Page 25 - 100 Events That Made History

Political vision
In city-states of ancient Greece,
government was once entirely Athenian
in the hands of the richest democrats held
at a place called
section of the population. A few political meetings
wealthy aristocrats controlled
property, parliament, and the Pynx.
finances, and no one else had
a say. In 507 BCE, an Athenian
statesman named Cleisthenes
reformed this UNFAIR SYSTEM Not fair enough
by giving ordinary citizens Cleisthenes’ system, the first democracy, consisted of
Cleisthenes is known
political rights. three bodies: The ekklesia wrote laws and policies; the
as the “Father of were the civil law courts. But the system wasn’t that fair.
BOULE was a citizens’ council; and the dikasteria
Athenian democracy.”
Out of a population of 300,000 people, only 30,000 or
so freemen had the right to vote. Women, slaves, and
foreigners didn’t count in this democracy.

Dawn of

democracy

How the rule of the
PEOPLE first came to be

Sign of the times
The new democracy lasted for two
centuries and was a powerful era for Athens. In
this period, the city’s most famous landmark
was created—the PARTHENON, a temple
How it changed dedicated to the goddess Athena. It was a
sign of change that the temple was
Ancient Athenian
democracy wasn’t decorated with illustrations of ordinary
perfect, but its ideal of people for the first time in history.
political rights for all is
the blueprint for many
the world
states today.

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