Government of Ancient Greece
By: Tiana Gardner , Walter Tyler, Nathan Pjecha, Trevor Ward
Democracy
In the year 507 B.C. in ancient Greece the Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or “rule by the people.” The government was broken into three parts; Boule, Ekklesia, and Dikasteria. The Boule, or Council of Five Hundred was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year.The Ekklesia is the assembly or the governing bodies of Athens. This body was made up of around 40,000 people that included male citizens over the age of 18. One of the main places the people met was in the Pnyx. The Pnyx was a auditorium that eligible voters in athens met and disgusted foreign policies, revised laws, and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials.The difference between the Boule and the Ekklesia is the the Boule met everyday and did a lot of the hands on work. Lastly the Dikasteria was the court ruled by jury; 500 jurors were chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens older than 30. Democracy lasted for about 47 years; 507B.C. to 460B.C. Athens was conquered by the spartans and they felt that the people had to much power.
Effect on Today's Society
Tyranny
Effect on Today's Society
Oligarchy
In an oligarchy, there is power in the hands of multiple individuals. Oligarchy comes from the greek term oligos meaning few and arkhein meaning rule. They developed in which political power rested with a few selected wealthy individuals In ancient Greece, this type of government was used between 1100 and 800 BCE. In an oligarchy, power was shared among aristocrats but then changed to selected wealthy individuals. Wealthy individuals in this time period were the landowners. In addition, you must be a born citizen of the given city-state and you must be a man. No women were allowed to participate in the government no matter how wealthy they are. With this being said, people didn't like this type of government very much. They had very little say in how the city-state was ran. The type of people who didn't like it the most were the people in middle class and the lower class. Over time, oligarchies begin to disappearing great various reasons. For example the people live very well but oligarchy rulled harshly and the citizens an eventually overthrew it in. Athens, this set of dissatisfaction with the oligarchy a rose as the peasant population increased and the food shortages became common. The power of the oligarchies was also weakened when powerful individuals assembled armies of hired or mercenary warriors call hoplites and use it to intimate political leaders. By 400 BCE, a stable oligarchy only ruled in Sparta.