This document is a summary of the materials and lectures for the course European History: Politics & Culture that provides sufficient information for passing the midterm examination of the course.
Athens - Democracy as of 5th century BCE
Sparta - 2 kings
Thebes - Oligarchy
Polis - City \ Citystate
Attica - city state
Athens - city
Athens within Attica
Greece was fragmented due to its geography - 80% of the land is mountainous, few
rivers , hard to traverse
Cyclades - the group of islands within the Aegean Sea
There was a common group identity between culture, religion and language
Hellas - ‘Greek’
There were different Greek dialects, however they were close enough that all could
understand one another
They shared a few Panhellenic institutions - attended by greeks from all over Greece
- The oracle of Delphi ; Temple of Apollo ; Priestess of Apollo - pythia
- Olympic games ; Olympia
Periodization
1. Ca. 3000 - ca. 1100 BC: Bronze Age
2. Ca. 1100 - 800 BC: Dark Age
3. Ca. 800 - 500 BC: Archaic period
4. 490 - 323 BC: Classical period
5. 323 - 30 BC: Hellenistic period
Athens, the Cradle of Democracy
Demos - people
Kratos - rule
Athenian democracy did not pave the way for modern democracy
,Source:
Aristotle, Athenaion Politeia
Constitution (word) - not existent in antiquity
1. Aristocracy (7th Century BC)
Ruled by the best (criterion: birth)
9 archons
>aristocratic families (eupatrids)
Yearly elected officials or magistrates - one could take no part in governance
unless they were born into an aristocratic family
Each archon ruled over a separate domain
Council of the Areopagus
Council of former archons
For life (continuity)
Areopagus - The Hill of Ares
2. Reforms of Solon (B. 6th Century BC)
Background: Socio-Economic and Political Crisis in Attica
There was a problem of debt as the society was largely agricultural and
farmers were often forced to borrow money when their crops failed, eventually being
unable to repay their loans.
If an Athenian could not pay their loan they would become a slave to their
creditors.
And so many Athenians became slaves.
Alternatively you could become a Hektemoroi, yielding a percentage of your
crop to your creditor
Due to this credit problems, many Athenians would become slaves
Some escaped abroad to escape from becoming slaves
“This slavery, sanctioned under the constitution, was to the people the
harshest and most bitter feature of the regime, although they were also discontented
about everything else, for they had virtually no share in government.” - Aristotle
Solon was appointed as the sole archon for one year +/- 594 BC with an
exceptional authorisation to draw up new laws
Socio-economic reforms
Political reforms
Seisachtheia
Solon freed the Athenians who had been enslaved for debt
He canceled the obligations of the hektemoroi
He deleted existing debts
, Illegal for loans to be secured by slavery
Introduction of property classes
Divided population according to the annual production of the land, which
defined political & military participation:
The class that you belong to determined the degree to which you could participate in
politics, you could only be an archon if you belonged to the top 2 classes
Happy/positively affected groups:
Common people, athenian slaves
Wealthy people who weren’t creditors
Unhappy/negatively affected groups:
Creditors
Political reforms
Possible introduction of council of 400 (boulè)
Assembly given role of a court of appeal (heliaea)
Appeal court: Appeals against decisions of the
archons and, later, cases against magistrates
These reforms were a step towards democracy, however this system is still far away
from what we refer to as democracy
- Inequality
- No representation of the common people
The Solonic System - timocracy
Wealth (instead of birth) became the principle criterion for political and
military participation.
Democratic element = Court of appeal (heliaea)
Outcome: Political turmoil and civil strife between different factions and
their aristocratic leaders:
The Men of the Hills (including the city dwellers)
The Men of the Coast
The Men of the Midland
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