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Democracy in Ancient Athens Was Different from What We Have in Canada Today

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54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 54 CHAPTER Democracy in 3 Ancient Athens Take a long step 2500 years back in time. Imagine you are a boy living in the ancient city of Athens, Greece. Your slave, words matter! Cleandros [KLEE-an-thros], is walking you to school. Your father Ancient refers to something and a group of his friends hurry past talking loudly. They are on from a time more than their way to the Assembly. The Assembly is an important part of 2500 years ago. democratic government in Athens. All Athenian men who are citizens can take part in the Assembly. They debate issues of concern and vote on laws. As the son of a citizen, you look forward to being old enough to participate in the Assembly. The Birthplace of Democracy The ancient Greeks influenced how people today think about citizenship and rights. In Athens, a form of government developed in which the people participated. The democracy we enjoy in Canada had its roots in ancient Athens. ■ How did men who were citizens participate in the democratic government in Athens? ■ Did Athens have representative government? Explain. 54 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 55 “Watch Out for the Rope!” Cleandros takes you through the agora, a large, open area in the middle of the city. It is filled with market stalls and men shopping and talking. You notice a slave carrying a rope covered with red paint. He ? Inquiring Minds walks through the agora swinging the rope and marking the men’s clothing with paint. They laugh Ancient Athens was the and move away to avoid him. birthplace of democracy. As Cleandros explains, “They need more people for you read this chapter, think the Assembly. If the men who are marked with red about the following questions: paint don’t go, they will be fined.” 1. What are the beliefs and “Why don’t they want to go to the Assembly?” values that shaped you ask. democracy in Athens? Cleandros shakes his head. “They would rather 2. What role did citizens play stay in the market gossiping. They should be happy in Athenian democracy? they live in a place where there is democracy.” Cleandros explains that in Sparta, the city where he grew up, the Assembly has no real power to make laws. 55 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 56 Who Were the Ancient Athenians? In Greece today, cities like Athens have modern transportation systems, schools, and hospitals. In some of these cities, you would also see ruins that remind us that people have been living in Greece for thousands of years. Greece is a mountainous country, and communities were This is Athens today. How do you isolated from one another by the rugged landscape. Because of think living among ancient ruins this isolation, each ancient Greek city developed its own style might affect your attitude toward of government, its own laws, and built up its own army. the history of your city? Independent communities like these are called city-states. words matter! Map of Ancient Greece A city-state is made up of a city and the surrounding THRACE countryside that controls it. It Legend is independent of other cities. Ancient Greece City-state Mt. Olympus Skill Smart Troy Locate the following ITALY Aegean Ionian Sea ASIA features: Sea MINOR ■ The title tells what Athens the map is about. Olympia Mycenae ■ The compass rose N Sparta shows north, south, WE east, and west on the 0 100 200 S kilometres map. Sea of Crete ■ The legend explains Mediterranean Sea the meaning of CRETE colours, lines, and symbols. This map shows what Greece looked like almost 3000 years ago. It shows some of the city-states, the boundaries at that time, and the names of the surrounding ■ The scale shows countries and bodies of water. distance on the map. In what direction would 546 510 Athenians travel to reach BCE BCE the island of Crete? ● ● ● ● Approximately, how far is it between Athens and Ruled by kings Ruled by Ruled by Crete? and aristocrats tyrants democracy 56 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 57 Some of the city-states were controlled by rich and words matter! powerful rulers called tyrants who demanded obedience from Tyrants are rulers who seize the people. Athens was different. Over time, the Athenians power and govern in a harsh, developed a system of government that allowed citizens to cruel way. participate in making important decisions. Eventually many other Greek city-states also became democracies. Temples where Athenians worshipped their gods Stoa around the agora, where men Pnyx, where gathered to talk the Assembly Athenian gathered homes Tholos, where 50 members of the Council lived Agora, shaped like Bouleuterion, a square, a market where the Council Law courts and meeting place of 500 met Athens during the time of Athenian democracy 500 T imeline BCE 0CE 1265 1350 1792 Representative First elected government Government Parliament established in in ancient in England Upper and Athens Lower Canada Approximate date of beginning of Iroquois This timeline shows forms of government before the common era Confederacy (BCE) in ancient Athens and later forms of democratic government. 57 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 58 Who Were Citizens in Ancient Athens? Slaves like Cleandros, whom you met in the opening story, did Thinking not have the right to participate in Athenian democracy. It Through Citizens were the only members of society who could vote and take part in government. Athenian citizenship was limited to 1. How did people’s place one class or group in society. Citizens were proud of their of birth, age, position position at the top of the social structure. The Athenian social in society, and gender affect their citizenship structure looked like this. and participation in government in ancient Citizens Athens? Citizens were children of parents who were 2. Many societies in born in Athens. Only male citizens could ancient times limited participate in voting and governing the city. the right of citizenship A young man became a citizen after he finished to people who were his military service at age 20. Women could born there. Why do not participate in Athenian democracy. you think this is not true in Canada today? Metics Metics were residents of Athens who had been born outside the city-state. They were not allowed to own land and could not become citizens. Slaves Slaves were owned either by private Athenians or by the city-state. Many slaves were people who had been taken prisoner when their city-state was attacked by the Athenians. Slaves could not become citizens. Did you know that Canadians were once considered British citizens under the law? The Canadian Citizenship Act, which came into effect on January 1, 1947, changed Identity and status were defined by the level of the social all that. Now, people like Izza structure into which a person was born. As a rule, people were Ahmed shown here, originally from not able to move from one class to another. Only on very rare Pakistan, can become Canadian citizens. occasions could a metic or a slave be granted citizenship. 58 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 59 What Were the Roles of Men and More About. Women? Roles in Society What would you say if someone asked you to describe the Poor people in the roles of men and women in Canadian society? Men and citizen and metic women had very different roles in ancient Athens and classes led somewhat generally lived very separate lives. These differences began different lives. Boys left school at age 13 or 14 from the moment of their birth. When a boy was born, his and began to work or family attached an olive branch—a sign of victory—to the learn a trade. Girls front door of the house. For a girl, they attached a piece of might work on the wool indicating her future as a homemaker. What do you family farm or at the think these symbols suggest about how boys and girls were market. Female slaves valued in Greek society? generally worked in Both boys and girls spent their early years living in the households cooking, women’s part of the house. There they played with toys such cleaning, and fetching water. Some male as rattles, tops, dolls, yo-yos, hoops, swings, and knucklebones, slaves worked for which were similar to dice. At about age seven, the boys and families, while others girls went their separate ways. did heavy labour. Boys went off to school where they learned reading, writing, and math as well as music and literature. They memorized and discussed poems called epics. These poems told stories about great heroes of the past. words matter! An epic is a long poem that tells a story usually about a legendary hero. The Iliad and Odyssey are epic poems believed to be written by the Greek poet Homer. They tell the story of the Trojan War. Why do you think Athenian boys had to study epics? Boys of wealthy families were taken to school by their paidagogus [pe-tha-go-GOS], or slave tutors, who helped them with their studies. Poor boys usually went to school for only a few years. 59 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 60 Sports such as running, boxing, wrestling, and javelin and discus throwing were also an important part of boys’ education. These skills prepared them for service in the army, which began at age 18. At age 20, they were ready to take their place as adults in Athenian society.
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