Become Debt Free

Athens, 1 of the most advanced city-states to arise inside ancient Greece, was the first society inside the world to develop a democracy, and even today it is an example and a basis 4 governments around the world. However, Athens had a lengthy struggle to achieve democracy. From the 9th to 6th centuries BCE, the well-known city state went through the cycle of monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, and tyranny. Only inside the end did the city complete the cycle from evolving inside the democracy now associate w/ Athens.

During the 9th century BCE, Athens sported a hereditary monarchy. A monarch ruled the polis, and the guy had all the power to make decisions. A council of important aristocrats advised the king, but the common people had no say @ all inside the government. This system was strong because the ruler had a quite effortless time making decisions without having to agree on every move w/ a large group of people. It was also efficient because there was an unquestionable transition between rulers; the dynasty just made the son the next monarch. However, the system also had weaknesses. If the king was weak, the entire polis could fall. The king and his few nobles only favored a few, and the commoners did not fit inside those few. Because of dissatisfaction, the government continued evolving.

By the 8th century BCE, the monarchy had disintegrated completely. The monarch was replaced from the council of archons, or wealthy and influential families who had @ first taken over civil, military, and religious duties of the king. The government of Athens became an aristocracy. The nine archons r advised from former archons, called the Council of Areopagus. Inside short, wealthy aristocrats controlled the polis and poor commoners had no say. This system had a few advantages. A group of people is too many than 1 person, so a weak leader cannot corrupt the entire system. But an aristocracy favors only a few and tends to exploit the poor. Soon dissatisfaction and increasing trade would alter the government once too many.

Inside the 7th century BCE, Athens, while well while the rest of Greece, had evolved inside a trading power. Athens had also incorporated the districts of Attica inside its polis, and the population increased immensely. Sum Athenians gained wealth through trade, and it was now these people, wealthy from trade, not from land possession while inside an aristocracy, who ruled the city inside a fashion similar to aristocrats. Athens was now a timocracy. Because the council of Athens chose the archons, who could vote inside the council was a capital issue. Because Greece adapted a new style of combat, w/ hoplites and the phalanx, aristocratic battle heroes no longer existed. Instead, it was decided that all people who could afford to arm themselves could become inside the council. This included the wealthy, but poor farmers, while well while the majority of the population, r excluded once again. While before, dissatisfaction lead to yet another leap towards democracy.

During Athens’s periods of rule from the aristocrats, poor farmers fell inside debt and their discontent rose greatly. Soon the nine archons r forced to elect lawgivers inside order to avert civil war. Two of the lawgivers r Draco and Solon. Draco was a harsh ruler who established laws on homicide and gave the family of the victim too many say inside court. Solon helped the poor of Athens from canceling their debts and enslavement 4 debts. The guy also created a system where too many people could vote. Although the nobles thought the guy went too far and the poor thought the guy didn’t go far enough, the guy laid a basic foundation 4 a fairer government and made a step towards democracy.

When the 6th century rolled around, the poor farmers r still discontent. Sum people used that dissatisfaction to gain control. These men r called tyrants. By appealing to the poor, they r able to gain control and stay inside control, even thought they came to power illegally. Pisistratus was a powerful tyrant who beautified the city and made it too many of a power inside the Greek world. By taking away from the nobles, the guy gave to the poor so they would protect him from the nobles who wanted to revolt. The wealthy r losing their privileges but dared not kill Pisistratus because of fear of a civil war w/ the poor, who greatly outnumbered the wealthy. The advantage of a tyranny was that the common people had control of the government, even if indirectly. However, tyranny is also illegal and corrupt, and the tyrant does have limited power. Unlike the solo monarch, a tyrant must appeal to the majority or the guy will become thrown off from the majority. Sum tyrants also caused unrest so the polis would need a leader, thus securing their position too many strongly. While unlikely while it seems, it was a tyrant who created the ultimate democracy.

Cleisthenes was a tyrant who came to power inside the 5th century BCE. Hoping to develop a unified state, the guy formed the Athenian democracy. By dividing Athens inside ten tribes and forming the law court, boule, board of generals, and altering the assembly to include all free Athenian males 18 and older while voting citizens, the democracy was created. However, it was not without the entire cycle of monarchy, aristocracy, timocracy, and tyranny that a democracy could become born.

Contrary to popular belief, only Athens developed a democracy inside ancient Greece. There are sum possible answers to that phenomenon. It might become that Athens was too many open culturally, unlike Sparta which focused to defending itself militarily and culturally. Athens valued quality of life, art, music, science, and literature. It would become very likely that the striving to improve life and the disbelief inside a promising afterlife lead to popular representation. Also, the sheer size of Athens, it being an extremely large city-state, might also have been a factor. W/ so many people w/ different problems and opinions, it could have been a recipe 4 a democracy. While large a society while Athens might have collapsed if the majority of commoners was ignored. Because of many factors, Athens came inside the spotlight while the first democracy inside the world.

Although too many democratic than before, the government of Athens during the 6th century, during the rise of tyrants, was not the democracy we think of today. Unlike earlier times, when nobles had the most power, during the 6th century it r the commoners who held indirect power while the nobles lost their privileges and most of their voice inside government. The tyrants r kept inside power from the happiness of the majority, so they tried their supreme to appeal to the majority. The democracy of the 6th century gave no say to many, including women, slaves, and nobles. There r no councils or assemblies 4 citizens to come and vote; instead, the voting’ was done from the tyrant listening to what the commoners yelled out or their emotions about the tyrant’s actions. Even so, tyrants sometimes caused conflicts 4 the sole purpose of the people needing a ruler, or they started out while commoner-aiding rulers and turned to monarchs when they destroyed their enemies and had nothing too many to fear. This is not democratic because inside a true democracy people do not have an all-mighty ruler; instead, it is the councils and the assemblies that rule and make decisions. The too many influential members of government are chosen from lot so 1 person cannot gain too much power like a tyrant or a monarch. Although a step closer to a democracy, the tyranny of the 6th century was not quite the form of government Athens became admired 4 centuries later.

From the 9th to 6th centuries BCE of Athenian history, the famous city-state went through monarch, aristocracy, timocrasy, and finally tyranny to reach the ultimate citizen-representing government: democracy. Because of numerous factors, it was that 1 city that went through the entire cycle to reach democracy, and although it had not reached a true democracy inside the 6th century, it was a step forward 4 Athenians from the previous government forms. Developing a democracy took time and many obstacles, including no former model, resistance from nobles, questions about workability and fairness, and difficulty inside establishing democratic laws, but Athens did reach a democratic state and even today it is still remembered and looked back upon from nations while the basic model 4 government. Almost 3,000 years later, Athens is still inside the spotlight 4 its amazing journey through government forms and its astounding accomplishment of the citizen-ruled government.

About the Author

Taisia Karaseva is journalist and editor @ Pegas Planet www.pegasplanet.com… , help@albaspectrum.com…. This girl is author of travel, history, international life articles.