Democracy In Ancient Greece Essay

In early Athens before Draco's laws, there were no written sentencing guides or punishments in place for crimes committed. This meant that the punishments for the same crimes remained inconsistent. Instead if the victim was dead then the family was left to get compensation from the criminal themselves or seek revenge by their own accord. 'He who kills another Athenian, without a purpose or by accident should be banished from Athens for ever. If the killer apologises to the family of the murdered man and the family accepts the apology, then the murderer may stay in Athens.' (Inscriptiones, Greacae 1 115.) However, if the victim was alive then they themselves were held responsible for getting back at the person or for getting their own compensation for the crime that had been committed. The revenge lead to feuds which could last generations whilst families sought to get revenge.

In the 7th Century BCE Athens the
He had changed the class system, but it was still based on the idea that the more money people had/the wealthier they were, the more say than the poor they had in political matters. The rich still had more power and authority over the poor.

Ephialtes’ reforms

Ephialtes realised the Areopagus was a main factor stopping Athens from becoming a democracy. Membership to the Areopagus lasted for life, and was confined to the ex-archons (who came from the two richest classes)

One of the main powers the Areopagus had was supervision of the city's affairs. The Areopagus was able to punish Athenian citizens without having to give them a reason. This meant that the Areopagus had extensive control over citizens lives. ‘Dragging the disorderly before the Areopagus, which criticised, threatened or punished them as they deserved’ (Isocrates 7.46) Ephialtes took this power away from the Areopagus. After Ephialtes reforms, no other institutions had such controlling powers over the