Ancient Athenian Democracy Essay
Ancient Athens is credited with having developed one of the first democracies on this earth. The city-state’s democracy, which was known as a direct or radical democracy, was at its peak under the rule of Pericles (circa 495- 430 BC). Prior to the development of what was an extremely active democracy, the Athenians were under various forms of government, including monarchy, oligarchy and tyranny.
Monarchy
The city-states in Greece were established some time around the 9th century BC. From around the 9th into the 8th centuries, a king, or “basileus,” ruled the city-state with a group of nobles under him. However, the Athenian monarchy did not last very long.
Government develops from many impulses and threads and the Athenians saw a landed …show more content…
The Areopagus was the name of the hill on which these men met. It was from this group that the oligarchy would develop.
Oligarchy
The oligarchy, which was composed of men who came from and were elected by the Areopagus, was made up of nine archons or “rulers.” The monarchy transformed into an oligarchy sometime in the 8th century BC.
In this form of government, you can see the seeds of Athens’ democracy. The archons made decisions regarding the rule of the city-state but they had to submit their decisions to the entire Areopagus, which would either accept or reject their rulings.
Overall, it was this group of nobles, the Areopagus, whose numbers varied from time to time, that ruled Athens up until the middle of the 7th century BCE. However, at that time, due to a division between the classes and economic problems, Athens was in an unstable state.
Although the nobles, who owned estates throughout the city-state and successfully made and sold primarily olive oil and wine, were in good stead, the common famer of Athens, who grew wheat, suffered from economic hardship. The wheat farmers saw their crop suffer as their fields became ineffective due to the fact that they did not rotate their
Monarchy
The city-states in Greece were established some time around the 9th century BC. From around the 9th into the 8th centuries, a king, or “basileus,” ruled the city-state with a group of nobles under him. However, the Athenian monarchy did not last very long.
Government develops from many impulses and threads and the Athenians saw a landed …show more content…
The Areopagus was the name of the hill on which these men met. It was from this group that the oligarchy would develop.
Oligarchy
The oligarchy, which was composed of men who came from and were elected by the Areopagus, was made up of nine archons or “rulers.” The monarchy transformed into an oligarchy sometime in the 8th century BC.
In this form of government, you can see the seeds of Athens’ democracy. The archons made decisions regarding the rule of the city-state but they had to submit their decisions to the entire Areopagus, which would either accept or reject their rulings.
Overall, it was this group of nobles, the Areopagus, whose numbers varied from time to time, that ruled Athens up until the middle of the 7th century BCE. However, at that time, due to a division between the classes and economic problems, Athens was in an unstable state.
Although the nobles, who owned estates throughout the city-state and successfully made and sold primarily olive oil and wine, were in good stead, the common famer of Athens, who grew wheat, suffered from economic hardship. The wheat farmers saw their crop suffer as their fields became ineffective due to the fact that they did not rotate their