by Scott Powell
The Athenian democracy founded c.508 BC was the best government devised by men up to that time. It provided the most effective checks of any government against the power of the aristocracy by permitting the participation of commoners in governance at the local level--the level of the "deme"--and the lawmaking and judicial functions of the government of the city-state.
It was but a short eight years after this innovative new government was established that it was put to a frightful test. The kinsmen of the Athenians in Ionia--what is today the western shore of Turkey--had been forced into the Persian Empire that had been expanding westward for the better part of a century and swallowing everything in its path. The Athenians provided succor to their brethren (who were themselves beginning to take steps towards democracy) against Persia in what is known as the "Ionian Revolt."
In so doing, however, Athens incurred the wrath of the Persian king, Darius. The resulting conflict, known as the Greco-Persian Wars, in which a small group of independent Greek city-states, including Athens and its rival Sparta, together defeated the Persian Empire, acquired near mythic proportions in the annals of Western civilization. Its heroes, like King Leonidas of Sparta, are still lionized to this day.
Though it is of even greater significance in the long run than the war that preceded it, the period of peace that insued is not as well known. It was during this time, known as the "Athenian Golden Age," that the political freedom of Athens provided the fertile soil for a cultural flowering that is unparalleled in world history. The artistic outpouring of this brief period includes the literary works of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles (including the still famous plays about Antigone and Oedipus); the sculptural marvels of Phidias, Myron (who created the famous Discobolos), and later Praxiteles; and an architectural output including the Parthenon, whose ruins inspire visitors to Athens to this day. In addition, it was during this period that the intellectual foundations of Western civilization were established, through the first major steps in natural science, history, and philosophy.
Tragically, it is precisely with the story of the birth of philosophy, however, where the flaws of the Athenian system of democracy are dramatized. It is at the close of this period in 399 BC when Socrates, the first man to begin serious rational enquiry into how to lead a principled human life, was put to death by majority vote.
In a still infamous trial, Socrates was found guilty of "corrupting the minds of the youth" and sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. There was never any question of Socrates having committed physical violence or any heinous act against another citizen of Athens. Socrates had, however, committed the "crime" of making himself politically unpopular, and in a democracy, as Socrates learned, this can be fatal. As a moral critic of the Athenian regime, his concern with universal principles of goodness and justice were unwelcome. Politically, Athens was focused on the pragmatic aim of creating an empire.
Regardless of the merits of Socrates's particular views and actions, he violated no one's rights. His murder by the state is thus a profound symbol of the moral injustices that collectives can all too easily perpetrate on individuals. In addition, politically, the key point that the story illustrates is this: democracy is a political system of unlimited majority rule. In such a system, all political matters are decided by a majority vote.
The only difference between a democracy and a monarchy or an aristocracy is a quantitative one. In a monarchy, one person rules. His individual will determines the life and death of his subjects. In an aristocracy, a small privileged class rules. Typically, it oppresses a larger class of "commoners" and/or "serfs" and slaves. In a democracy, the ruling group simply consists of 5o% of the population plus one. In such a system, it is possible for the ruling majority to vote a man to death--or seize his property, or censor his ideas.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." Or, as it's put in a modern adage: "a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting for what's for dinner."
What is missing in a democracy, like that of ancient Athens, is the key idea to which Thomas Jefferson's name is eternally linked: rights. A democracy is a government lacking a proper recognition of the principle of inalienable individual rights, and thus a government without mechanisms to defend rights against aggressors -- including the majority.
A republic, by contrast, is a government founded precisely on the recognition of the need to defend individual rights. In history, the two greatest examples are the Roman Republic and the United States. Since the government of the latter was based in larger measure on the example of the former, the study of the story of Rome is one of the most important and instructive in all of history, especially when it is contrasted with that of Athens.
In Part 3 of this series, we'll take a close look at the rise of the Roman Republic, and how its story is governed not by the idea of distributing power to a larger and larger percentage of the population, but rather by the premise that the individual's rights must be protected from the power of the government.
Scott Powell is a historian living in Houston, TX. He is the creator and teacher of HistoryAtOurHouse, a homeschooling curriculum for students from 2nd to 12th grade. He offers Ancient history--with a heavy emphasis on Athens and Rome--as well as European and American history as a part of his curriculum rotation. Learn more through his blog at: www.HistoryAtOurHouse.com.
The Athenian democracy founded c.508 BC was the best government devised by men up to that time. It provided the most effective checks of any government against the power of the aristocracy by permitting the participation of commoners in governance at the local level--the level of the "deme"--and the lawmaking and judicial functions of the government of the city-state.
It was but a short eight years after this innovative new government was established that it was put to a frightful test. The kinsmen of the Athenians in Ionia--what is today the western shore of Turkey--had been forced into the Persian Empire that had been expanding westward for the better part of a century and swallowing everything in its path. The Athenians provided succor to their brethren (who were themselves beginning to take steps towards democracy) against Persia in what is known as the "Ionian Revolt."
In so doing, however, Athens incurred the wrath of the Persian king, Darius. The resulting conflict, known as the Greco-Persian Wars, in which a small group of independent Greek city-states, including Athens and its rival Sparta, together defeated the Persian Empire, acquired near mythic proportions in the annals of Western civilization. Its heroes, like King Leonidas of Sparta, are still lionized to this day.
Though it is of even greater significance in the long run than the war that preceded it, the period of peace that insued is not as well known. It was during this time, known as the "Athenian Golden Age," that the political freedom of Athens provided the fertile soil for a cultural flowering that is unparalleled in world history. The artistic outpouring of this brief period includes the literary works of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles (including the still famous plays about Antigone and Oedipus); the sculptural marvels of Phidias, Myron (who created the famous Discobolos), and later Praxiteles; and an architectural output including the Parthenon, whose ruins inspire visitors to Athens to this day. In addition, it was during this period that the intellectual foundations of Western civilization were established, through the first major steps in natural science, history, and philosophy.
Tragically, it is precisely with the story of the birth of philosophy, however, where the flaws of the Athenian system of democracy are dramatized. It is at the close of this period in 399 BC when Socrates, the first man to begin serious rational enquiry into how to lead a principled human life, was put to death by majority vote.
In a still infamous trial, Socrates was found guilty of "corrupting the minds of the youth" and sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. There was never any question of Socrates having committed physical violence or any heinous act against another citizen of Athens. Socrates had, however, committed the "crime" of making himself politically unpopular, and in a democracy, as Socrates learned, this can be fatal. As a moral critic of the Athenian regime, his concern with universal principles of goodness and justice were unwelcome. Politically, Athens was focused on the pragmatic aim of creating an empire.
Regardless of the merits of Socrates's particular views and actions, he violated no one's rights. His murder by the state is thus a profound symbol of the moral injustices that collectives can all too easily perpetrate on individuals. In addition, politically, the key point that the story illustrates is this: democracy is a political system of unlimited majority rule. In such a system, all political matters are decided by a majority vote.
The only difference between a democracy and a monarchy or an aristocracy is a quantitative one. In a monarchy, one person rules. His individual will determines the life and death of his subjects. In an aristocracy, a small privileged class rules. Typically, it oppresses a larger class of "commoners" and/or "serfs" and slaves. In a democracy, the ruling group simply consists of 5o% of the population plus one. In such a system, it is possible for the ruling majority to vote a man to death--or seize his property, or censor his ideas.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "a democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." Or, as it's put in a modern adage: "a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting for what's for dinner."
What is missing in a democracy, like that of ancient Athens, is the key idea to which Thomas Jefferson's name is eternally linked: rights. A democracy is a government lacking a proper recognition of the principle of inalienable individual rights, and thus a government without mechanisms to defend rights against aggressors -- including the majority.
A republic, by contrast, is a government founded precisely on the recognition of the need to defend individual rights. In history, the two greatest examples are the Roman Republic and the United States. Since the government of the latter was based in larger measure on the example of the former, the study of the story of Rome is one of the most important and instructive in all of history, especially when it is contrasted with that of Athens.
In Part 3 of this series, we'll take a close look at the rise of the Roman Republic, and how its story is governed not by the idea of distributing power to a larger and larger percentage of the population, but rather by the premise that the individual's rights must be protected from the power of the government.
Scott Powell is a historian living in Houston, TX. He is the creator and teacher of HistoryAtOurHouse, a homeschooling curriculum for students from 2nd to 12th grade. He offers Ancient history--with a heavy emphasis on Athens and Rome--as well as European and American history as a part of his curriculum rotation. Learn more through his blog at: www.HistoryAtOurHouse.com.
