In the long term, Solon’s constitution would provide the framework for later Athenian democracy in the short term, however, it was a failure.
The lowest class (the Athenian majority) was given the right to vote, but only the upper class could hold office. It placed Athenians into different classes based on wealth and military capability.It broke up landed estates and opened up trade and commerce to more people, thus creating a new urban trading class.It forbade the enslavement of Athenian citizens as a punishment for not repaying a debt.His new constitution had three important facets: When these new laws failed, a revolutionary constitutional lawmaker named Solon was brought in to try something new. Pericles’ famous funeral oration after the first year of the Peloponnesian War ( Public Domain ) The Rise of Democracy in Athensĭraco’s new laws were incredibly harsh and punitive, and were unsurprisingly unpopular with the people of Athens. Peisistratus and the Peisistratids: Tyrants Of Athens Before Democracy.The Acropolis of Athens: A Golden Age Legacy.There was increasing civil unrest, and a man called Draco was brought in by Athens’s leaders to introduce strict new laws (the origin of the word draconian).
By the 7th century BC, this began to cause problems. As Athens grew, a larger segment of its populace was excluded from politics. During this period, Athens was ruled by a small nobility. However, as is so often the case in history, Athens’s success came at a cost. Athens was soon the biggest and wealthiest state in Iron Age Greece. This affluence soon led to Athens taking over other towns in the region of Attica. Its location in central Greece and easy access to the sea made it a leading trade center, while the fortified Acropolis made it secure. All we know for sure is that Athenians were proud to be pure Ionians, claiming to have no Dorian blood.ĭuring the Iron Age, Athens enjoyed prosperity. The Mycenaean fall was traditionally blamed on a Dorian invasion, but modern historians blame it on system collapse, when the civilization’s institutions collapsed in on themselves, like many late Bronze Age civilizations. Ancient Mycenae fell around 1200 BC, and most Mycenaean centers collapsed with it, although it is unclear if Athens survived the downfall or not. Athens began as a Mycenaean center which was home to a large fortress. The Origins of Early AthensĪthens has been inhabited in some form or another since Neolithic times, over 5000 years.
As we look at the history of Athens, we can see just how fragile the democracy that Athens helped to create is. But the shocking truth is that Athens has spent the vast majority of its existence under the rule of tyrannical kings and dictators. We often think of ancient Athens as being the home of democracy, the place where it all started.
0 kommentar(er)
