Athenian Government essays

Athenian Government essays In the beginning and even before the seventh century Athens rule was chaotic. One dictator that did not speak for the people usually oversaw what little government that existed. All this began to change over the years to come; great leaders and lawmakers began to reform society. People such as Draco and Solon tried to institute new ideas of law. Cleisthenes brought a plan of political organization after the last tyrant rule of Peisistratus. Finally Ephialtes leads us past the fifth century into the future. In the centuries before democracy most governmentally issues were overseen by the aristocratic classes. It was not really anyones choice to be ruled by these people, but oligarchy was inevitable. It was easy for those with no money to turn the power over to those that had money, because well the poor depended on the rich. Soon though this dependence became halting to the growth of the overall economy. Slowly this lead to a unification of the small villages. Synoikism of these small rural communities formed these little societies called poleis, which developed into cities such as Athens and Sparta. In 620 BC Draco the Lawmaker tried to reform old ways and bring the power away from the people and to a more organized condition. This first big shift of power away from family and to the state was a large one. He also called for an equalization of laws, so that each was enforced equally to each class of persons. This lead into the beginning of the ever-growing development of democracy. During the sixth century in Athens there were many problems within the society; the existence of slavery and the power still beginning held with the rich. In 594 BC Solon the Lawmaker came into power. He instituted what was called, shaking off of the burdens which abolished slavery. He tried to redistribute political power with reform of the government jobs and whom they were offered to. Thi ...