Athenian Society Research Paper

2042 Words9 Pages
Athenian citizens had very important roles to play in their society. Athenian society was patriarchal. This meant that men had the higher roles and they had more responsibilities to undertake. Citizens were the only people who could speak or serve in a jury in court and they played a key role in the military. The Athenian society had lots of duties for its citizens to be a part of and these duties are what kept the society running. Athenians had to meet several requirements in order to be granted citizenship. In Athenian Society, there were three different classes that you could be part of; citizens, metics (foreigners) and slaves. The system rarely changed. If a man was born into these classes, they rarely moved to a different class. Before…show more content…
There were three different governmental bodies. Hundreds or even thousands of citizens could join these. These governmental bodies included the assembly, the council (boule) and the courts. The assembly, otherwise known as the ecclesia, was the core power. It included all male citizens over the age of 18, it included everyone as it was their duty to. This signified that they didn't go just because they had been selected, but they went as it was their right to go when they wished to. The democracy of Athens was a direct democracy, not representative. The assembly would only have the males over the age of 18 in it, not the women, foreigners, slaves or freed slaves. In ancient Athenian society, the assembly would have power over every decision of that state. They were responsible for wars and choosing the strategies of the military and who the commanders of the military were. In the 5th century BC, there would be at least 10 assembly meetings every year. These would be in each of the ten state months (prytanies) and other meetings could be made if they felt the need. Meetings begun at dawn and ended around midday. The council (boule) of 500 was the largest board. They many responsibilities. These include drafting legislation, overseeing meetings and sometimes putting laws into place. They were responsible for making negotiations with other states and they supervised the army. They also supervised the navy, managed public property,…show more content…
At the age of 18, all young Athenian men had to go to the beginning of their military training. They would be in this training for two years. It would start with a huge ceremony where at least a thousand of the young men marched to a temple and they would recite the Ephebic Oath. They then marched to Piraeus, here they would complete garrison duty and military training for a few months. As part of the training programme they would all eat in a group with other members of their tribe. This developed a sense of pride and loyalty in the young men which proved helpful for future battle and combat. It was also something that the Athenian society valued. They believed in a strong community sense as it would make the community stronger and more difficult to take down. The training included things like learning how to march, digging trenches, building fortifications and using siege
Show More
Related

  • Comparing Spartan And Athenian Democracy In Ancient Greece

    1201 Words  | 5 Pages

    Spartan and Athenian Political Structure The political systems of ancient Greece’s Spartan and Athenian societies stood opposite to each other. Where Sparta was ruled by the few in an Oligarchy, Athens developed the humanities’ first democracy. This paper compares and contrasts some of the differences between these two Greek powers during the Archaic and Classical periods (800-323 BCE). Historical Background On one side was Sparta, a warrior society that focused on land-based armies and agriculture

    Read More

  • Bernard Manin's The Future Of Representative Democracy

    1484 Words  | 6 Pages

    Representative Government" discusses the thoughts of Rousseau and examines the complex relationship that exists between the ideal of democracy and the representative government. He discusses at length the western political thought starting from the Athenian Democracy and the various political practices that existed in the western world. The result of this study is a deep and thoughtful exploration of the relationship that existed between the democratic ideals and

    Read More

  • Examples Of Subjectivity In Culture

    2193 Words  | 9 Pages

    change in tandem with cultural progression and societal evolution. Concepts of personhood are no different, morphing to suit alternating emphasis on individual agency and their roles in society. As the perennial conduit, media disseminates these ideals. In exploring concepts of Subjectivity in culture, this paper will focus on liberal democracy (LD) and structural Marxism (SM) along with

    Read More

More about Athenian Society Research Paper

Open Document