• Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were Athenian citizens, and understanding their works requires knowledge of the social and political institutions of classical Athens.
• Aristotle, although not an Athenian citizen, spent a significant portion of his life in Athens, where he studied with Plato and later established his own school.
• The political thought of these philosophers is deeply influenced by the Athenian city-state, which served as the backdrop for their ideas.
• Ancient Greek history is commonly divided into four periods: the Mycenaean period, the Dark Ages, the Archaic Age, and the Classical Age.
• The Archaic Age (700–480 BCE) witnessed the rapid establishment of Greek city-states, prompted by a population explosion.
• Greek city-states began sending out colonies to nearby coastal areas, expanding their cultural and linguistic influence.
• By the 6th century BCE, Greek colonies were established across the Mediterranean coast, forming a network of independent political units.
• Each Greek city-state, or polis, consisted of a main city surrounded by an agricultural hinterland, functioning as a separate political entity.
• During the Archaic Age, the basileus (king) ruling system in Greek city-states was gradually replaced by groups of three men called archons.
• The archons included the archon eponymous (chief magistrate), the polemarch (head of the armed forces), and the archon basileus (religious duties).
• In Athens, these officials were initially elected from the nobility for ten-year terms, later reduced to one year by 683 BCE.
• After their term, archons became lifetime members of the Council of Areopagus, responsible for the city’s government.
• Oligarchy, characterized by rule by the few, particularly the noble-born and wealthy, became the dominant form of government in Greek city-states during this period.

• Athens received more historical attention than other Greek city-states due to its larger size, both in territory and population, as well as its unique political system.
• In the 5th century BCE, Athens had approximately 50,000 citizens, significantly more than other city-states such as Sparta, which had around 10,000 citizens.
• Politically, Athens stood out as a democracy from about 500 BCE to around 300 BCE, with only two brief interruptions during this period.
• The democratic institutions in Athens likely influenced Athenian life and culture significantly during this time.
• The flowering of culture in Athens during this period, including the emergence of great philosophers like Plato and Socrates, celebrated dramatists like Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, and Aristophanes, and beautiful art, may have been influenced by its democratic practices.
• The establishment of democracy in Athens by Cleisthenes around 508/507 BCE coincided with Athens’s increased prominence in Greek affairs.
• Athens played a significant role in the Greco-Persian wars, defeating Persian forces at Marathon in 490 BCE and at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE.
• In 478 BCE, Athens established the Delian League under its leadership to protect Greek city-states from Persian threats.
• Athens’s increase in power in the 4th and 5th centuries BCE may have been linked to its new form of government, raising questions about the relationship between Athenian democracy and its political and military successes.
• Much of Western political thought is seen as a response to Athenian democracy, with warnings about the potential dangers of giving power to the masses.
• The establishment of democracy in Athens is debated among historians, with key moments including Solon’s economic reforms, Cleisthenes’s reorganization of tribes, reforms associated with Ephialtes and Pericles, and changes in 404–403 BCE.
• Solon, appointed as archon eponymous in Athens in 594 BCE, initiated major economic reforms aimed at reducing inequalities.
• Solon cancelled all outstanding debts and forbade creditors from selling debtors into slavery, effectively ending debt-slavery in Attica.
• He formalized the Athenian population into four property classes: pentakosiomedimnoi, hippies, zeugitai, and thetes, allowing citizens from all classes to participate in political institutions.
• Solon allowed citizens from the first two property classes to become archons, reducing the aristocracy’s dominance in governance.
• He established the boule, an advisory body open to the first three Athenian classes, and expanded the role of the ekklesia to include all citizens, enabling them to vote on governmental policy.
• Solon reformed the judicial system, allowing members of all property classes to serve as jurors in new courts, providing citizens with recourse against the decisions of the archons.
• Solon’s democratic reforms formed the foundation for later statesmen, including Peisistratus and Cleisthenes, who sought to introduce further democratic laws.
• Peisistratus, ruling as a tyrant, maintained Solon’s constitution, ensuring the continuity of democratic principles despite his autocratic rule.
• Cleisthenes, considered the real founder of Athenian democracy, made significant revisions to the constitution in 508/507 BCE.
• Cleisthenes reorganized the people of Attica into ten new tribes based on demes, or place of residence, breaking the earlier kinship-based tribal structure.
• Attica was divided into 139 demes, grouped into ten tribes, each composed of three trittyes representing demes from different regions.
• Cleisthenes’ reforms integrated all people in Attica into one political community, opening highest political offices to all citizens and fostering a sense of unity.
• His reforms established institutional links between the center and periphery of Athens, creating a new political community and democratizing Athenian governance.

Ekklesia (Assembly):

• • Open to every male Athenian citizen over 20 years old; citizenship restricted to free-born Athenian males.
  • Quorum set at 6,000 citizens, met about 40 times a year, with significant sessions like the ekklesia kyria.
  • Citizens received payment for attending assembly sessions.
  • Notices for meetings had to be given five days in advance, along with placards announcing the proposals to be discussed.
  • Free speech was integral, allowing citizens to speak on governmental matters irrespective of their status.
  • Citizens voted on laws and policies; decisions were recorded, published, and, in some cases, carved in stone tablets.
  • Rules ensured serious participation; penalties for slander; mechanism of graphe paranomon for accusations against proposals contrary to the law.
  • Assembly had power to hear charges of eisangelia (crimes against the state), allowing any citizen to bring charges of treason against officials or private citizens.

Boule (Council):

• • Permanently in session throughout the year, responsible for preparing the assembly’s agenda and implementing its decisions.
  • Consisted of 500 citizens, with 50 citizens assigned annually from each of the 10 tribes.
  • Each group of 50 acted as a standing committee (prytaneis) for 36 consecutive days, with one chosen by lot as the chairman each day.
  • Membership restricted to the first three property classes.
  • Set the agenda for the assembly; vetted and debated proposals before discussion in the ekklesia.
  • Executed functions with the help of magistrates, including the ten generals (strategoi) and other elected officials.
  • Decisions taken at the assembly were recorded as decisions of the boule and the assembly.

Magistrates:

• • About 600 magistrates in Athens, appointed annually or chosen by lottery.
  • Ten generals (strategoi) were the most important; other magistrates included financial officers and religious functionaries.
  • Some magistracies were elected, while others were chosen by lottery; audits of accounts (euthynai) were mandatory.
  • Restrictions on holding a particular magistracy more than once in a lifetime.

Dikasteria (Courts):

• • Athenian court system allowed maximum citizen participation.
  • Courts known as dikasteria; jurors called dikasts.
  • Under Cleisthenes’s reforms, 6,000 citizens aged 30 or over were chosen annually as a pool of jurors.
  • Jurors chosen by lot from those willing to stand; 600 selected from each tribe.
  • Courts varied in size and handled different types of offenses; sessions held for about 200 days a year.
  • Petitioner and defendant given equal time to present their case; jurors cast anonymous votes.

Nine Archons and the Areopagus:

• • Continued from earlier times, but powers were curtailed.
  • Archons chosen by lot from a list of 500, weakening their position; judicial duties remained.
  • Areopagus transformed into a body with mainly religious duties; lost powers of scrutiny and control over office holders.
  • Archonship opened to the zeugitai class in 457 BCE.

Criticism of Athenian Democracy:

• • Criticism arises due to the exclusion of slaves, metics (resident aliens), and women from political participation.
  • Majority of the population lacked political rights, undermining the democratic nature of the system.
  • Hannah Arendt and Marxists argue that slavery formed the basis of Athenian democracy, albeit with differing perspectives.
    • Arendt views it positively, suggesting slaves’ labor freed citizens for political engagement.
    • Marxists condemn it, pointing out exploitation of slave labor by citizens.
  • E.M. Wood proposes an alternative view, highlighting the role of ordinary peasant citizens and craftsmen in Athenian democracy.
    • Solon’s reforms abolished debt bondage, leading to a mass of small independent producers by the 5th century BCE.
    • Citizen farmers and craftsmen had to balance manual work with political participation.
    • Payment for attending assembly sessions aimed to encourage participation among ordinary citizens.
    • Athenian democracy relied on the participation of small farmers and craftsmen in addition to the wealthy elite.

Athenian Citizen Army:

• • Every citizen over 18 years served in the army, emphasizing the citizen-soldier model.
  • Solon’s property classification system determined military roles; cavalrymen, infantrymen, and trireme rowers.
  • Thetes, poorer citizens, manned the triremes and played a crucial role in the Athenian navy.
  • Athenian imperial power, supported by the navy, led to conflicts such as the Peloponnesian War.
  • Participation in the military translated into political influence through the assembly and courts.

Wide Participation in Politics:

• • Scholars like Wood refute the notion of Athenian politics being restricted to the rich.
  • Despite class differences, widespread participation in politics existed.
  • Any Athenian male citizen could express opinions regardless of ancestry, education, or wealth.
  • However, politics was exclusively male-dominated; women were confined to the private sphere.

Social Structure and Gender Roles:

• • Athenian men lived public lives, spending time in gymnasia, agora, and ekklesia.
  • Women were confined to domestic duties, leading separate lives from men.
  • Homosexuality was accepted, and women were primarily valued for childbearing.

Impact on Philosophical Thought:

• • Understanding Athenian social structure and political organization aids in comprehending the works of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates.
  • Their writings reflect responses to the practice of democracy in Athens.
  • Socrates’ parrhesia mirrors democratic practice; Plato and Aristotle critique democratic governance.