Early Greek Society: Rise of City-States and First Democracy in Athens

The early Greek society was simple. The people grouped into clans, ruled by a king or tribal chief. Each clan established a settlement, known as the polis, where the people might be safe from attack. The countryside around the polis was used for farming and grazing.

Growth of Independent City States

The geographic isolation of the settlements among the mountains, valleys, and rocky coastline of Greece encouraged the growth of small, independent city-states. The members of the city-state were proud of their home city and only those born within the city-state could achieve full citizenship. The city-states were jealous of their independence and did not usually cooperate except when foreign invasion threatened.

Democratic governance

One of the greatest contributions of the city-states to civilization was democratic government, which evolved gradually. The first step was usually the formation by the nobility of an oligarchy, or government by the few, which replaced the monarchy. As the power of the nobility increased, the common people at first benefited from the shift in political power. The first written legal codes were the work of the nobles; no longer was justice a matter of whim or guesswork. Penalties for lawbreakers were established by law rather than by a judge, and the laws were available for all to see.

Changes into economy

Greek traders set up colonies and trade routes. By the middle of the 8th century BC, the Greek world was controlled by nobles, who had become corrupted by power. They had increased their wealth through their control of the farmland, and had forced the small farmers to mortgage their plots of ground or to sell themselves into slavery. Many farmers abandoned the land in favour of small-scale manufacturing. Poor soils and scarcity of good land also contributed to the decline of agriculture. Textile manufacturing, the making of pottery, and the fashioning of bronze weapons and implements developed rapidly. It was not long before Greek industry required additional markets for its goods and new sources of food supplies for the workers. An increase in population placed even greater demands on the available food supplies.

Establishment of Colonies

Migration gave the people an opportunity to achieve wealth or attain increased political freedom; and the Greeks embarked upon a program of colonization. Each new colony was bound by social and religious ties to the parent city-state, and thus the isolation of the original city-states decreased somewhat. Colonies were established in the north Aegean and the Black Sea areas, and in Egypt, Sicily, Italy, and southern France.

Challenges to nobility by tyrants

The colonization system did not relieve the discontent in Greece, however. A number of trends combined to bring about the decline of the nobility.

• The first was the growth of the hoplites, a heavily armed infantry of citizens. The power of the hoplites increased until they were a match for the cavalry of the nobles, and they demanded improved living conditions for the common people.
• Second, the development of a system of coinage in Lydia quickly spread to Greece and a new basis of wealth was created which did not depend on land ownership.
• An important new social group appeared on the scene: a business class of merchants, shipowners, weavers, potters, and blacksmiths. They were discontented with the rule of the nobility and wanted a voice in government.

From about 650 to 500 BC, a number of revolutions occurred in Greece. Many citystates came under the rule of tyrants, or leaders who had seized power unlawfully. To the Greeks, tyranny meant simply one man rule. A tyrant was not necessarily a cruel or oppressive ruler; often he was a member of the nobility who had become democratic in outlook and to whom the people turned for leadership. In reality, the rise of the tyrants was a step in the direction of government by the people.

Growth of First Democracy in Athens

On the dusty coastal plain of Attica lay the city of Athens. The city hugged the slopes of a hill known as the Acropolis, where the Athenians built then forts and temples. As a seaport, Athens was exposed to a variety of commercial and cultural influences, which brought wealth and a diversity of ideas to the city.

Solon and the Council of 400

From the 8th to the 6th centuries B.C., political control in Athens was concentrated in a council of nobles, with the most important public office held by the archon, or chief magistrate, elected annually from the nobility. By the end of this period, Athens was suffering from food-supply problems and from political unrest among the many poverty-stricken small farmers. Solon, who was elected archon in 594 B.C., came to the aid of the farmers. He cancelled debts which they owed the nobles and forbade the practice of a farmer offering his services as security for a loan. Solon created the Council of 400, which comprised 100 representatives from each of the four main tribes of Athens.

The Council prepared the agenda for the meeting of the assembly, which was allowed by law to discuss only those matters brought before it. Trade was encouraged and the full rights of citizenship were offered to non-Athenian craftsmen if they moved their families to Athens. This step was important because citizenship had previously been granted only through birth.

Rise of Pisistratus

Solon did not create democracy, but his period of rule opened a new chapter in the history of Athens. The shepherds were dissatisfied with their lot because they owned no land. They found a leader in the tyrant Pisistratus, a distant relative of Solon. Pisistratus seized the Acropolis in 560 BC and ruled for over thirty years. He redistributed the land and property of the nobles among the poor and landless and stimulated trade.

Cleisthenes and System of Ostracism

The next important tyrant in Athenian history was Cleisthenes, who came to power in 508 BC. Under Cleisthenes, the system of ostracism was introduced. This system allowed the citizens to banish any officials they judged to be dangerous to the Athenian state.

Other measures introduced by Cleisthenes strengthened the growth of democracy. To reduce the influence of the four Athenian tribes, he split their members into ten new tribes and set up a new system of political districts, or wards. He also increased the membership of the Council to 500. The new Council was composed of fifty members chosen annually by lot from each of the ten tribes. These changes were significant, for they enabled more people to participate in politics and allowed a greater variety of local interests to be represented in the governing bodies. With the adoption of the reforms of Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleisthenes—the famous trio of tyrants who were champions of the people—Athens had taken large steps toward becoming a democracy.  Other city-states followed the lead of Athens. By the end of the 6th century B.C., democratic governments were being set up in most city-states.