The Influence Of The Athenian Democratic Reforms

The democratic reforms instituted in Athens from 463 to 451 BC by both Ephialtes and his ‘successor’ Pericles are wide ranging and unprecedented for their era. The political upheaval in the 5th century BC is often cited by modern historians as a ‘radical’ shift from conservative democracy to a liberal, direct democracy involving all citizens. The oligarchical institution known as the Areopagus, comprised of ex-archons from the two aristocratic classes, was the largest obstacle in the way of full democracy for the Athenian radicals. The beginning of the emplacement of direct democracy can be seen to start with the prosecution of Cimon, the largest supporter of the Areopagus, by the radical democrats. Although Cimon was acquitted, the trial proved
To ensure the democratic institution in Athens achieved maximum participation by all citizens, the radicals enacted a number of reforms based on widening the pool of potential candidates to all political offices and paying the democratic officials to allow all classes access to government positions. The goal of the radicals were to widen the governing power to all the people and ensure complete accountability of all offices, this was done by referring the power which was once held by the Areopagus, to one of three sovereign bodies. These bodies were the Boule , the Eklesia , and the Heliaea . The reforms which significantly increased the political standing of the Thetes came in the reforms of the Ecclesia. In 461 BC the Ecclesia became the primary decision making body in Athens, the assembly was open to all citizens over the age of 18 and the right of Isegoria was enforced, allowing the previously disenfranchised Thetes to represent themselves in the assembly. In previous decades entry into the Boule had been strictly regulated by the Areopagus, who had the power to pre-select candidates who would then be selected by lot. This prevented representation of the Thetes as the oligarchs often would ensure that upper class citizens would hold an overwhelming majority within the institution.
In the early 5th century the majority of the lower classes had a distinct lack of legal power and protection under the Areopagus judiciary. The Thetes class had a complete disenfranchisement from the legal process as the Areopagus was the court of first instance over a sweeping jurisdiction and the jury was dominated by aristocrats whose decisions could not be appealed against. With the referral of power to the Heliaea, the Thetes were now on trial before a jury of their peers, as the jurors of the court were selected by lot and the jury was produced to be representative of the 10 demes of Athens. This enforced the democratic doctrine that all Athenian citizens were equal before the law and solidified the rights of the citizens, who could no longer be arrested without evidence and could also bring charges directly to the court. Aristotle posits that the legal rights of the lower classes gave way to an increased power in the