats
commercial class
commercial class
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Athens: constitutional history
family (genos), phratry (phratria)
Aristocratic family, wealth based on land ownership
Lesser families attach to protectors and patrons
Groups attached to one or a few aristocratic families phratry
Hereditary membership of phratries (later: phratries basis of citizenship)
Political loyalties therefore based on both hereditary relations (the unity of phratries) and practical patronage (dependence on aristocratic protectors)
Political competition/conflict therefore between aristocratic families/factions
Contrast contemporary political parties: what are they based on (social groups, beliefs, classes, money, identities)?
Tribe (phyle): larger groups of phratries
Traditionally four Athenian tribes
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Athens: constitutional history
question: how did the Peistratid tyranny change the fundamental structures of Athenian politics?
general trend: from private (aristocratic) to public/civic
private wells → public fountains (allegory?)
large civic festivals (Panathenaia and Dionysia) that include all citizens
Eleusinian Mysteries “nationalised"
in parallel: emphasis on the demos more than the nobles
aristocratic factional conflict suppressed
continued centralisation of political power (tyrant) and communal identity (festivals and public works), as opposed to regional particularism
indirectly (inadvertently) laying groundwork for democracy
less dependence of the poor on the aristocratic families and patrons
more emphasis of the civic ideal of Athens (currently represented by the tyrant, but later …)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
background to Cleisthenes’ reforms
tyrant Hippias expelled with Spartan help in 510
Spartan king Cleomenes aristocrat Isagoras; attempted dissolution of Council of 400 (Boule) and replacement with 300 supporters
Council resisted, Isagoras and the Spartans expelled
Cleisthenes (Alcmaeonid), exiled by Isagoras, recalled by Athenians
Cleisthenic reforms radical democracy
political forces at work: each one layered over the others, overlapping conflicts
conservatism (aristocracy) vs. radicalism (democracy)
aristocratic factionalism (competition between noble families)
Athenian identity vs. external influence
(regionalism vs. centralisation)
in what ways are contemporary political issued layered?
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reforms of Cleisthenes
what did Cleisthenes change?
overhaul of two things:
social organisation of the communities that make up the polis of Athens
political organisation of the branches of the government and the constitution
in what official capacity Cleisthenes was able to undertake the reforms?
recall Solon: “archon with extraordinary powers”
Cleisthenes made proposal to the Assembly? caused Isagoras to ask for Spartan intervention?
506: Peloponnesian incursion to set Isagoras up as tyrant; expedition abandoned (Cleomenes didn’t tell his allies/fellow king about his plans)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
1. reform of social organisation
the problem: how to counteract the influence of aristocratic families?
Cleisthenes’ solution: completely change the organisation of the tribes, and make the new organisation the basis of political representation
before Cleisthenes: four tribes (phylai) based on kinship
led by old, wealthy, aristocratic families patronage
basis for aristocratic power and factional politics
(draw on board)
old politics already weakened by Peistratid tyranny (“Athenian” identity)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
1. reform of social organisation
system of tribes completely reformed:
four tribes based on kinship ten tribes based on geography
breaks up the basis aristocratic power: support fragmented into different tribes
how were the ten tribes composed? some key terms:
“deme”: small (village sized) division of land
Attica divided into 139 demes
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reforms of Cleisthenes
1. reform of social organisation
“trittys” (pl. “trittyes”): several demes grouped together
139 demes 30 trittyes
trittys: “one thirtieth”
each trittys assigned to one of three geographical categories:
“city”, “inland”, “coast” (asty, mesogaia, paralia)
each trittys would be a “city trittys”, and “inland trittys”, or a “coastal trittys”
ten trittyes in each
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reforms of Cleisthenes
1. reform of social organisation
tribe (“phyle”): made up from three trittyes, one each from city, inland, and coast
division was made by lot: for each tribe, one trittys from each category was drawn at random
139 demes 30 trittyes 10 tribes
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the tribe “Aiantis”
city trittys: 2 demes (Rhamnous, Phaleron)
inland trittys: 1 deme (Aphidna)
coast trittys: 3 demes (Oinoe, Marathon, Trikorynthos)
(all locations known)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
1. reform of social organisation
tribes used to select political offices, but demes making up each tribe:
are geographically diverse
represent different parts of the Attic population
new tribal system fractures power bases of aristocratic families
city, inland, and coastal areas: different demographics different political and economic interests
each tribe contains all three not dominated by political/economic interests of a single group/demographic
each tribe a cross-section of Attic society
keep this in mind
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
existing Solonian government:
archons, Areopagos, Council of 400 (Boule), Assembly (Ekklesia)
how did Cleisthenes change these? the general structure remained the same
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
1. archons
not much changed, still 9
direct election from candidates from the top 2 of Solon’s wealth classes (pentakosiomedimnoi and hippeis)
importance steadily declines
487: archonship chosen by lot
term limit: no one can serve as archon more than once
why did these restrictions limit the influence of the office of archon? why did they make the office less attractive?
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
2. Areopagos
background: Areopagos populated by ex-archons
Peisistratid tyrants filled high offices with their supporters
result: who does most of the Areopagos support?
Cleisthenes’ objective: limit power + influence of the Areopagos
exactly what he did is not clear: partly due to the nature of the power of the Areopagos (advisory, unofficial, influence)
compare “unwritten constitution,” lobbying: extra-constitutional means of political influence
influence of the Areopagos further reduced through 5th century, esp. when archons chosen by lot (why?)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
3. the Council (Boule)
Council of 400 Council of 500
each tribe contributed 50 members
councillors (bouleutes) selected by lot
one-year terms
eligible candidates: citizen, aged over 30, not served as councillor in previous year
number of councillors: proportional representation of all the demes
big demes more councillors
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the tribe “Aiantis”
city trittys: 2 demes (Rhamnous, Phaleron)
inland trittys: 1 deme (Aphidna)
coast trittys: 3 demes (Oinoe, Marathon, Trikorynthos)
(all locations known)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
3. the Council (Boule)
probouleutic role in Athenian government
new proposals for the Assembly had to go through the Boule
Boule drafts proposals for the Assembly to vote on
proposal might contain a specific measure to be passed or rejected, or an open-ended question and leave speakers in the Assembly to recommend courses of action
access to the Boule essential for exercising political power
any measure/legislation must pass through both Boule and Assembly
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
3. the Council (Boule)
how did the Boule work?
new councillors began year in office in summer
councillors required to stay in Attica for the year
Boule met every day (except festival days and unlucky days) in the Council House (bouleuterion)
not every councillor had to attend every meeting (“citizen councillors”: “ordinary” people?)
at meetings, citizens and office holders present proposals to the councillors for consideration in the Assembly
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
3. the Council (Boule)
year divided into ten “months”: each month, councillors from one of the ten tribes were prytaneis (executive committee)
50 prytaneis: core group, must be constantly present
messengers, foreign envoys, anything that required immediate attention handled first by the prytaneis
each day, one of the 50 prytaneis chosen by lot to be the chairman
chairman of the day presides over the whole Boul
responsible for putting motions to vote (Socrates, trial of generals)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
3. the Council (Boule)
Prytaneum: room and board for prytaneis
one of the honours bestowed upon citizens who served the state well was free meals at the Prytaneum (e.g., Olympic victors)
(Socrates’ trial)
summary: Boule responsible for day-to-day operation of the state; Cleisthenes ensured every tribe had equal share in the Boule, with proportional representation of all citizens
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
4. Assembly (Ecclesia)
Assembly (Ecclesia): sovereign body of the Athenian people
results of a vote in the Ecclesia: decision of the Athenian people
every male Athenian citizen could attend, speak, and vote in the Ecclesia
in the 4th c., you were paid for attending the Ecclesia (why?)
Ecclesia votes on proposals put before it by the Boule
votes by show of hands; counts taken in close votes
theoretically anyone could make speeches in the Ecclesia, in practice speechmaking dominated by experienced politicians
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
4. Assembly (Ecclesia)
meetings of the Ecclesia regularly scheduled
fourth century: four meetings each “months” (10 prytany months) total forty meetings
also true for 5th c.?
4th c.: agenda for regular meetings posted four days in advance
from mid-5th c.: meetings on the Pnyx (a hill), room for 6,000
oligarchic coup of 411: Ecclesia met outside the city under armed guard to make them vote away their rights
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
4. Assembly (Ecclesia)
special meetings convened for emergencies
Demosthenes narrates what happened when Philip of Macedon conquered an allied city in 339 (“On the Crown”, 169 ff.)
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reforms of Cleisthenes
2. reform of Athenian government
5. ten generals (strategoi)
generals led armies and fleets
not chosen by lot, but by election
at first, only one general was supposed to come from each of the ten tribes: abandoned – why?
generals could make proposals to the Boule
office of general (strategos) can be held repeatedly by the same person
contrast membership of Boule and archonship
consequences for importance of generalship?
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reforms of Cleisthenes
practice of ostracism
ostracism (< ostrakon): vote by at least 6,000 citizens in the Ecclesia to exile someone
ostracised person banned from Attica for ten years
does not lose possessions, no crime or infamy attached: just leave
preliminary vote: “shall we have an ostracism this year?”; second vote: “who to ostracise?”
why did ostracism exist?
“safety valve” against the possibility of constant political deadlock
in theory: if two political figures were in serious disagreement over policy, rather than let that conflict engulf the city, we let the people decide to ostracise one of them and make a definite choice between the two policies
didn’t work that well
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reforms of Cleisthenes
summary: Cleisthenes introduced radical direct democracy in Athens with equal representation for all citizens
curbing aristocratic elements, e.g., archonship, Areopagos
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