Intro, draft.

Intro


Democracy in the context of Classical Greece, specifically in the Periclean society of 431BC, is unlike the modern interpretation of the word. Democracy in modern society means that all citizens are equal before the law, regardless of gender, age or creed. Conversely, democracy in Classical Greece is based on the ideology of a government governed by the people rather than the few, however this democracy was only available to male citizens, and male citizens only comprised of a small percentage of the population. Pericles was, “by any standards a great leader”[i], although he was not a dictator or a king, he was merely an ordinary member of radical democracy. His greatest movements during his time of influence where, “opposition to Persia, his independence of Sparta”, and his disposal of all the Areopagos. When his partner Ephialtes was murdered, Pericles, “found himself the leading radical democrat”[ii], in Athens which lasted from 461BC until his death in 429BC. Pericles’ principal reforms were his restrictions on citizenship and his constant policy of developing and asserting Athenian naval supremacy, with which he encompassed all of the demos who saw the benefits in his expansionist policies. Periclean society was the Athenian civilization during the time of his reign, specifically 431BCwhich was at the height of his influence after all the major reforms had been executed and before the plague that brought Pericles to his death.  

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[i] John Thorley 65

[ii] JT 66

Apart from a concluding sentence, is there anything else I need to cover in my Intro? 

Essay Plan Two

Second essay plan... comments?

How Democratic was Periclean society by 431BC?

Intro-

Define what democracy is, and what makes a democratic society, in both today and classical terms. Define what ‘Periclean society’ is, discuss Pericles and his influence.

Paragraph 1-

Discuss how Periclean society WAS democratic

By 431 BC Periclean society was democratic, this is demonstrated through the ideals and principals the system held and the efficiency in which it functioned.

- Sense of involvement for all citizens

- Efficiency

- Unified purpose (the Assembly)

- The democracy produced an excellent navel fleet

Paragraph 2-

Discuss how Periclean society WAS democratic

Periclean society became a democratic system through a series of modifications throughout history including the reforms of Solon, Cleisthenes and Ephialtes.

----Solons’ initial reforms (major economic reforms)

----Cleisthenes reforms (democratic reforms)

- Council of 500, Boule, restricted membership- property/income class

- Assembly, restricted membership- only male 20+

- Law courts, Dikasteria, open- all classes and citizens (jury members)

- Generals and strategoi, nominated- but had to be 30+

- Magistrates, had to be from a higher property class (although in practice all were included), 30+

- Ostracism, by vote

----Ephialtes reforms

- Arkhons, selected by lot- but from highest two property classes

- Areopagos, stripped of all powers- was considered ‘guardians of the laws’

- The graphe paranomon- public prosecution

OTHER REFORMS (for democratic benefits??)

Pericles reforms

-payment for dikasts (jury members)

-citizen rights, only if you were the legitimate child of an Athenian father and mother

Paragraph 3-

Discuss how Periclean society WAS NOT democratic

Although it is widely established that Periclean society was democratic by 431 BC, the system had several aspects which worked against this clam and further questioned how democratic the system actually was outside the male citizens of Athens.

- Only male citizens had rights

- Slaves were excluded, but this was natural- slavery was not questioned

- Women were excluded- seen under guardianship of the male family memebers

- Metics (Athenian immigrants) were excluded, but forced to pay tax and labour

Paragraph 4-

Discuss how Periclean society WAS NOT democratic

The reforms that where established throughout history were in attempt to create a truly democratic system by 431 BC, however in today’s meaning of the word, some of these reforms limited how democratic the system actually was.

-Not all of Cleisthenes reforms were very democratic; they only included male citizens and often had age and property class pre requisites attached

- The limiting of citizens further reduced the number of males who could partake in the running of the government.

Conclusion-

Athens ran an effective democracy for the male citizens of Athens. However, on the wider scale, because of the exclusion of almost 70percent of the Athenian population, it cannot be seen as a true democracy with the modern meaning; but it maintained the correct principals of a democratic society e.g. Freedom of speech and elections.

Essay plan One

My first essay plan... comments?

How Democratic was Periclean society by 431BC?

Intro-

Define what democracy is, and what makes a democratic society, in both today and classical terms. Define what ‘Periclean society’ is, discuss Pericles and his influence.

Paragraph 1-

By 431 BC Athens had in place a political democratic structure, however the journey to accomplish this was long and it started with the economic reforms of Solon. 

Solons’ reforms (major economic reforms)

-No enslavement for debt

-Encouraged trade

-Property classes

Paragraph 2-

Cleisthenes’ reforms further developed the democratic system of Athens by creating scaffolding on which the modern system of democracy derived from, this then developed into the Periclean society of 431 BC.

Cleisthenes reforms (democratic reforms)

-Council of 500, Boule

-Assembly

-Law courts

-Generals and strategoi

-Magistrates

-Arkhons

-Ostracism

-Colonies

-Citizens  

Paragraph 3-

After the major reforms of Cleisthenes, Ephialtes further refined and developed these ideas in an attempt to enhance the system and thus ensure that the system in practice by 431 BC was democratic.

Ephialtes reforms

-Arkhons

-The graphe paranomnon

-Introduction of deme-judges (Peisistratos?) 

Paragraph 4-

Pericles was not only an incredibly influential member of the Assembly, he also created new reforms that further developed the democratic system, and this system which was created by a series of people throughout history, had both democratic principles and ideas.

Pericles reforms

-Payment for magistrates and Boule members (not the assembly)

-Citizenship restrictions

How it was/wasn’t a democratic system in the Periclean society.

Paragraph 5-

The democratic system in the time of Pericles of 431 BC, is considered to be democratic because of the ideals and principals that it was based on, however it also had some major aspects that are considered to be extremely un-democratic.

-How Athenians used the democratic system

-Unified purpose (the Assembly)

-Efficiency

-The Athenian empire, and the Delian League (through the development of the navy)

-The ‘Old Oligarch’

Conclusion-

Athens ran an effective democracy for the male citizens of Athens. However, on the wider scale, because of the exclusion of almost 70percent of the Athenian population, it cannot be seen as a true democracy with the modern meaning; but it maintained the correct principals of a democratic society e.g. Freedom of speech and elections.

Maps

These Maps are of the general area of Athens, as well as the inland, coastal and city trittyes as defined by Cleisthenes' reforms of 508/7BC. They have been very helpful when relating the information I have gathered to the real setting of Athens, especially when researching the election processes from the different trittyes and tribes.

Research and Evidence

I have been reading my sources and collecting quotes as evidence for and against Greece being an effective democracy in the time of Pericles, hopefully this will help me formulate an effective argument.

Quotes FOR

“Ancient historians have always preferred to focus on the age of Pericles, seeing it as the period of the real greatness of Athens in art, literature as well as politics.” (Hansen)

“Athens was par excellence the state that celebrated freedom of speech as part of its ideals… whereas at Sparta no one may praise any system other than the Spartan.” (Hansen)

In Pericles’ funeral speech-

“It has the name democracy because government is in the hands not of the few but if the majority.” (Hansen)

“The board of generals was introduced [by Cleisthenes]… elected annually by the people.” (Hansen)

“Cleisthenes reforms’ went far further in putting the state in the corporate power of the citizens” (Thorley)

“The administration of justice had been to a certain extent in the hands of courts which contained all classes of citizen and to which any citizen could appeal against the decision of an arkhon.” (Thorley)

[The ‘Heliastic oath’ dikastes took] “…I shall decide to the best of my judgment, without favor or enmity. I will vote only on the matters raised in the charge, and I will listen impartially to accusers and defenders alike.” (Thorley)

“The 6,000 [Dikastes] were chosen by lot from those willing to stand” (Thorley)

“The generals were nominated by each of the new tribal assemblies, each tribe put forward its most able candidate. The final approval had to be given by the assembly of citizens…there was no bar on repeated appointment year after year, and this certainly occurred, most notable in the case of Pericles.” (Thorley)

“thetes were in theory excluded [from the magistrates] (but in practice were generally admitted).” (Thorley)

“In 487/6 it was decided that the nine arkhons should now be chosen by lot from a list of 500 put forward by the tribes (fifty from each tribe)… this made sure the arkhons were indeed randomly selected from a very large number of those eligible property classes.” (Thorley)

“[Areopagos had been recruited solely each year from the nine ex-arkhons of the previous year] in 462/1, Ephialtes… proposed to the Assembly that the Areopagos  should be stripped of their powers.” (Thorley)

“[To replace the Areopagos, Ephialtes introduced] the graphe paranomon (prosecution for introducing illegal measures). This enabled any citizen to bring an action (public prosecution) against any other citizen who proposed a measure in the Assembly which was either in conflict with an existing law or which was procedurally incorrect.” (Thorley)

Quotes AGAINST

“Practically all our sources for Athenian democracy were written at Athens, and by Athenians. We posses no account of any democracy other than the Athenian, nor any evaluation of Athenian democracy by other Greeks (apart from one line of high praise in Herodotos).” (Hansen)

“The right to take part in meetings of the assembly was reserved to adult male citizens… excluded from the assembly were not only Athenian women and metics and slaves but also citizens who had forfeited their rights (atimoi).” (Hansen)

“[when Pericles was elected general] and in those years Athens was in name a democracy but in fact under the rule of the first man.” (Hansen)

“Cleisthenes did not, however, make membership of the Boule open to all citizens, but only to those whose property qualifications put them in the zeugitai class (possessing an annual income of at least 200 medimnoi) or above.” (Thorley)

“The thetes class (lower than the zeugitai class), who constituted well over half the population, were thus excluded from the Boule.” (Thorley)

“The Assembly… consisted in principal of all male citizens over the age of 20.” (Thorley)

“[Dikastes were] 6,000 citizens aged 30 or over… chosen and registered as a pool of jurors.” (Thorley)

“A general had to be at least 30 years old, which was a requirement for all magistrates.” (Thorley)

“All magistrates had to be at least 30 years old and come from the Pentakosiomedimnoi, the hippies, or the zeugitat classes; thetes were in theory excluded (but in practice were generally admitted).” (Thorley)

“The arkhons were elected form the highest property class (the Pentakosiomedimnoi and perhaps also the hippies.)” (Thorley)

“It is of course, a common criticism of Athenian democracy that metics, women and slaves were excluded from citizenship rights… Adult male citizens were probably no more than 30 percent of the total population.” (Thorley)

Although i only used two sources, this gives me an overview of Greece democracy in the time of Pericles. I have a fairly even amount of quotes for both 'FOR' and 'AGAINST'.

After evaluating my quotes, I think Athens ran an effective democracy for the male citizens of Athens. However, on the wider scale, because of the exclusion of almost 70percent of the Athenian population, it can not be seen as a true democracy with the modern meaning; but it did maintain the correct principals of a democratic society e.g. Freedom of speech.

Question development and bibliography

After consulting with Mr Stewart, I have formulated a rough question;

How Democratic was Periklean Democracy by 431 BC?

This means I will focus my essay on what the Athenian democracy was like by the time Pericles died. I have also updated my bibliography with all of the books I borrowed from the Barr Smith library.

Special study development.

Last weekend (2nd of May) i went to the Barr smith again, this time I borrowed books concerning Athenian democracy. This was a very successful search and I now have plenty of reading to do, however I have found out that the road to democracy was a long one, so I am thinking I need to cut down my topic to focus on a specific era. However, I don’t know what era to concentrate on.
Any thoughts?  

Thinking up a storm

Individual study brainstorming:

Religion, gods and myths

-          The importance of religion to the ancient Greeks

-          How religion impacted their values and beliefs

-          How religion was incorporated into daily life

-          Research the different myths, the importance and significance of each god

-          The importance of the myths and stories about the gods

-          How these stories impacted the Greeks lives, morals and beliefs

-          The importance of fate

-          Sacred places and objects in Greek religion

-          The relationship between mortals and immortals

Politics and democracy

-          The Greeks are famous for having invented the first democracy, but their democracy is very different to what we call democracy today.

-          To what extent was Athens actually a democracy?

-          Research, who could vote, who one could vote for…

-          If it wasn’t a democracy, what was it?

-          Research the political structure of ancient Greek

-          Could compare it to another ancient political structure

I think I am leaning towards doing something about the democracy and politics of ancient Greece, it has a little more direction, because myths and religion is a huge topic. What does everyone think?  

Barr Smith library visits.

I am now a proud member of the Barr Smith library since March 21st (: 

First visit was with my classics class to get our membership and learn about all of the rules and regulations ect.. Since then I visited on Saturday 16th of April to do a bit of browsing on proposed individual study topics, and to try and get my head around the extensive call number system! but I didn't borrow because I knew I was going to be away for a majority of the holidays and I didn't want this break to eat into my borrowing time. I will be visiting again in the next few days to do some borrowing, hopefully I will have decided on my individual study topic by then!