Government and Social Structure

Greek

Government and Social Structure

Democracy

Before Greece: people in ancient civilizations had little say in their lives. Rulers dictated who lived and who died, who had resources and who did not, who had freedom and who were slaves. The rulers made all the decisions and the people listened with no choice in any matters.

-The Greeks thought this was wrong and began thinking about human rights. They came up with the idea that every Greek man had the right to speak for himself, be fairly treated, take part in decisions, and help choose who ruled over the people.

Basically: They believed that the individual mattered

-This idea became what is known as Democracy which in Greek means: Rule by the people.

Innovative Thinking

-No one knows why the Greeks were the first to push for democracy but it might have been because Greece was not one unified country like ours, but a collection of giant city states which all governed themselves like tiny countries.

-These city countries were each known as a Polis. It was as if Vancouver was a country, and so was Abbotsford. Neither of them belonged to Canada, because they were independent Polises.

-Athens was the largest Polis. It was 2500 square kilometers big. The average Polis was around 250km big.

-These countries needed the individual to survive. Everyone had their part. The soldier had to protect the wall, the farmer had to grow the food, ect. If the individuals didn’t work together, the whole city fell. This may have been why the Greeks learned early that their was value in granting individual rights and placing importance on each individual.

Social Division

-Each Polis only had a few thousand people living in it with 2 main groups: free people and slaves.

-The slaves were owned by the free people and they did all the work. They were servants, laborers, and had no rights.

-Slaves were often prisoners of war, who were captured enemies from battle who were brought home and sold in a slave market to the highest bidder.

-Slaves sold for more if they had skills like blacksmith or craftsmen, but few ever had skills or education. Slaves were often treated well though, because they were expensive.

-If a slave owner was nice enough to pay them a little, they could maybe one day save up and buy their own freedom. They would never become citizens though.

-Free men were divided into two groups: citizens and metics.

-Citizens were free men who were born in the city in which they were a citizen. Sparta citizens were born in Sparta, Athenian citizens were born in Athens. Citizens were the most powerful and privileged group in Greece. They were the most wealthy, they could vote, and they could take part in the government of their polis. They also could become officials in the city and serve in the army.

-A metic was a man born outside the city, but came in to live there, trade, or practice a new craft. They paid all the taxes, served in the army if told to, never became citizens, never were aloud to vote, and could not have say in the government. They also were not permitted to own land.

-Woman had the same social status as their husbands. If the husband was a citizen, so was the wife. If the husband was a metic, so was the wife. Either way though, women did not have a voice in government, nor public life.

Ancient Greece: Before Democracy

-Before Greece invented and practiced democracy, it practiced several stages of government.

-During the archaic period in history, Greece was known as an oligarchy which means rule by the few. Only a handful of very rich aristocrats ruled everyone, like a small club of kings. After a few hundred years of this kind of government, the Greek people got angry and rebelled

-The winner of the rebellion became the the sole king and had all of the power by himself. This type of government is called a tyrany, because a ruler who commands without question is called a tyrant. Sometimes tyrants are fair men, other times they are cruel. The people had no power, and had to obey or die.

-After a few hundred years of tyrants ruling, a man named Cleisthenes eventually lead a rebellion again and invented democracy with the help of the Greek people. This type of government is the one we use today in Canada. The only difference is all Canadians vote and have say in our country, where in ancient Greece, only male citizens had that right. Women, foreigners, and slaves had no say.

Greek Democracy Set Up

-In Greece, most of the polis became democracy and operated in a similar way, for administrative purposes.

-Each city was divided up into political areas and the people elected an official from their area. These areas were called trittyes. There were 10 trittyes in the city, and ten from the country lands, and 10 from the coastal lands near the sea.

-These elected trittye leaders were chosen by the people and met together in an assembly. They represented their areas, had the right to speak amongst each other, and met to discuss rules and laws and political matters on behalf of their area of the city.

-The assembly met every 10 days on a hill called the Pnyx. At this meeting 6000 citizens had to also be present to help vote on matters. If at least 6000 people did not show up, political police were sent out to forcefully round up citizens to attend.

-Other than the assembly, there were other elected positions you could have. If you were rich or poor it didnt not matter. You could still run for a position (political job) and maybe win if you had enough votes.

-There were 10 strategoi positions which were chosen by vote. These positions were military commanders who had the power to command the military. They used the military like police to enforce the laws made by the assembly. They were like the chief of police.

-There were also 9 positions known as Archons. People who had these jobs arranged the religious and other important matters in the city. Among the 9 was a Basileus Archon who was higher rank than the rest and preformed sacrifices, and one Eponymous Archon who was the leader of the drama and musical productions and contests. There was even a Polemarch Archon who was in charge of athletic affairs and contests.