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Democracy Evolves in Athens

Matt Houde
Mr. Waller
WH1 Honors
13 December 2017

Democracy Evolves in Athens


Location of Athens in comparison to the other city-states.
https://www.preceden.com/timelines/46500
-important-events-in-ancient-greece
Pericles was the main leader of Athens during Greece's golden age. One of his three goals was to strengthen Athenian democracy. However, he was not the only contributor to the evolution of Athens’ democracy. Even before Pericles, Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenes, all contributed to developing democracy in Athens. All of these leaders brought ideas to Athens that helped Athens gain power over the other city-states. This power allowed Athens to rule over the rest of the city-states and led to the rise of the Athenian empire.

Draco was a nobleman, who seized power in Athens. He started developing Athens’ democracy  in 621 B.C., when he created a legal code based on equality. Draco believed in the idea that all the people of Athens were all equal under law, no matter how rich or poor they were. Next, Solon came to power in 594 B.C. He contributed to evolving democracy by stating that no citizen should own another citizen (outlawing debt slavery). During Solon’s rule all citizens could participate in the assembly of Athens, regardless of class. Cleisthenes brought more ideas into Athenian democracy around 500 B.C. He divided Athens into ten groups based on where they lived, rather than wealth. Lastly, when Pericles gained power in 461, he accomplished many things to strengthen Athenian democracy. Pericles increased the number of public officials with paid salaries, allowed poor citizens to have a chance to serve if elected by lot, and introduced direct democracy (people rule directly). All of leaders contributed to evolving Athenian democracy into what it became, from stating every is equal under law to allowing the people to rule directly.

Sculpture of Pericles 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericles#/media/
-Clementino_Inv269_n2.jpg
We have learned about many successful empires in history so far. Every one of these empires gained prosperity through unity. None of these great empires would have been as strong and powerful without this unification. Athens brought unity to its empire through democracy. Athens’ democratic way of governing differed from the other city-states. Since direct democracy was introduced, people were able to rule directly, making it fair for all Athenian citizens. Athenian government giving citizens of Athens an opportunity to rule, made the Athenian citizens happy. With the citizens of Athens happy, Athenian democracy brought unity to their empire and caused them to gain leadership over the Delian League. Now with the Delian League in their control, Athens’ used the money from the Delian League to build a strong navy and overall strengthen their empire even more. With a strong navy they ruled the Mediterranean Sea over all the other city-states, which is crucial to the Athenian empire. Without Athens’ democracy, Athens would not have been united and the Athenian would not have been as strong as it was.


Looking back on the way life was in ancient times, I would have more than happy to be a citizen of Athens during the Athenian empire. Knowing that I would have the opportunity to rule and have a chance to contribute to their government, is something that would make me want to live there. There was a drastic difference in the equality of Athens compared to the other city-states, which is a significant reason I am swayed to live their. (in-terms of government). Since Athenian government led to more equality in Athens, I would have enjoyed living in Athens during Greece's golden age, and contributing to the rise of the Athenian empire.

Work Cited:


Holt McDougal Online, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=9780547521107.


Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 18, 2017 at 9:06 AM

    Matt, good job on the blog however I would recommend not going straight forward into the information but start of with a question or an introduction to all the things you will be talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  2. New England admirerDecember 28, 2017 at 12:38 PM

    Matt, good recap on the development of democracy in Greece. Good choices in graphics. However, there was no use of the map with your text. The map was just there as though it was decoration. I would use the art as part of the blog in the future. Same as many of your peers, you failed to provide anything new about this subject. The presentation was neat but not unique. If you had expounded more on your statement "There was a drastic difference in the equality of Athens compared to the other city-states, which is a significant reason I am swayed to live their. (in-terms of government)" would have made for a more interesting blog. Then I could learn something new, about the other city-states that the textbook does not speak about and your views about how those city-states compare to Athens.

    Your blogs are improving each time.

    ReplyDelete

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