why did athenian democracy fail why did athenian democracy fail

As below ground, so above. He is the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of 20 or so books, the latest being Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past (Pan Macmillan, London, 2004). To the Greeks, he represented himself as a new Alexander, the champion of Greek culture against Rome. War between Pontus and Romethe First Mithridatic Warbroke out in 89 BC over the petty state of Bithynia in northwestern Anatolia. The first, rather obvious, strike against Athenian democracy is that there was a tendency for people to be casually executed. The evidence comes in the form of what is known as the Persian Debate in Book 3. Realizing the citys defenses were broken, Aristion burned the Odeon of Pericles, on the south side of the Acropolis, to prevent the Romans from using its timbers to construct more siege engines. Around 460 B.C., under the rule of the general Pericles (generals were among the only public officials who were elected, not appointed) Athenian democracy began to evolve into something that we would call an aristocracy: the rule of what Herodotus called the one man, the best. Though democratic ideals and processes did not survive in ancient Greece, they have been influencing politicians and governments ever since. Although this Athenian democracy would survive for only two centuries, its invention by Cleisthenes, The Father of Democracy, was one of ancient Greeces most enduring contributions to the modern world. The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes: Structure, Principles Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Immediately following the Bronze Age collapse and at the start of the Dark . History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. Athenian democracy refers to the system of democratic government used in Athens, Greece from the 5th to 4th century BCE. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Athens, humbled in recent years by the Romans, can seize control of its destiny, Athenion declares. The Athenian defenders, weakened by hunger, fled. Weary of the siege and determined to seize the city by assault, he ordered his soldiers to fire an endless stream of arrows and javelins. Unlike the ekklesia, the boule met every day and did most of the hands-on work of governance. Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane . "There are grounds to consider whether we want to go down the same route that Athens did. A further variant on this view was that the masses or the mob, being ignorant and stupid for the most part, were easily swayed by specious rhetoric - so easily swayed that they were incapable of taking longer views or of sticking resolutely to one, good view once that had been adopted. Last updated 2011-02-17. Two scenes from Athens in the first-century BC: Early summer, 88 BC, a cheering crowd surrounds the envoy Athenion as he makes a rousing speech. This newfound alliance initially benefited Athens. By the end, it was hailing its latest ruler, Demetrius, as both a king and a living God. If we are all democrats today, we are not - and it is importantly because we are not - Athenian-style democrats. The Pontic army used scythes mounted on chariots as weapons of terror, cutting swaths through the Bithynian ranks. Those defeats persuaded Mithridates to end the war. Sulla circulated among his men and cheered them on, promising that their ordeal was almost over. Blood flows in the narrow streets, as the Romans butcher the Athenianswomen and children included. The government and economy were also weak causing distress all over Athens. 04 Mar 2023. More loosely, it alludes to the entire range of democratic reforms that proceeded alongside the Jacksonians read more, The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. Over time tyrants became greedy and cruel. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. The majority won the day and the decision was final. The second important institution was the boule, or Council of Five Hundred. Second, was the metics who were foreign residents of Athens. Critics of democracy, such as Thucydides and Aristophanes, pointed out that not only were proceedings dominated by an elite, but that the dmos could be too often swayed by a good orator or popular leaders (the demagogues), get carried away with their emotions, or lack the necessary knowledge to make informed decisions. Greek myths explained everything from religious rituals to the weather, and read more, The term Ancient, or Archaic, Greece refers to the years 700-480 B.C., not the Classical Age (480-323 B.C.) The boule was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Democracy inevitably fails because it is predicated not on merit but on popularity. After all, at the time of writing, Athens was the greatest single power in the entire Greek world By 413, however, the argument from success in favour of radical democracy was beginning to collapse, as Athens' fortunes in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta began seriously to decline. Last modified April 03, 2018. Rome responded, rushing 20 warships and 1,000 troops to Piraeus to keep Philip V at bay. The ancient Greeks have provided us with fine art, breath-taking temples, timeless theatre, and some of the greatest philosophers, but it is democracy which is, perhaps, their greatest and most enduring legacy. Attacking into the half circle of the lunette, they were hit by missiles from the front and both flanks. Web. In an effort to cope, Athens began to create a system of self-regulation, described as a "giant Neighbourhood Watch", asking citizens not to trouble its overstretched bureaucracy with non-urgent, petty crimes. Sulla also moved north, however, and defeated Archelaus in two pitched battles in Boeotia, at Chaeronea and Orchomenos. Any citizen could speak to the assembly and vote on decisions by simply holding up their hands. It was here in the courts that laws made by the assembly could be challenged and decisions were made regarding ostracism, naturalization, and remission of debt. Such brutality may have been carried out with a design; Athenians fearing a Roman military intervention were growing restless under Aristion. Yet the religious views of Socrates were deeply unorthodox, his political sympathies were far from radically democratic, and he had been the teacher of at least two notorious traitors, Alcibiades and Critias. Athenian democracy was a system of government where all male citizens could attend and participate in the assembly which governed the city-state. Most of the Greek cities there welcomed the Pontic forces, and by early 88, Mithridates was firmly in control of western Anatolia. The real question now is not can we, but should we go back to the Greeks? Sulla obtained iron and other material from Thebes and placed his newly built siege engines upon mounds of rubble collected from the Long Walls. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! In this way, the 500 members of the boule dictated how the entire democracy would work. Democracy, however, was found in other areas as well and after the conquests of Alexander the Great and the process of Hellenization, it became the norm for both the liberated cities in Asia Minor as well as new . Cartwright, Mark. 2.37). In the furious fighting that followed, he kept his army close to Piraeus to ensure that his archers and slingers on the wall could still wreak havoc on the Romans. In 133 BC, Rome was a democracy. As we have seen, only male citizens who were 18 years or over could speak (at least in theory) and vote in the assembly, whilst the positions such as magistrates and jurors were limited to those over 30 years of age. Ostrakon for PericlesMark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). It was this body which supervised any administrative committees and officials on behalf of the assembly. While Eli Sagan believes Athenian democracy can be divided into seven chapters, classicist and political scientist Josiah Ober has a different view. In ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy, not only were children denied the vote (an exception we still consider acceptable), but so were women, foreigners, and enslaved people. The events that led to renewed hostilities began in 433, when Athens allied itself with Corcyra (modern Corfu ), a strategically important colony of Corinth. World History Encyclopedia, 03 Apr 2018. To subscribe, click here. Athenions fate is not clear. Sulla had the tyrant and his bodyguard executed. Any male citizen could, then, participate in the main democratic body of Athens, the assembly (ekklsia). Chiefly because of a fatal ambiguity: to its opponents democracy was no more, and no better, than mob-rule, since for them it meant the political power of the masses exercised over and at the expense of the elite. At the start of the century Athens, contrary to traditional reports, was a flourishing democracy. One unusual critic is an Athenian writer whom we know familiarly as the 'Old Oligarch'. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. World History Encyclopedia. Scorning the vanquished, he declared that he was sparing them only out of respect for their distinguished ancestors. In a new history of the 4th century BC, Cambridge University Classicist Dr. Michael Scott reveals how the implosion of Ancient Athens occurred amid a crippling economic downturn, while politicians committed financial misdemeanours, sent its army to fight unpopular foreign wars and struggled to cope with a surge in immigration. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. The next day, as he made his way to the Agora for a speech, a mob of admirers strained to touch his garments. The first was the ekklesia, or Assembly, the sovereign governing body of Athens. There were 3 classes in the society of ancient Athens. But - a big 'but' - it works: that is, it delivers the goods - for the masses. Sulla, lacking ships, could not give chase. The Pompeion was ravaged beyond repair and left to decay. The Greek emissary became an enthusiastic booster of the king and sent letters home advocating an alliance. Please support World History Encyclopedia. Although active participation was encouraged, attendance in the assembly was paid for in certain periods, which was a measure to encourage citizens who lived far away and could not afford the time off to attend. The collapse of Greek democracy 2,400 years ago occurred in circumstances so similar to our own it could be read as a dark and often ignored lesson from the past, a new study suggests. But what did the development of Athenian democracy actually involve? Nine presidents (proedroi), elected by lot and holding the office one time only, organised the proceedings and assessed the voting. When some topped the walls and ran away, he sent cavalry after them. Terrified Romans fled to temples for sanctuary, but to no avail; they were butchered anyway. Then there was also an executive committee of the boul which consisted of one tribe of the ten which participated in the boul (i.e., 50 citizens, known as prytaneis) elected on a rotation basis, so each tribe composed the executive once each year. That was one, class-based sort of objection to Greek-style direct democracy. It reached its peak between 480 and 404BC, when Athens was undeniably the master of the Greek world. Critically, the emphasis on "people power" saw a revolving door of political leaders impeached, exiled and even executed as the inconstant international climate forced a tetchy political assembly into multiple changes in policy direction. The Romans placed a proxy on the Bithynian throne and encouraged him to raid Pontic territory. Though Archelaus restored Delos to Athenian control, he turned over its treasury to Aristion, an Athenian citizen whom Mithridates had chosen to rule Athens. Buildings in the Agora and on the south side of the Acropolis remained damaged for decades, monuments to the poverty in postwar Athens. Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from Athens for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia. A Council of 500 and Assembly were created. There was in Athens (and also Elis, Tegea, and Thasos) a smaller body, the boul, which decided or prioritised the topics which were discussed in the assembly. Eventually the Romans breached a section of the wall and poured through. Illustrating the esteem in which democratic government was held, there was even a divine personification of the ideal of democracy, the goddess Demokratia. 'Why', answers his guardian Pericles, who was then at the height of his influence, 'it is whatever the people decides and decrees'. Greek Bronze Ballot DisksMark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). Then he recounted events in the east. Special interests include art, architecture, and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share. With people chosen at random to hold important positions and with terms of office strictly limited, it was difficult for any individual or small group to dominate or unduly influence the decision-making process either directly themselves or, because one never knew exactly who would be selected, indirectly by bribing those in power at any one time. Modern representative democracies, in contrast to direct democracies, have citizens who vote for representatives who create and enact laws on their behalf. This complex system was, no doubt, to ensure a suitable degree of checks and balances to any potential abuse of power, and to ensure each traditional region was equally represented and given equal powers. Aristion executed citizens accused of favoring Rome and sent others to Mithridates as prisoners. Democracy, which had prevailed during Athens' Golden Age, was replaced by a system of oligarchy in 411 BCE. The Athenian Democracy existed from the early 7th century BC up until Athens was conquered by the Macedonians in 322 BC. The two either supported the Romans or were currying favor with the side that they expected to win. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. The military impact of Athenian democracy was twofold. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. And its denouement is the Roman sack of Athens, a bloody day that effectively marked the end of Athens as an independent state. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. In 590 BCE Athenians were suffering from debt and famine throughout Athens. A demagogue, a treacherous ally, and a brutal Roman general destroyed the city-stateand democracyin the first-century BC. City residents who had cheered lustily for Athenion, the demagogic envoy, now found themselves ruled by a tyrant. 474 Words2 Pages. To protect their money, some Athenians buried coin hoards. After all, at the time of writing, Athens was the greatest single power in the entire Greek world, and that fact could not be totally unconnected with the fact that Athens was a democracy. But without warning, it sank into the earth. The book, entitled From Democrats To Kings, aims to overhaul Athens' traditional image as the ancient world's "golden city", arguing that its early successes have obscured a darker history of blood-lust and mob rule. Under this system, all male citizens - the dmos - had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. A demagogue, a treacherous ally, and a brutal Roman general destroyed the city-stateand democracyin the first-century BC, https://www.historynet.com/the-end-of-athens/, Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot, When 21 Sikh Soldiers Fought the Odds Against 10,000 Pashtun Warriors, Few Red Tails Remain: Tuskegee Airman Dies at 96. No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty. In 83 BC, Sulla and his army returned to Italy, kicking off the Roman Republics first all-out civil war, which he won. This demokratia, as it became known, was a direct democracy that gave political power to free male Athenian citizens rather than a ruling aristocratic read more, The amazing works of art and architecture known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World serve as a testament to the ingenuity, imagination and sheer hard work of which human beings are capable. Sulla called a halt to the pillage and slaughter. The Pontic troops had built other lunettes inside, but the Romans attacked each wall with manic energy. In 399 he was charged with impiety (through not duly recognising the gods the city recognised, and introducing new, unrecognised divinities) and, a separate alleged offence, corrupting the young. In an effort to remain a major player in world affairs, it abandoned its ideology and values to ditch past allies while maintaining special relationships with emerging powers like Macedonia and supporting old enemies like the Persian King. One night Sulla personally reconnoitered that stretch of wall, which was near the Dipylon Gate, the citys main entrance. In around 450 B.C., the Athenian general Pericles tried to consolidate his power by using public money, the dues paid to Athens by its allies in the Delian League coalition, to support the city-states artists and thinkers. These groups had to meet secretly because although there was freedom of speech, persistent criticism of individuals and institutions could lead to accusations of conspiring tyranny and so lead to ostracism. He also said that Mithridates would free the citizens of Athens from their debts (whether he meant public or private debts is not clear). Dr. Scott argues that this was caused by a range of circumstances which in many cases were the ancient world's equivalent of those faced by Britain today. They denied specifically that the sort of knowledge available to and used by ordinary people, popular knowledge if you like, was really knowledge at all. We care about our planet! Under this system, all male citizens - the dmos - had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. When the Romans destroyed the Macedonian Kingdom in 168, the Senate awarded Athens the Aegean island of Delos. He was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series 'The Greeks'. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. ', replies Alcibiades; 'even when it decrees by fiat, acting like a tyrant and riding roughshod over the views of the minority - is that still "law"?' The opposing forces clashed bitterly for a long timeAppian records that both Sulla and Archelaus held forth in the thick of the action, cheering on their men and bringing up fresh troops. As soldiers carted away their prized and sacred possessions, the guardians of Delphi bitterly complained that Sulla was nothing like previous Roman commanders, who had come to Greece and made gifts to the temples. The Romans quickly got to work on their own tunnel, and when the diggers from both sides met, a savage fight broke out underground, the miners hacking at each other with spears and swords as well as they could in the darkness, according to Appian. The result was a series of domestic problems, including an inability to fund the traditional police force. This was because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity. Canada, The United States and South Africa are all examples of modern-day representative democracies. The . But this was all before the powerful Athens of the fifth century BC, when the city had been at its zenith. Under Macedonian control, Athens had dwindled to a third-rank power, with no independence in foreign affairs and an insignificant military. This is a form of government which puts the power to rule in the hands of . Seven noble Persians conspire to overthrow the usurper and restore legitimate government.