It is understandable why Plato would despise democracy, considering that his friend and mentor, Socrates, was condemned to death by the policy makers of Athens in 399 BCE. Some 2,000 of Archelauss men were killed. To subscribe, click here. Web. One unusual critic is an Athenian writer whom we know familiarly as the 'Old Oligarch'. The war had one last act to play out. According to Appian, Sulla ordered an indiscriminate massacre, not sparing women or children. Many Athenians were so distraught that they committed suicide by throwing themselves at the soldiers. According to a fragmentary account by the historian Posidonius, Athenion's letters persuaded Athens that "the Roman supremacy was broken." The prospect of the Anatolian Greeks throwing off Roman rule also sparked pan-Hellenic solidarity. The king probably wished to engage the Romans far to the west, away from his core territories in Anatolia. The number of dead is beyond counting. "Athenian Democracy." Pericles knew Athens' strength was in their navy, so his strategy was to avoid Sparta on land, because he knew that on land, Athens would be no match for Sparta. democratic system failed to be effective. Sparta and its allies accused Athens of aggression and threatened war. The resulting decision to try and condemn to death the eight generals collectively was in fact the height, or depth, of illegality. He detached a force to surround Athens, then struck at Piraeus, where Archelaus and his troops were stationed. The book, entitled From Democrats To Kings, aims to overhaul Athens' traditional image as the ancient world's "golden city", arguing that its early successes have obscured a darker history of blood-lust and mob rule. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Other reputations are also taken to task: The "heroic" Spartans of Thermopylae, immortalised in the film 300, are unmasked as warmongering bullies of the ancient world. In 229, when the Macedonian King Demetrius II died, leaving nine-year-old Philip V as his heir, the Athenians took advantage of the power vacuum and negotiated the removal of the garrison at Piraeus. The majority won the day and the decision was final. - Melissa Schwartzberg. Why Greece Failed | Journal of Democracy Blood flows in the narrow streets, as the Romans butcher the Athenianswomen and children included. This time, they burst through Archelauss hastily constructed lunette. ', replies Alcibiades; 'even when it decrees by fiat, acting like a tyrant and riding roughshod over the views of the minority - is that still "law"?' They butchered and ate all their cattle, then boiled the hides. Why Greece failed | openDemocracy There is a strong case that democracy was a major reason for this success. This is a form of government which puts the power to rule in the hands of . Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. In 129 BC, after Rome established its province of Asia, in western Anatolia across the Aegean, Delos became a trade hub for goods shipped between Anatolia and Italy. After all, at the time of writing, Athens was the greatest single power in the entire Greek world, and that fact could not be totally unconnected with the fact that Athens was a democracy. But why should they be? I was not sent to Athens by the Romans to learn its history, but to subdue its rebels, he declared. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. Instead, Dr. Scott argues that the strains and stresses of the 4th century BC, which our own times seem to echo, proved too much for the Athenian democratic system and ultimately caused it to destroy itself. Nevertheless, democracy in a slightly altered form did eventually return to Athens and, in any case, the Athenians had already done enough in creating their political system to eventually influence subsequent civilizations two millennia later. Athenion struts on stage before the crowd, then displays the sloganeering skills of a modern politician, saying: Now you command yourselves, and I am your commander in chief. Then he recounted events in the east. The Greek idea of democracy was different from present-day democracy because, in Athens, all adult citizens were required to take an active part in the government. Not only do we pay for our servers, but also for related services such as our content delivery network, Google Workspace, email, and much more. The stalemate continued. A marble relief showing the People of Athens being crowned by Democracy, inscribed with a law against tyranny passed by the people of Athens in 336 B.C. But without warning, it sank into the earth. The 50-man prytany met in the building known as the Bouleuterion in the Athenian agora and safe-guarded the sacred treasuries. The Romans looted even the great shrine at Delphi dedicated to Apollo. Dr Scott's study also marks an attempt to recognise figures such as Isocrates and Phocion - sage political advisers who tried to steer it away from crippling confrontations with other Greek states and Macedonia. We contribute a share of our revenue to remove carbon from the atmosphere and we offset our team's carbon footprint. (Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from the Athenian city-state for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia.) Sulla had the tyrant and his bodyguard executed. This complex system was, no doubt, to ensure a suitable degree of checks and balances to any potential abuse of power, and to ensure each traditional region was equally represented and given equal powers. Sullas solution: rob the Greek temples of their treasures. Archelaus landed on the Greek coast to the north and withdrew into Thessaly, where he joined forces with Pontic reinforcements that had marched overland from Anatolia. The assembly could also vote to ostracise from Athens any citizen who had become too powerful and dangerous for the polis. Books A Council of 500 and Assembly were created. Perhaps more significantly, however, the study suggests that the collapse of Greek democracy and of Athens in particular offer a stark warning from history which is often overlooked. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Sulla, tipped off by a lead-ball message, captured the relief expedition. The answer lies in a dramatic tale starring the demagogue Athenion, a mindless mob, a tyrant, and a brutal Roman general. Greek democracy. The next day, as he made his way to the Agora for a speech, a mob of admirers strained to touch his garments. It was the first known democracy in the world. The word democracy (dmokratia) derives from dmos, which refers to the entire citizen body, and kratos, meaning rule. His short and vehement pamphlet was produced probably in the 420s, during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War, and makes the following case: democracy is appalling, since it represents the rule of the poor, ignorant, fickle and stupid majority over the socially and intellectually superior minority, the world turned upside down. "There are grounds to consider whether we want to go down the same route that Athens did. Then there was the view that the mob, the poor majority, were nothing but a collective tyrant. The city held festivals and presented nine plays each year, both comedies and tragedies. An early example of the Greek genius for applied critical theory was their invention of political theory Three of the seven noble conspirators are given set speeches to deliver, the first in favour of democracy (though he does not actually call it that), the second in favour of aristocracy (a nice form of oligarchy), the third - delivered by Darius, who in historical fact will succeed to the throne - in favour, naturally, of constitutional monarchy, which in practice meant autocracy. Athens' democracy in fact recovered from these injuries within years. 'Why', answers his guardian Pericles, who was then at the height of his influence, 'it is whatever the people decides and decrees'. Perhaps the most notoriously bad decisions taken by the Athenian dmos were the execution of six generals after they had actually won the battle of Arginousai in 406 BCE and the death sentence given to the philosopher Socrates in 399 BCE. A further variant on this view was that the masses or the mob, being ignorant and stupid for the most part, were easily swayed by specious rhetoric - so easily swayed that they were incapable of taking longer views or of sticking resolutely to one, good view once that had been adopted. Pericles | Athenian statesman | Britannica Unlike the ekklesia, the boule met every day and did most of the hands-on work of governance. There was no political violence, land theft or capital punishment because those went against the political norms Rome had established. Any male citizen could, then, participate in the main democratic body of Athens, the assembly (ekklsia). Democracy inevitably fails because it is predicated not on merit but on popularity. Athens' democracy in fact recovered from these injuries within years. Why Greece Is Considered the Birthplace of Democracy. The heart of this story is a months-long battle featuring treachery and clever siege warfare. As the Pontic general Archelaus persuaded other Greek cities to turn against Romeincluding Thebes to the northwest of AthensAristion established a new regime in Athens. Mithridates swiftly retaliated, invading and overrunning Bithynia. Athens, too, should throw in with this rising power, he asserted. By Athenian democratic standards of justice, which are not ours, the guilt of Socrates was sufficiently proven. We would much rather spend this money on producing more free history content for the world. Others brought up rams and entered the breach theyd made in the walls earlier. Traditionally, the concept of democracy is believed to have originated in Athens in c508 BC, although there is evidence to suggest that democratic systems of government may have existed elsewhere in the world before then, albeit on a smaller scale. As the year 87 drew on, Mithridates sent additional troops. Things You May Not Know About Democracy in Ancient Greece - Culture Trip HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Athens is a city-state, while today we are familiar with the primary unit of governance . The Final End of Athenian Democracy - PBS Only around 30% of the total population of Athens and Attica could have voted. All male citizens of Athens could attend the assembly which made political decisions. The assembly met at least once a month, more likely two or three times, on the Pnyx hill in a dedicated space which could accommodate around 6000 citizens. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! With few military resources of its own, the city turned for help to the Roman Republic, the rising power of the day. Sulla obtained iron and other material from Thebes and placed his newly built siege engines upon mounds of rubble collected from the Long Walls. Less than two years separate these scenes. Inevitably, there was some fallout, and one of the victims of the simmering personal and ideological tensions was Socrates. In hard practical fact there was no alternative, and no alternative to hereditary autocracy, the system laid down by Cyrus, could seriously have been contemplated. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. The Italian Social War ended in 88, freeing the Romans to meet the Pontic threat in the east. This "slippery-fish diplomacy" helped it survive military defeats and widespread political turbulence, but at the expense of its political system. Did Athenian democracy fail because of its democratic nature? Meanwhile, on the other side of the Aegean, events touched off an explosion whose force would swamp Athens. Around 460 B.C., under the rule of the general Pericles (generals were among the only public officials who were elected, not appointed) Athenian democracy began to evolve into something that we would call an aristocracy: the rule of what Herodotus called the one man, the best. Though democratic ideals and processes did not survive in ancient Greece, they have been influencing politicians and governments ever since. An early example of the Greek genius for applied critical theory was their invention of political theory, probably some time during the first half of the fifth century BC. Seven noble Persians conspire to overthrow the usurper and restore legitimate government. Democracy (Ancient Greece) - National Geographic Society People of power or influence weren't concerned with the rights of such non-citizens. By Professor Paul Cartledge Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. In these intellectuals' view, government was an art, craft or skill, and should be entrusted only to the skilled and intelligent, who were by definition a minority. Once near his target, Sulla moved to isolate Athens from Piraeus and besiege each separately. https://www.worldhistory.org/Athenian_Democracy/. At best it was mere opinion, and almost always it was ill-informed and wrong opinion. With people chosen at random to hold important positions and with terms of office strictly limited, it was difficult for any individual or small group to dominate or unduly influence the decision-making process either directly themselves or, because one never knew exactly who would be selected, indirectly by bribing those in power at any one time. When a Roman ram breached part of the walls of Piraeus, Sulla directed fire-bearing missiles against a nearby Pontic tower, sending it up in flames like a monstrous torch. Although the 4th century was one of critical transition, the era has been overlooked by many ancient historians in favour of those which bookend it - the glory days of Athenian democracy in the 5th century and the supremacy of Alexander the Great from 336 to 323 BC. Sulla had reason to let Mithridates off easyhe was anxious to deal with his political opponents back in Rome. Since the 19th-century read more, The term classical Greece refers to the period between the Persian Wars at the beginning of the fifth century B.C. In addition, sometimes even oligarchic systems could involve a high degree of political equality, but the Athenian version, starting from c. 460 BCE and ending c. 320 BCE and involving all male citizens, was certainly the most developed. This imperial system has become, for us, a by-word for autocracy and the arbitrary exercise. That at any rate is the assumed situation. Ancient Greece saw a lot of philosophical and political changes soon after the end of the Bronze Age. Athens, therefore, had a direct democracy. Actor posing as Socrates Not all anti-democrats, however, saw only democracy's weaknesses and were entirely blind to democracy's strengths. Plato and the Disaster of Democracy - Classical Wisdom Weekly Sulla arrived in Greece early in 87 with five legions (approximately 25,000 men) and some mounted auxiliaries. Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane . The effect on the citys model democracy was also staggering. It is a period of history that we would do well to think about a little more right now - and we ignore it at our peril.". The military impact of Athenian democracy was twofold. He also said that Mithridates would free the citizens of Athens from their debts (whether he meant public or private debts is not clear). Historian Appian states that the Pontics massacred thousands of Italians there, a repeat of the slaughter in Anatolia. Now all citizens could participate in government, not just aristocrats. This, fortunately, did not last long; even Sparta felt unable to prop up such a hugely unpopular regime, nicknamed the '30 Tyrants', and the restoration of democracy was surprisingly speedy and smooth - on the whole. Athenion had the mob eating out of his hand. "It is profoundly dangerous when a politician takes a step to undercut or ignore a political norm, it's extremely dangerous whenever anyone introduces violent rhetoric or actual violence into a. Seeking to offer a unified theory about Greece's current political and economic crisis, this article unravels the particular mechanisms through which this country developed as a populist democracy, that is, a pluralist system in which both the government and the opposition parties turn populist. But in 200, Philip, having come of age and claimed the crown, dispatched an army toward Athens to regain the port. One of the indispensable words we owe ultimately to the Greeks is criticism (derived from the Greek for judging, as in a court case or at a theatrical performance). Into this dangerous situation stepped Solon, a moderate man the Athenians trusted to bring justice for all. 04 Mar 2023. Sulla eventually gained the upper hand, thanks to large devices that Appian said discharged twenty of the heaviest leaden balls at one volley. These missiles killed a large number of Pontic men and damaged their tower, forcing Archelaus to pull it back. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Athenian_Democracy/. One which is so bad that people ultimately cry out for a dictator. Solon, (born c. 630 bcedied c. 560 bce), Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece (the others were Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mytilene, and Periander of Corinth). A mass slaughter followed. Why Socrates Hated Democracy, and What We Can Do about It. - Big Think The generals' collective crime, so it was alleged by Theramenes (formerly one of the 400) and others with suspiciously un- or anti-democratic credentials, was to have failed to rescue several thousands of Athenian citizen survivors. Most of all, Pericles paid artisans to build temples read more, Ancient Greek mythology is a vast and fascinating group of legends about gods and goddesses, heroes and monsters, warriors and fools, that were an important part of everyday life in the ancient world. Cleisthenes changed Athenian democracy becuase he redefined what it was to be a citizen and so removed the influence of traditional clan groups. The lottery system also prevented the establishment of a permanent class of civil servants who might be tempted to use the government to advance or enrich themselves. In 399 he was charged with impiety (through not duly recognising the gods the city recognised, and introducing new, unrecognised divinities) and, a separate alleged offence, corrupting the young. "In many ways this was a period of total uncertainty just like our own time," Dr. Scott added. The Pompeion was ravaged beyond repair and left to decay. (There were also no rules about what kinds of cases could be prosecuted or what could and could not be said at trial, and so Athenian citizens frequently used the dikasteria to punish or embarrass their enemies.). Last updated 2011-02-17. Archelaus in turn built a tower that he brought up directly opposite its Roman counterpart. Macedonians under Philip IIfather of Alexander the Greathad defeated Athens in 338 BC and installed a garrison in the Athenian port city of Piraeus. Athenions fate is not clear. Nine presidents (proedroi), elected by lot and holding the office one time only, organised the proceedings and assessed the voting. Though he at first refused, he later relented and sent a delegation to meet with the Roman commander. Cartwright, M. (2018, April 03). It survived the period through slippery-fish diplomacy, at the cost of a clear democratic conscience, a policy which, in the end, led it to accept a dictator King and make him a God.". Chiefly because of a fatal ambiguity: to its opponents democracy was no more, and no better, than mob-rule, since for them it meant the political power of the masses exercised over and at the expense of the elite. Nevertheless, in one sense the condemnation of Socrates was disastrous for the reputation of the Athenian democracy, because it helped decisively to form one of democracy's - all democracy's, not just the Athenian democracy's - most formidable critics: Plato. Out of all those people, only male citizens who were older than 18 were a part of the demos, meaning only about 40,000 people could participate in the democratic process. Archaeologists have found no inscriptions with decrees from the Assembly that date within 40 years of the end of the siege. 'So', persists Alcibiades, 'democracy is really just another form of tyranny?' When some topped the walls and ran away, he sent cavalry after them. The boule was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Men on both towers discharged all kinds of missiles, according to Appian. Constitutional Rights Foundation They therefore in a sense deserved the political pay-off of mass-biased democracy as a reward for their crucial naval role. 2.37). First, was the citizens who ran the government and held property. Nor did he do anything to help defend his own cause, so that more of the 501 jurors voted for the death penalty than had voted him guilty as charged in the first place. How Rome Destroyed Its Own Republic - HISTORY At the meetings, the ekklesia made decisions about war and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials. Under Macedonian control, Athens had dwindled to a third-rank power, with no independence in foreign affairs and an insignificant military. Under this system, all male citizens - the dmos - had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. What he failed to realize, however, is that crowding the population of Athens behind its Long Walls would be deadly if disease ever broke out in Athens while Sparta had it besieged. Reasons For Decline Of Ancient Greece Critically, the emphasis on "people power" saw a revolving door of political leaders impeached, exiled and even executed as the inconstant international climate forced a tetchy political assembly into multiple changes in policy direction. In addition, in times of crisis and war, this body could also take decisions without the assembly meeting. Please read our email privacy notice for details. In the furious fighting that followed, he kept his army close to Piraeus to ensure that his archers and slingers on the wall could still wreak havoc on the Romans. It only hastened Athens' eventual defeat in the war, which was followed by the installation at Sparta's behest of an even narrower oligarchy than that of the 400 - that of the 30.
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