Government in Ancient Greece

1
Government in Ancient Greece

• The Polis Colonization Tyranny
• Spartan and Athenian Comparative

2
What is a Polis?

• Is this a workable system?
• What potential problems do you see?
• What are its advantages?
• Who were its citizens? Non-citizens?
• What role(s) do they play?
• Rights and Responsibilities
• i.e. The military- aristocratic cavalry, hoplites

3
Cause And Effect Of The Polis System

• Colonization (700s)
• Purpose?
• How?
• Result?
• The new rich Areopagus (council of nobles)
• Cause and Effect Political Change
• Aristocratic control Nobles owned land, were
  members of the cavalry.
• Made money from their estates.
• Farmers borrowed money from the nobles and
  couldnt pay it back. (Birth of sharecropping.)
• Need for larger military caused.
• Hoplites- phalanx strategy
• Simmering tensions between aristocrats and new
  wealthy ? rise of tyrants

4
The Rise of Tyrants (600 BCE)

• Need for reform Who? What did they want? The
  result?
• Role of tyrant was absolute but short lived.
• Reforms introduced new forms of government.
• Important leaders during this period (some
  tyrants, others tyrants)
• Draco Codification of Greek law (severe
  punishment)
• Solon Established a court of appeals canceled
  indebted slavery. Maybe most importantly, set up
  a Two House Legislature
• 1. Aristocrats Council of 400
• 2. Commoners AssemblyCitizens
• Pisistratus Considered first Athenian tyrant.
  Abolished land owning as a requirement for
  citizenship. Divided land that belonged to
  aristocrats among poor farmers. Supported
  international trade.
• Cleisthenes attempted to do away with class
  divisions based on wealth. Created Council of
  500(foreign policy and finance), gave the
  Assembly (all male citizens) final voting power
  on legislation. Created demes (wards /small
  country towns), which fostered local loyalty.
  175 demes in all merged into 10 distinct tribes.

5
Result of the Period of Tyranny

• Oligarchy and Democracy
• Why?

6
To summarize

• The types of government present in ancient
  Greece
• Aristocracy
• Oligarchy
• Tyranny
• Democracy
• Athens went through each phase
• Spartans saw the practicality of oligarchy

Athens went through these phases in this order.
7
Sparta

• Direct descendants of the Dorians What might we
  infer about them?
• Class System
• Spartans upper ruling class citizens
• Helots Slaves and Perioeci (conquered merchants
  and artisans)
• Free People Spartan born lower class merchants
• Spartan class out-numbered by helots trouble
• Military oligarchy Reforms by Lycurgus
• What does this mean?
• 7 year old boys sent to military training
• Retirement at 60
• Women important why?

8
Sparta (cont)

• Assembly of Citizens Spartans 30 years or
  older. Dealt with matters of law making and war.
• Kings officially governed, usually 2 of them at a
  time. Conducted religious and military affairs.
• Ephors Oversaw issue dealing with public
  affairs, presided at the assembly, guarded
  against Helots revolts. 5 were elected
  annually.
• Council of Elders Citizens 60 or older
  advisory board judicial duties

Please note not actual Spartans. ?
9
Athens _at_ Democracy

• 5 Branches of Government
• The Assembly voted on and debated issues
• The Council of 500(Boule) prepared issues
• Board of Generals (10) military issues
• Board of Officials issues of public affairs
• Large Juries special sessions on specific
  issues 
• Athenian Democracy at work
• During Pericles rule, about 40,000 citizens. He
  passed a law in 451 B.C.E. stating that BOTH
  parents had to be Athenian for their child to be
  a citizen.
• Every citizen belonged to the Assembly. Police
  rounded up working citizens who were neglecting
  their service.
• Poor farmers were paid to participate. Why?
• Voting by a show of hands. Why?

10
Athens (cont)
ASSEMBLY (Ecclesia)
GENERALS (1 yr. of service) (i.e. Pericles)
COUNCIL of 500 (by lot) (day to day business)
50 Councilmen (by lot) (served 1/10 of a year)
Board of Archons (by lot) (judicial and
religious issues)
Board of 100 Officials (by lot or elected) (1
year of service) (Civic / civil duties)

• The Court System
• Citizens had the right to present cases in front
  of a jury.
• 6000 possible jurors (heliaea), by lot, chosen.
  30 picked by lot to serve.
• Each side had 6 minuets to present. Then jury
  IMMEDIATELY votes.
• Ostracism System

11
Ostracism

• May have begun under Cleisthenes
• Could happen once a yearpresented in the
  assembly
• All citizens could write down one name on ostraka
• Person with most votes had to leave for 10 years
• Why would this have been done?
• Not really a punishmentno charge attached to the
  person if ostracized
• Severe punishments if a person tried to come back
  early.

12
True vs. Limited Democracy
Why do we start here
but end up here?