posting this at 12:05 am on Sunday pls count it
- no women (except the “entertainment”)
- no middle class
- certainly, no slaves
- sometimes, even certain aristocrats (who didn’t have the right connections or who fell out of favor) were excluded
- what to do if you’re “on the outside”?
- sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form of gov’t called a tyranny
- tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
- modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
- the Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help)
- Draco (621 BCE)
- all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under the law
- but death is the punishment for many crimes
- debt slavery is OK (work as a slave to repay debts)
- Solon’s reforms (594 BCE)
- outlaws debt slavery
- all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly
- any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers
- more reforms (around 500 BCE):
- allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly
- created the Council of Five Hundred (members chosen at random, to counsel the assembly)
- can you see this leading to democracy?
- but… only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens
- sorry, women, slaves, “foreigners”
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