Democracy in Athens

L.O:
we will be able to describe the
political forms that Greek city-
states experimented with.
 Vocabulary to Know
Oligarchy: political power held by a small group of people.
Phalanx: Greek military formation of heavily armed foot soldiers who moved together as a unit.
Maintain: to keep and support.
Tyranny: unjust use of power, or in ancient Greece a government run by a strong ruler.
Democracy: form of government in which citizens hold political power.
Citizenship: membership in a state or community which gives a person civil and political rights and
obligations.
Lecturer: a person who gives an informative talk to students.
Direct democracy: government in which citizens take part directly in the day-to-day affairs of
government.
Representative democracy: democracy in which people elect representatives to make the nation’s
laws.
 How democracy started
One night in 508 BE, the sounds of a power struggle echoed
through the streets of Athens. Isagoras, the city's leading judge,
was trying to crush a movement for democracy. He had invited
warriors from the city-state of Sparta to help him defeat this
dangerous new trend. He forced the popular leader Cleisthenes
(KLYS thuh neez) to flee the city. Isagoras also exiled 700 families
who supported democratic reform. But now some Athenians were
fighting back. The Spartans were excellent soldiers, but they were
overwhelmed by the Athenian people. After the Spartans
surrendered, Cleisthenes returned, and Athens continued building
its democracy.
Experimenting with Forms of Government
Isagoras and the Spartans were trying to keep
government in the hands of the aristocrats, a type of
government the Greeks called an oligarchy. In an
oligarchy, political power is held by a small group of
people
Oligarchies

Oligarchies were usually headed by a council of leaders who belonged to the

aristocracy. One of these aristocratic leaders was a lawgiver named Draco.
He created a legal code that specified harsh punishments for all offenses,
from serious to minor crimes. Today, people still use the word draconian to
describe laws that seem unnecessarily harsh or severe
 A Military Tactic Changes Government
In many city-states, power began to shift into the hands of more people.
This process may have been sparked by a change in the way Greek armies
were organized. In earlier times, the outcome of battles depended on
fights between individual aristocratic warriors. Around 700 BCE, a new
military formation called the phalanx was introduced. The phalanx was a
formation of heavily armed foot soldiers who moved together as a unit.
Before battle, these citizen-soldiers lined up to form a row of overlapping
shields. Each man's shield helped protect his neighbor. He held the shield
with his left arm. In his right hand he held a spear or sword.
As foot soldiers, fighters in a phalanx did not need to be rich
enough to buy and maintain a horse. More men could afford the
necessary weapons and armor. As city-states came to depend on
the phalanx formation for defense, citizen-soldiers may have
gained more political power. Some historians believe this gave
more men a voice in government. Aristocratic leaders risked
losing the support of their army if they did not consider the
interests of these men.
 Tyrannies
At first tyrants, or strong leaders, emerged to champion the interests of
ordinary citizens. Tyrants were usually members of the aristocracy. But by
promising land and other benefits to the poor, they won popular support.
Then they were able to set up a tyranny, or government run by a strong
ruler. Tyrants did not allow others to play a significant role in government.
Nevertheless, Greek tyrants were not always bad rulers. In some city-states,
they governed fairly and worked to improve life for ordinary people. Many
tyrants, however, found that they could not fulfill their promises. Other
tyrants ruled harshly. Eventually, other forms of government replaced
tyrannies.