Thomas N. Mitchell - Democracys Beginning: The Athenian Story

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Copyright 2015 Thomas N. Mitchell

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.

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Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mitchell, Thomas N., 1939

Democracys beginning: the Athenian story/Thomas N. Mitchell.
pages cm

ISBN 978-0-300-21503-8 (hardback)

1. DemocracyGreeceAthensHistoryTo 1500. 2. GreecePolitics and governmentTo 146 B.C. 3. Athens (Greece)Politics and government. I. Title.

JC75.D36M58 2015

320.938dc23

2015023656

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Illustrations and Maps

Maps

The Walled City of Athens.

Mainland Greece.

Greece and the Athenian Empire (shaded).

Attica.

Plates

The Acropolis, the imposing citadel of Athens, site of some of the most splendid architectural masterpieces of the Periclean building programme of the 440s and 430s, notably the majestic Doric temple to Athena, the Parthenon, and the monumental entrance to the Acropolis, the Propylaea.

The Pynx was a gently sloping hill south-west of the Agora and was the meeting place of the Assembly from c. 460 B.C. onwards. Previously the Assembly had normally met in the Agora. The site was radically reconstructed c. 400 B.C. , creating a fully enclosed and enlarged theatre-shaped space with seating for about 6,000. Citizens could sit where they wished: all had equal status.

At the centre of Athens lay the Agora, situated mid-way between the Acropolis and the citys main gate, the Dipylon. It was the civic centre, market place and meeting place, home of the lawcourts, the Council and the military leadership. Its colonnaded buildings (Stoa) gave space for the posting of public notices and informal gatherings. It was overlooked by three notable landmarks that had great significance in the life of the democracy the Acropolis to the southeast, the Pnyx to the southwest, and in between the Areopagus Hill, meeting place of the Council of the Areopagus.

Pericles (c. 495429), high-born and highly educated, and a gifted orator and able military commander, dominated Athenian politics for more than thirty years. He was the architect of the final stage of the democratisation of Athens and the consolidation of the Athenian empire, but was also largely responsible for leading Athens into the ill-fated Peloponnesian War.

The Theatre of Dionysus, situated on the southern slope of the Acropolis, was the home of Greek drama, both tragedy and comedy. There were dramatic performances on this site from the late sixth century. The theatre was significantly rebuilt in the Periclean era, and was upgraded in stone by Lycurgus in the 330s so as to be able to accommodate 17,000 spectators. Drama was a central part of Athenian festivals and an important part of Athenian life, an experience shared by the whole population and organised by the state, with the production costs borne by wealthier citizens, one of the functions (liturgies) they were obliged to undertake.

Demosthenes (384322 B.C. ) was the son of a prosperous manufacturer. He ranks among the greatest of Athenian orators, and became a highly influential political leader in the 340s. He was a tireless advocate of war against Philip of Macedonia, a policy that brought defeat for Athens and sowed the seeds of the downfall of the democracy.

Aeschines (c. 397322 B.C. ) came from humble origins. He had spent time as a tragic actor, had an exceptional voice and became a highly efficient orator, a rival and bitter opponent of Demosthenes and an advocate of peace with Philip. Demosthenes prosecuted him for treason in 343, which led to a memorable encounter between the leading orators of the day. Aeschines was narrowly acquitted, but his influence waned and he largely withdrew from politics, and eventually retired to Rhodes.

Socrates (c. 470322 B.C. ), son of a stonemason, one of the most brilliant minds and memorable personalities of antiquity, changed the emphasis and character of Greek philosophy, focusing on ethical issues and the search for universal definitions of the morally right through the use of dialectics and inductive reasoning. His close association with many of the radical young aristocrats of his day led to his prosecution in 399, mainly on a charge of corrupting the youth. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

Plato (c. 428347 B.C. ), devoted pupil of Socrates and another towering intellect, founded a school, the Academy, on the outskirts of Athens, to provide advanced education in science and philosophy. His voluminous writings, focused on metaphysics, ethics and politics, have had a profound and lasting impact on Western thought. A severe critic of democracy, he believed statesmanship was an art that required profound knowledge of what was good for the individual and the state, wisdom only attainable by the highly gifted and the highly educated. The idea of government by the unlettered, unreasoning multitude was anathema to him.

Aristotle (384322 B.C. ) was a native of Stagira in Chalcidice. He came to Athens in 367 as a student in Platos Academy and remained there as student and scholar until Platos death in 347. Later he was tutor to Alexander the Great, but returned to Athens in 335 to found his own school, the Lyceum. He was a polymath, scientist as well as philosopher, an empiricist who relied on hard evidence rather than solely theoretical speculation. His influence has been pervasive, extending to Islamic as well as Christian thought. After Alexanders death in 323, anti-Macedonian feeling in Athens caused him to leave the city. He died a year later in Chalcis.

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