Download - Government in Athens
![Page 1: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Government in AthensKey Terms
*democracy*aristocrats*oligarchy*citizens*tyrant
*Pericles
![Page 2: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Aristocrats Rule
• Originally, kings ruled city-states.
• Later, a group of aristocrats, or rich landowners, took power.
• Under the aristocrats, laws were too strict and other Athenians disliked them.
Under Draco,an aristocrat,loitering was
punishable by death!
A government in which only a few people have power is called an oligarchy.
Talk to your neighbor about the geography of Greece.
![Page 3: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Aristocrats Rule Cont.• With such strict laws,
Solon (SOH-luhn) tried to fix them by making everyone a citizen, or someone who had the right to participate in government.
• However, Athenians were still ready to end the oligarchy.
Today, laws that are seen as “too strict” are called “Draconian” after Draco.
Discuss withyour neighbor
what an oligarchy is.
![Page 4: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
The Rise of Tyrants
• Eventually, the oligarchy was overthrown by a tyrant, Peisistratus (py-SIS-truht-uhs).
• A tyrant is a person who held power through force.
• In ancient Greece, tyrants were good leaders, unifying the city and improving Athens.
Today, the word tyrant usually describes a
negative, harsh ruler.
A tyranny isa government
in which a tyrant has
power.
Talk to your neighbor about what it might be like to live under a tyrant.
![Page 5: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Athens Creates Democracy
• Unfortunately, aristocrats came into power again after Peisistratus died.
• It remained this way until Cleisthenes (KLYS-thuh-neez) took power.
• Cleisthenes was a member of a rich family set to take power.
• However, he had different plans for Athens.
Cleisthenes called upon his people to help overthrow the oligarchy once and for all.
Under Cleisthenes’rule, the first
democracy was created.
![Page 6: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Democracy UnderCleisthenes
• All citizens had the right and were urged to assemble to participate in the making of laws.
• Citizens gave speeches and debates on issues.
• After speeches were over, voting took place.
Women, slaves,and foreigners
weren’t consideredcitizens so they couldn’t vote.
Athenians would assemble
Athenians would debate
Athenians would vote
![Page 7: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Democracy UnderCleisthenes Cont.
• Voting was usually done by show of hands.
• For major decisions, 6,000 citizens were needed to vote.
• As you can imagine, it was difficult at times to find 6,000 people to come vote.
• To make it easier, citizens were selected to serve on a smaller council which decided on laws to discuss.
Voting took place on Pnyx (pah-NIKS), a small hill that sometimes held 6,000 people.
Debates on Pnyxwere often noisy
and lackedorganization.
![Page 8: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Changes in Athenian Democracy
• Citizens began to gain power by serving on juries to decide court cases.
• Democracy flourished when Pericles was in power.
• Pericles felt that participating in the government was as important as defending Athens in war. Pericles even
paid citizensto serve thegovernment.
Periclesencouragedother partsof Greece
to bedemocratic.
![Page 9: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Democracy Ends in Athens
• Athens was conquered by Macedonia to the north.
• The Macedonian king ruled like a dictator, or a ruler who rules all.
• The assembly still met, but didn’t do anything to upset the king, making it so citizens had very little say again.
• Eventually, Athenian democracy was lost forever.
Nobody couldmake decisions
without the king’sapproval.
Democracy
Talk to your neighbor about why you think the assembly wasafraid to speak up against the new king.
![Page 10: Government in Athens](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022081603/568145fd550346895db30aa7/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Direct Democracy vs. Representative Democracy
Representative Democracy• The United States is a
representative democracy.
• Citizens elect officials to represent them.
• Elected officials meet to make laws and enforce them.
• For example, the United States have senators and congressmen to represent and vote for us.
Direct Democracy• Ancient Greece was a direct
democracy.
• All citizens represented themselves directly and could participate in government and voting.
• Citizens themselves would gather and discuss issues.
• The population of ancient Greece was large, but still small enough to have a government in place that allowed all citizens to debate and vote.
GREECE U.S.