Democracy In Ancient Greece

Democracy in Ancient Greece

The Greeks were very advanced for their time. They realized that they

need a new form of government and they were able to invent the first democratic

government in the world. The democracy that the Greeks came up with was based

on two important factors. The first one was the population growth in Athens

grew at a very fast rate. The second was the advocating of political, economic,

and legal equality for all which some male citizens remembered from the living

conditions in the Dark Ages. The Greek system of Democracy did have its shares

of problems though.

The Greek system of democracy was ruled by a body of nine elected

officials whom were called archons. These men who were aristocrats lead the

government and had supreme control over all of the verdicts and criminal

accusations in Athens. Problems arose when aristocrats become jealous of one

another and rivalries ensued under the early stages of Athenian democracy. The

result of this jealousy was the establishment of a code written by the appointed

ruler Draco. This code of laws promoted stability and equity. These laws

however did more to hurt the democracy of Athens than to help it. It seems that

Draco wrote this code of laws in order to benefit himself rather than to benefit

the government of Athens.

The democracy of Athens was used in many ways other than for what it was

designed for. It was abused by many rulers of that time. They were concerned

with their own personal growth and because of their greed and selfishness, they

made laws and codes that would benefit their own personal gain. The results

though have not always been as what they had expected to have been. Many of the

lower classes were treated very unfairly and rulers lost popularity to the lower

classes. Civil war was even about to break out at one point due to Draco's

codes and laws.

When civil war almost broke out in Athens the codes and laws were once

again revamped. This time a pathway was attempted to be laid down that would

accommodate both the upper and the lower classes. In the end four classes were

developed to rank the male citizens of Athens based on their income. The five-

hundred-measure men, horsemen, yoked men, and laborers were the four classes

that were devised by this new system of codes and laws.

In the Athenian society both the theories failed the men, and in turn

the men failed the theories. Some of the theories that the rulers came up with