Athens

1. Athens home.triad.rr.com/warfford/ancient/grkmain.html

2. End of Aristocratic Rule at Athens • Athens ruled by handful of noble families • Eupatrids meaning “well sired” • They formed a ruling council • Eupatrid rule characterized by intense competition • 620 BCE – Athenian law codified by Drakon - very harsh (draconian) laws • Solon’s solution – early democracy (594BCE) • Solon (Eupatrid) runs for archon based on debt relief and political reform • Elected archon in 594 BCE • Divides Athenians into 4 classes based on wealth (involving male citizens only) • 1. Pentekosiomedimnoi – 500 bushel men, • 2. Hippeis – Cavalry men, • 3. Zeugetai – Hoplite (foot soldiers) class, • 4. Thetes – everyone else) • All classes could vote for magistrates, vote in the assembly (Ekklesia), sit on law courts/juries • Top two classes only can run for Archon (chief magistrate • Top class alone can run for strategos (general)

3. The Rule of Peisistratus in Athens • Immensely popular tyrant (except with nobles) • Did not change the constitution of Solon • Secured loyalty of nobles by appointing them to senior posts • Took vote away from Ekklesia (the assembly) • Established circuit judges • Put a 5% tax on agricultural produce • funds used to lend to poor farmers • Established major building program • died in 528 BCE – Succeeded by his sons Hippias and Hipparchus • V unpopular tyrants who were driven from Athens by Cleisthenes democratic revolution

4. 508 BCE Reforms of Cleisthenes • Recognizably democratic • Replaced economic divisions with geographic divisions • Which gave poor equal power as rich • Divided Attica (Athens region) into regions (Demes) • centered on villages, each with its own assembly and magistrates • Replaced 4 old tribes with 10 new tribes distributed throughout every Deme • New Boule (legislative council) of 500 made up of 50 members (elected by lot) from each tribe • Each tribe elected a strategos (general) • Designed to fragment the power base of nobles • Introduced Ostracism • 10 year exile of those who were growing too powerful • As a way to keep power from gathering around one or a few men.

5. Reforms of Pericles (462-430) • Pericles THE great leader following the defeat of Persia – responsible for Athens’ success as a regional power. • let anyone serve as the archon (one of the nine central leaders of the country) despite birth or wealth. • The Assembly became the central power of the state. Consisting of all the free-born (no freed slaves) male citizens of Athens, the Assembly was given sole approval or veto power over every state decision. • The Assembly was not a representative government, but consisted of every male citizen (participatory). • In terms of numbers, this still was not a democratic state: women weren't included, nor were foreigners, slaves, or freed slaves. • Pericles also changed the rules of citizenship: • before the ascendancy of Pericles, anyone born of a single Athenian parent was an Athenian citizen; Pericles instituted laws which demanded that both parents be Athenian citizens. • So, in reality, the great democracy of Periclean Athens was in reality only a very small minority of the people living in Athens. It was, however, the closest human culture has come to an unadulterated democracy. • elected officials, such as military generals, were not chosen by the Assembly, but the Assembly did hire and fire all other public officials. • In addition, the Assembly served as a law court hearing major cases. Any decision made in a court of law could be appealed to the Assembly where a court of free citizens would hear the case. There was no standing army, either, as there was in Sparta; free citizens could choose to serve in the military.

6. Greek Colonization http://www.fofweb.com/Onfiles/Ancient/AncientDetail.asp?iPin=AK46

7. Reasons for Colonization • Demographic Pressure • Land Hunger • Drought/agricultural failure • Political Conflict (stasis) • Trade

8. The Consequences of Colonization • The diffusion of Greek cultural forms • The spread of the Polis system • The expansion of trade networks • Increased contact with non-Greek peoples • The growth of a distinctly “Hellenic” identity (esp. Pan-Hellenic Colonies)

9. Cultural Developments of the Archaic Period • Pan-Hellenism (i.e. Oracle of Delphi; Olympic Games) • Things that all polies shared • “Orientalizing” Revolution • Colonies established in Asia minor (modern Turkey) • Speculative Philosophy • Looked for rational causes for natural events (rather than supernatural) • New Directions in Literature • Bardic tradition becomes recorded by alphabet (HOMER) • Poetic tradition begins • Religious hymns – the forerunner of theatre

10. Origins of the Olympic Games • First Olympic Games held in 776 BCE (first modern games held in 1896) • Greek athletics predate the Olympics (i.e. Iliad 23) • Only Greeks could participate (i.e. Pan-Hellenic institution) • Religious celebration in honor of Olympian Zeus • Opportunity for aristocratic class to display their arete (fame) • Women were excluded from competition • Women competed in separate event – The Heraia – In honor of Olympian Hera • Olympic events • Horse Race • Chariot Race • Running (Stadion; Diaulos; Dolichos) • Wrestling • Boxing • Pankration • Pentathlon (Running, Jumping, Discus, Javelin, Wrestling) • Pan-Hellenic games were stephanitic (crown) games • Prizes only given to victors (No second place etc.) • A young boy cut olive branches from sacred olive grove in the Altis • Made crowns of olives for victors • Victors allowed to erect statues of themselves at Olympia • No material value to the prize; conferred Arete and Time on the victor