From c. 750 BC Greece's exports increased when the market expanded. This allowed the Greeks more income. New imports included timber, hide, gold, metal and food. Colonisation allowed the wealthy Greeks to purchase new goods that supported their developing aristocratic lifestyle.
Large-scale colonisation of the Mediterranean caused the Greek World to expand in geographical size. The move affected the Greek economy increasing overall wealth.
Greeks made new colonies throughout the Mediterranean and discovered a place called Massalia (c. 600BC). Massalia, as a new trading post gave Greeks access to Paris, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, allowing trade development. A place called Emporion expanded the access into Spain (c. 600BC) for Greece. Supplies of tin and silver from Spain were valuable metals to Greece.
At the beginning of the colonisation, a `middle class' was established. The middle class was established because the citizens were doing all the buying, selling, making and transporting of the trading industry. With the money that was made through extra trade, the middle class would buy and make armour, shields and weapons and learn to use them. Prior to the colonisation, the few rich aristocrats were the only people to produce the armour and to fight a battle. When the middle class began producing armour, they began fighting in battles as well.
Greeks increased their developed knowledge of shipbuilding during the sea-trade era when they had to build extra durable boats for protection from pirates. Developed knowledge of armour, battle and shipbuilding increased the number of ground and sea going forces. Which then increased the number of victories. Increasing the power of Greece.
With each new colony, a man with no legal or hereditary right assumed the role of tyrant. Once a tyrant opposed the opposition, made fellow citizens miserable or made his son successor too many times, he was ordered out of the leadership. Large-scale colonisation bought Tyranny to the Greek World.
Prior to Solon's reforms, Athens was on the brink of tyranny. There was a major economic and political crisis that was controlled by tyrants called Cylon (632 BC) and Draco (621 BC). Solon was appointed reformer when there was a very real threat of a violent revolution. This movement for a mediator was accepted mutually by peasants and aristocrats.
The public complained of Draco's harsh Law Codes. People stated the punishment and penalties of the offences were too extreme. Part of Solon's reform included alterations to punishments of the Law Codes except the one regarding homicide.
The origin of the Athenian democracy of the fifth and for centuries can be traced back to Solon. Solon was a poet and a wise statesmen but not a Democrat. His constitutional reform package laid the basis on which an aristocrat called Cleisthenes could pioneer democracy. Cleisthenes championed a radical political reform movement which in 508 -507 ushered in the Athenian democratic constitution. Under this political system Athens successfully resisted the Persian onslaughts that victory in turn encourage the poorest Athenian's to demand a greater say in the ruling of their city. In the late 460's a radicalization of power shifted the balance decisively to the poorest sections of society. This was the democratic Athens that laid the foundations of Western rational and critical thought.
Before Solon was name to reform the laws of the city, Athens was in great chaos. Solon had to tackle issues that were within the city itself. Because of the fact that only aristocrats and nobles were given the power to elect man, many of the “common people” were against that notion; as a result, quarrels between the common people and the aristocrats arose. Furthermore, due the the war that the Athenians just finished, and the accumulation of debts, the poorest of the poor had their lands seized and either sold themselves as slaves or their children and family members.
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
Like the various forms of Greek art, the government of ancient Greece appreciated the individual by creating an environment in which individuals were free to express themselves. Tyrants like Pisistratus and Cleisthenes came to power to try and make the polis a better place for the individual. These tyrants reformed the state in many ways; they helped make it possible for the rich and poor to have equal rights, and they created the conditions for the construction of the splendid monumental buildings ancient Greece is remembered for today. Although not all tyrants were good, they all had one thing in common: they were all citizens of Greece, and ruled to improve the lifestyle of the citizens of Greece. After the end of tyranny, Greece had a democracy; a government ruled by the people for the people.
During this time, Greece saw major advances in just about every aspect of a modern society. They grew by leaps and bounds socially, economically, and technologically; among many other areas as well. All of these attributes made Greece the main hub of activity in the Mediterranean throughout this time period. During their time of power Greece saw three main civilizations rise within their social society. The Myceneans or Minoans are considered the first.
As the mainland Greece grew, resources became scarce and competition increased (Acrobatiq,2014.) This caused the Greeks to resettle in the coastal areas of the
What are tyrants, one might ask. In the current sense of the word a tyrant is pejorative term, applied to an individual in power who is selfish and self preserving. A tyrant is an immoral being, ruling over those around him through force, a tax on the freedom of those he subjugates. Yet the question that one should be asking is where do tyrants come from? Plato proposed that tyrants are a product of democracy, that the liberty inherent to a democracy allows the self interested to manipulate the system(generally through appealing to the population at large) causing a system with little liberty. This paper aims to defend the claims of Plato concerning tyranny, particularly the origins of tyrants, as well as to propose the safeguards that democracy possesses to defend against tyranny. The two claims Plato makes that will be discussed here are that tyrants come from popular leaders, that tyrants require sycophants to support and protect them.
Socrates and I grew up alongside the Athenian democracy, and experienced her vicissitudes in the past seventy years. We have both heard and experienced cycle of five types of governments that Socrates had mentioned. (Plato, Republic 8.547e) Our democracy was established hundreds years ago under Cleisthenes and turned to tyranny under Isagoras. In our childhood, Athens was a timarchy, and then Pericles ruled Athens with the
Known as the lawgiver of Athens, he created the first constitution “when he was chosen as chief archon in 594 BC” explains William George Forrest (1996, p.30). In the same year, Solon initiated a series of laws and reforms that had a lasting impact on Athenian society. One particular law that Solon reformed, made him very favourable among the community. He let all enslaved Athenians free and relieved them from their debts. Another one of these laws was to change the huge divide between the rich and the poor people of Athens.... ...
The population size of the polis were small, and each male citizen was cognizant of their role and value within the community, and developed a strong spirit of independence. This sense of independence is what led the citizens within the polis to choose their own leaders, and overthrowing leaders that had done wrong by the greater populist or that the populist felt had abused their power. Athens, furthered this sense of independence by creating a democratic Athens, where full citizens were expected to run the governme...
“The Greeks molded the mind of Western Civilization, if not the body and the culture” (PowerPoint #6). The Greeks had a very powerful impact on the entire world, making them a huge influence to Western culture. The Greeks showed their power over the world by their great intellect. Through their accomplishments in art, architecture, government, philosophy, education, and science they helped shape Western Civilization. They built strong and intricate buildings, allowing others to see throughout history the plan of the architecture used. The Greek government was one of the first to have a Democracy. Their ac...
The main reason that the Greeks were able to win the Second Greco-Persian War was the fact that their victory on the sea dealt a crippling blow to the land army. The Greeks owe their naval success to a man named Themistocles. If it had not been for him then Athens would have not used some newly found silver to build 200 new ships for their navy. These ships were later used in the war against the Persians. The two forces were working in unison and they were dependent upon each other for victory. The Persian naval forces were there in order to protect the flank of the army's advance. If the Persian navy were not present then the Greeks would have been able to get on ships and sail to a spot behind the Persian lines and outflank them. They also delivered supplies to the armies that were necessary for its survival.
Many societal ills in a given culture can be attributed to the pride that develops in leaders and the aggressive effect this nature has on the need for personal gain. In his work The Republic, Plato spends a great deal of time outlining his vision of a society in which man's arrogant and competitive nature is unable to root itself into the government of the city, thus creating a completely just and good society. Nevertheless, even Plato realized that because of the inevitable influence of man's lust for power, no society could retain a perfectly just government forever. As man's greed overcomes the integrity of the "healthy city", oppression will take root. The inherent arrogance grows until the leader becomes an embodiment of injustice, what Plato calls in The Republic a tyrant. The rule of a tyrant can directly affect the lives and well-bring of every man under the unjust leader, as is demonstrated by Agamemnon in The Iliad. Homer's masterpiece is a perfect example of how egotism and a need for power over another can compromise the well being of an entire army. Agamemnon's reactions to the events and people who surround him in The Iliad prove that he possesses many of the characteristics of the tyrannical leader Plato describes in The Republic.
In Ancient Greece they use many of their geography to help them be the civilization that they wanted to be. The mountains help them be isolated and separate from other city-state making them more independent. They use the Mediterranean Sea to provide farming to provide additional crops, but they became master sailors and developed a large trading network to be able to trade with others. The climate was always hot and dry, which sometimes affected the growth of the crops for that season.
Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.