What is a popular assembly among Athenian citizens? People's Assembly in Athens

From the beginning of the 6th century. BC e. The highest authority in the Athenian state became the people's assembly, at which all Athenian citizens could attend and speak. It originally gathered ten times a year, and from the 5th century. BC e. - approximately three times a month. At the beginning of the year, at the first regular meeting and throughout the year, every three regular meetings at the fourth, the work of all officials, reports of state crimes were listened to, decisions were made on issues of national defense and other important state matters.

Most Athenian government positions were filled by lot. Only strategists who commanded the army and occupied the most important posts in the state, and some others responsible persons elected annually at a popular assembly by open vote.

From the end of the 5th - beginning of the 4th century. BC e., in order to attract more citizens to participate in the national assembly, a small fee was established for visiting it. But they paid it only to those who arrived on time, without being late.

People's assemblies in the city-states of ancient Greece grew out of clan and tribal gatherings of primitive times. But in a class slave-owning society, these assemblies always consisted only of free natives, citizens of their city, or only of the richer part of them, that is, from a minority of the local population. The most democratic was the Athenian People's Assembly, but it also expressed the interests of the minority. Accurate information about the population of Attica has not been preserved. But based on a comparison of various historical materials, it can be assumed that it reached 400-450 thousand people and consisted of approximately 80 or 90 thousand citizens, including their families, a large number of free, but not full-fledged meteks and a mass of slaves belonging to the Athenians citizens, meteks and the state. Only men who had reached the age of 20 and were officially included in the civil lists enjoyed political rights. During the peak of Athenian slave-owning democracy - in the middle of the 5th century. BC e. - there were 30-35 thousand of them, the rest of the time - no more than 20 thousand.

Public meetings in Athens usually took place on a low and gentle hill - the Pnyx, not far from the Acropolis, occasionally in the market square - the agora or in Piraeus (a port suburb of Athens). Therefore, the meetings were attended mainly by residents of Athens, Piraeus and their environs. Peasants, especially from remote parts of Attica, often found it inconvenient to come to Athens, and during rural work it was simply impossible.

There was no distinct concept of quorum 2 in ancient times. Usually only 2 or 3 thousand people were present at meetings of the “Athenian people” (as the assembly of Athenian citizens called themselves), but for the reception especially important decisions At least 6 thousand citizens were required. Apparently, collect large quantity citizens was simply impossible. 5 days before the convening of the national assembly, special heralds walked around Attica and loudly announced a list of cases scheduled for consideration.

The meeting place was cordoned off with red ropes, with Athens police walking around outside. The duties of the police were performed by tall and strong slaves. They were armed with short daggers and whips.

Citizens walked one by one into the square cordoned off with ropes. Each person entering was checked by special inspectors. If a non-Athenian citizen tried to attend the meeting, he was pushed out by a policeman on the orders of the controller. Citizens sat down right on the ground, talked loudly among themselves, drank and ate.

According to custom, before the start of the meeting, the priest sacrificed piglets to the gods and walked with them around all those gathered. Then the herald loudly shouted a prayer in which he asked the gods to grant a successful outcome to the meeting.

The meeting always began early in the morning upon a signal and usually ended on the same day. It could drag on until sunset and dusk. But if during the meeting there were “bad omens”, such as a thunderstorm, then it immediately stopped.

The list of matters to be considered at the meeting, or its “program”, as the ancient Greeks put it, was prepared by the prytania on duty - one tenth of the members of the “council of 500”. The chairman of the prytans, elected for this day by lot, led the people's assembly. Immediately after its opening, the chairman ordered the decisions of the “council of 500” to be read, which were subject to approval. If those present agreed with the proposed decisions by raising their hands, then the decisions were considered adopted. But if any project raised objections from members of the assembly, they began to discuss it.

Each of those present could make a speech, but he had to speak only on the merits of the matter. A large stone usually served as an oratorical platform at meetings. Before climbing it, the speaker put a wreath on his head. This meant that he was engaged in socially useful work. If the speaker spoke off topic, talked idle or used offensive words, threatened someone, etc., then the chairman had the right to deprive him of the floor and even fine him. If the speaker, despite being deprived of his word, stubbornly continued to speak, then with the consent of the meeting, special ministers could remove him by force.

Not all Athenian citizens knew how to give speeches. The same people, who were aware of state affairs, constantly spoke in the people's assembly. In most cases, these were rich and noble citizens who were specially trained in oratory. Experienced speakers were able to convince those who were not politically experienced at the meeting: artisans, traders and peasants. Resolutions and laws of the people's assemblies were adopted by a majority vote, usually by a show of hands. Any innovations were permitted only within the framework and in the spirit of existing laws. If the chairman of the people's assembly found that the proposal made by the speaker was illegal, then he simply forbade putting it to a vote. True, a complaint could be filed against the chairman for this, which would then be heard in a jury trial. In general, changing any laws in the Athenian state was a very complex social procedure.

Questions about revision current laws were raised and discussed at the beginning of each new year. If at the same time any of those present suggested new project law and the majority of the assembled citizens found it worthy of attention, then this bill was transferred for study to the “Council of 500”.

The text of the old law that was supposed to be repealed and the text of the bill were displayed on a white board in a prominent place for everyone to see. The conclusion of the “Council of 500” was discussed at the next meeting.

If the bill again received the approval of the majority of members of the people's assembly, then it was transferred to a commission specially selected for this purpose from among the members of the jury. The commission, having discussed the bill, again transferred it to the “council of 500”. Moreover, if she approved the bill, a competition between the parties took place at a meeting of the “council of 500”. Members of the commission advocated approval of the bill, and representatives of the people's assembly, specially elected from among those who opposed the law, defended the old law.

After careful discussion, it was finally decided whether to accept new law, or leave the old one. But even after the approval of the new law within a year, every Athenian citizen had the right to protest it.

If, after a new discussion in the people's assembly, the protest was recognized as correct, then the law that had been adopted was canceled, and its author was punished: fined, deprived of the right to introduce new bills, and in exceptional cases even sentenced to death.

In the 5th century before i. e. Every year at the first regular public meeting, the chairman asked the assembled citizens whether there were any persons among the Athenian people plotting to overthrow the democratic system. If the majority of those present declared that such persons existed, then a special people's meeting was convened, at which a secret vote took place.

Each participant in the meeting wrote on a clay shard the name of the Athenian citizen whom he considered dangerous to the democratic system, after which the shard was placed in an urn. Then the chairman of the meeting and his assistants counted the total number of shards placed in the urns. The vote was valid if at least 6 thousand shards were collected. The citizen whose name was written on most of the shards was recognized as dangerous to the state and was subjected to ostracism, that is, expelled from the country for a long period of time (ostracism - literally translated as “sharding”). In other cases, secret voting was used using beans or pebbles. White beans and pebbles meant “for”, black ones meant “against”. Pericles, the first strategist, the elected head of the Athenian state during its peak period, said in one of his speeches: “Our political system does not imitate other people's institutions, we ourselves rather serve as a model for some than imitate others. This system is called democratic because it is based not on a minority, but on a majority.” The last statement is incorrect. Although it is true that the rights of Athenian citizens were great, the citizens themselves constituted a small minority of the population of this slave state and only a small part of the citizens actively participated in political life. Athenian slave-owning democracy was the most progressive form of government in ancient Greece, but in essence it remained the power of a privileged minority.

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Pericles was an outstanding statesman and politician, a true patriot and an unsurpassed orator. During his reign, he was able to transform Athens into a prosperous polis.

The grateful inhabitants of Athens called their ruler the messenger of Zeus and re-elected him to the highest position 15 times. Unlike its predecessors, its main goal government activities Pericles increased the welfare of the townspeople and took care of them. Pericles was able to establish a true full-fledged democracy in Athens.

The reign of Pericles in Athens: the people's assembly

To make governing bodies more transparent, Pericles established a popular assembly, the members of which were all men over 20 years of age.

At the meeting, which was held once a week, new laws were adopted and all problematic aspects of society were discussed. Each member of the meeting had the right to express his opinion.

So that the poorest segments of the population could also take part in the meeting, Pericles paid them for attending the sum that they could earn for that day working in the fields or in workshops.

To eradicate corruption in judicial proceedings, Pericles introduced a system in which the judge did not know until the last moment which case he would consider. Any citizen of Athens who had reached the age of 30 could become a judge.

Women under Pericles had absolutely no political rights, just like visiting residents. However, this was not caused by the personal motives of Pericles, but by the principles that dictated that time.

Cultural development of citizens

Pericles also did not forget about the cultural development of the townspeople. Very often, various competitions and mass celebrations were held in Athens. The theater of Athens was especially respected. To the townspeople who did not have material opportunity to visit the theater, Pericles gave them money for this from his personal funds.

To provide permanent job inhabitants of Athens, Pericles initiated the construction of temples and public buildings. This not only made it possible to earn money ordinary people, but also over time turned Athens into a city with stunning architecture.

According to historical sources, some loaders and shepherds who worked in construction, having gained experience in this matter, eventually became famous architects.

Development of the fleet and trade

Pericles was also able to strengthen the fleet of Athens, thus turning the city into a powerful center of trade in the Mediterranean. The Athenian fleet could withstand the pirates and over time virtually completely destroyed them.

Because of his gentleness and diplomacy, Pericles did not initiate war with neighboring states and did not actually colonize other lands, although the power of the fleet provided him with such an opportunity

All the forces of the ruler were consolidated primarily to improve the life of Athens itself.

Athens under Pericles reached unprecedented heights of economic, intellectual and political development. Thanks to his liberal democratic policies, he was able not only to make Athens a major cultural and political center of the ancient Greek world, but also to enter world history, as the father of democracy, a fighter for the rights and freedoms of people.

5th century BC e. went down in history Ancient Greece called "golden". This is the heyday of democracy - the power of the people, realized through the holding of popular assemblies. It was there that laws were passed, rulers were elected and trials were carried out over the citizens of the republic. There were similar forums in all ancient states. Among the Germans it was a Thing, in ancient Rus'- veche, among the Turks - kurultai, in Ancient Rome- comitia. What was the name of the people's assembly in Ancient Greece and what was its essence?

Participants

It all started with tribal gatherings, which in city-states grew into meetings of citizens who decided on basic issues of life. Their beginning dates back to the 6th century BC. e. Forums met up to 10 times a year, and later became regular and occurred no less frequently three times per month. Who was invited to a public meeting in Ancient Greece? Political rights belonged only to men. There are two conditions: they must be free citizens included in special lists, and be over 20 years of age. Slaves, metics (settlers), women and children were not allowed.

Approximate calculations by historians are as follows: out of 450 thousand inhabitants of Attica, only 35 enjoyed civil rights in their heyday. Only a few thousand were present at the meetings. The ancient Greeks did not maintain a quorum, but at least 6 thousand citizens were required to make important decisions.

The main achievement of democracy was the absence of property qualifications. Moreover, at the end of the “golden age”, participants in the national assembly were paid little money. This was done so that peasants, small traders and artisans could take time off from work without harm to themselves. At the main forum one could simultaneously meet noble and wealthy citizens in luxurious himatiyas and poor peasants in mantles, felt hats and with staves in their hands.

There are three known places where the most important gatherings took place in Athens:

• the slope of the Pnyx hill, located near the Acropolis;
• market square, or agora;
• Piraeus, a small port suburb of the capital of Ancient Greece.

The meeting place was surrounded on all sides with red rope. The strongest slaves, armed with daggers and whips, served as police officers. Special inspectors checked those entering the cordon and checked them against the lists. Outsiders, on their orders, were driven away by slaves. Benches were installed on Pnyx Hill, but more often people sat right on the ground, where they drank and ate throughout the day, because the public meeting in Ancient Greece began in the early morning and ended at dusk. According to tradition, a ritual of sacrificing to the gods was performed. The priests carried the dead piglets among those gathered, after which a prayer was read, announcing the beginning of the forum.

Main questions

An epistat was elected for each day. This was the chairman of the meeting, who kept the keys to the treasury and the seal, and received ambassadors. You couldn't be elected to this post twice. From 510 BC e. During the break between meetings, the leadership of the city-states was carried out by the “council of five hundred.” Executive branch was chosen by lot. From each of the 10 districts - fil, lists of 50 people were formed. What other issues were considered by the people's assembly of Ancient Greece?

Among his main powers were the following:

Meaning of the word

People's Assembly in ancient Greece it was called ekklesia. Forum powers serve as a clue as to how a given word is translated from Greek language. This is an “appeal”, “meeting”, and in fact, the main body of power of a democratic republic. During its heyday, the leaders had to turn into real orators, because they were faced with the task of convincing and leading the Athenian citizens. Pericles was a true master of eloquence. They said about him: even if the enemy had knocked him down on both shoulder blades, he would still be able to convince his listeners that he had won. During his tenure, payment was introduced for some government positions so that poor people could be elected to government without fear of losing their main source of income.

In the oligarchic republics that replaced them, what was the popular assembly in Ancient Greece? The definition gives the answer that it still remained one of the attributes of power. Although it is far from being its highest organ. The rights of the assembly were limited to councils and collegiums, where main role noble and wealthy citizens played. True democracy ended with the end of the “golden age.”

The main and decisive body of power in Athens was the People's Assembly. All citizens, regardless of their property status, who lived in the city of Athens, Piraeus, Attica, and other territories that were part of the Athenian state (for example, residents of the islands) gathered at the People's Assembly. Women did not have the right to participate in political and public life.

Place of the people's assembly in ancient Greece. Photo: alexandros9

The People's Assembly is the supreme authority of Athens. It met first ten, and later forty times a year. Under special circumstances (unexpected enemy attack, disaster) an emergency "meeting of horror and confusion" could be called. The competence of the People's Assembly was extensive: it adopted laws, issued decrees on private issues (pseuphism), elected officials and inspected their activities, resolved issues of war and peace, discussed the food situation of the country, etc. Special meetings were devoted to considering requests from citizens and resolving the issue of expelling individuals through ostracism from the state.

Only full-fledged Athenian citizens who had reached the age of 20 could participate in the work of the national assembly. Women and metics were not allowed into the people's assembly. As a rule, peasants working on their farms rarely participated in its activities, although, starting from the 4th century. BC, there was a reward for attending the meeting. To resolve even the most important issues, the presence of only 6,000 people was required, that is, approximately 1/5 of all full-fledged Athenians.
The agenda for each meeting was determined in advance. One of the meetings of each month was considered the main one. It checked the activities of officials, discussed the food situation, etc. The main meeting of the sixth month, in addition, resolved the issue of ostracism and accusations of officials. The other three meetings of the month dealt with citizen complaints, religious, administrative and other issues. Each participant was formally able to speak in the people's assembly and introduce draft new laws. In practice, speeches were given mainly by professional speakers - demagogues who defended the interests of individual groups of free people. Bills were first posted for public viewing and submitted to the people's assembly for discussion after their consideration by the Council of Five Hundred, which gave an opinion on each bill. Voting on the bill was carried out by a show of hands.

An important means used to ensure the stability of legislation was the right of any participant in the meeting, citing the illegality of the proposed bill, to demand its removal from discussion or voting under the threat of bringing the author to court. In addition, the chairman of the people's assembly could not put to a vote those proposals that, from his point of view, were illegal.

The People's Assembly had broad powers. Here state laws were adopted, the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace, the results of negotiations with other states were approved, and treaties with them were ratified. At the People's Assembly, officials and magistrates of the Athenian state were elected, reports were discussed after their year-long administration, matters regarding the food supply of the city were decided, the leasing of state property, lands and mines was controlled, and the largest wills were approved. It exercised control over the education of young men preparing to obtain civil rights. The competence of the People's Assembly included carrying out such an emergency measure to protect the state system from the machinations of noble persons as ostracism, that is, the expulsion for 10 years of any person suspected of intending to overthrow the democratic system.

The most important task of the People's Assembly was the discussion and approval state budget, granting citizenship rights to foreigners, although this happened extremely rarely. It acted not only as the legislative body of its state, but also controlled the situation in the areas of management and administration.

The people's assembly in Athens met within strictly defined periods: once every 9 days or 4 times every 36 days, and the entire annual activity consisted of 10 cycles. In order to streamline the work of the People's Assembly, each of them had its own important questions. Let's say, at the first one, military, food, and emergency declarations were discussed, and the correctness of the election of the relevant magistrates was checked. At the second, petitions on personal and public affairs, etc. were considered. The agenda was previously prepared and discussed by the Council, the chairmen of the meeting were elected for one day by lot.

The People's Assembly adopted a fairly democratic procedure for discussing the agenda. Every citizen could speak on the issue under discussion, but indecent behavior on the oratory was not allowed. Every Athenian citizen, regardless of his property status, had the right to submit for discussion a draft law that could be adopted at the National Assembly. Athenian citizens, according to sources, actively participated in the consideration of all issues, they carefully checked the reports of officials and especially the expenditure of public money. Every Athenian magistrate, no matter how high his position, looked forward with fear to the day when he had to report to the meeting. Plutarch says that the most respected and most authoritative leader of the Athenian state, the first strategist Pericles, prepared so carefully for his report to the citizens that for several days he did not allow anyone close to him. Participation in the activities of the People's Assembly developed the oratory skills of many Athenians, shaped their thinking and civic consciousness. Aristophanes in the comedy "Acharnians" conveys well general atmosphere in the Athens People's Assembly, shows how freely and boldly many issues were discussed there. Its hero, the peasant Dikeopolis, an Athenian citizen living in the village, decides to go to the next National Assembly and seeks peace with the Spartans (the play reflects the period between Athens and Sparta).

Every Athenian citizen, including poor people, had the right to participate in the work of the People's Assembly, but not all poor people could actually take part in quite numerous meetings, which sometimes lasted the whole day. After all, they needed to feed their family and earn the necessary funds for this. In order to attract the lowest layer of Athenian citizenship to the work of the People's Assembly, at the beginning of the 4th century BC. e. a law was passed (at the suggestion of Aguirria) establishing a reward for visiting the People's Assembly in the amount of 3 obols, the average wages Athenian artisan per day.

However, despite the measures taken, not all persons who had civil rights, could take part in its work. After all, many citizens lived far from Athens, somewhere in Eleusis, Marathon or Cape Sunium, on islands such as Lemnos, Imbros or Skyros, and it was difficult for them to come to Athens. Usually the regulars at public assemblies were citizens living in Athens, Piraeus or their environs, so from total number There were 30–40 thousand citizens, usually about 3–5 thousand people were present in public assemblies. That is why, in order to resolve particularly important matters, for example, to carry out ostracism, a quorum of at least 6 thousand people was required, and this number was collected not without difficulty.

2. People's Assembly in Athens

The main and decisive body of power in Athens was the People's Assembly. All citizens, regardless of their property status, who lived in the city of Athens, Piraeus, Attica, and other territories that were part of the Athenian state (for example, residents of the islands) gathered at the People's Assembly. Women did not have the right to participate in political and public life.

The People's Assembly had broad powers. Here state laws were adopted, the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace, the results of negotiations with other states were approved, and treaties with them were ratified. At the People's Assembly, officials and magistrates of the Athenian state were elected, reports were discussed after their year-long administration, matters regarding the food supply of the city were decided, the leasing of state property, lands and mines was controlled, and the largest wills were approved. It exercised control over the education of young men preparing to obtain civil rights. The competence of the People's Assembly included carrying out such an emergency measure to protect the state system from the machinations of noble persons as ostracism, that is, the expulsion for 10 years of any person suspected of intending to overthrow the democratic system.

The most important business of the People's Assembly was the discussion and approval of the state budget, the granting of citizenship rights to foreigners, although this happened extremely rarely. It acted not only as the legislative body of its state, but also controlled the situation in the areas of management and administration.

The people's assembly in Athens met within strictly defined periods: once every 9 days or 4 times every 36 days, and the entire annual activity consisted of 10 cycles. In order to streamline the work of the People's Assembly, each of them raised its own important issues. Let's say, at the first one, military, food, and emergency declarations were discussed, and the correctness of the election of the relevant magistrates was checked. At the second, petitions on personal and public affairs, etc. were considered. The agenda was previously prepared and discussed by the Council, the chairmen of the meeting were elected for one day by lot.

Remains with the names of Themistocles and Cimon

The People's Assembly adopted a fairly democratic procedure for discussing the agenda. Every citizen could speak on the issue under discussion, but indecent behavior on the oratory was not allowed. Every Athenian citizen, regardless of his property status, had the right to submit for discussion a draft law that could be adopted at the National Assembly. Athenian citizens, according to sources, actively participated in the consideration of all issues, they carefully checked the reports of officials and especially the expenditure of public money. Every Athenian magistrate, no matter how high his position, looked forward with fear to the day when he had to report to the meeting. Plutarch says that the most respected and most authoritative leader of the Athenian state, the first strategist Pericles, prepared so carefully for his report to the citizens that for several days he did not allow anyone close to him. Participation in the activities of the People's Assembly developed the oratory skills of many Athenians, shaped their thinking and civic consciousness. Aristophanes in the comedy “Acharnians” well conveys the general atmosphere in the Athenian National Assembly, shows how freely and boldly many issues were discussed there. Its hero, the peasant Dikeopolis, an Athenian citizen living in the village, decides to go to the next National Assembly and seeks peace with the Spartans (the play reflects the period between Athens and Sparta).

Every Athenian citizen, including poor people, had the right to participate in the work of the People's Assembly, but not all poor people could actually take part in quite numerous meetings, which sometimes lasted the whole day. After all, they needed to feed their family and earn the necessary funds for this. In order to attract the lowest layer of Athenian citizenship to the work of the People's Assembly, at the beginning of the 4th century BC. e. A law was passed (at the suggestion of Agirria) establishing a reward for visiting the National Assembly in the amount of 3 obols, the average wage of an Athenian artisan per day.

However, despite the measures taken, not all persons with civil rights could take part in its work. After all, many citizens lived far from Athens, somewhere in Eleusis, Marathon or Cape Sunium, on islands such as Lemnos, Imbros or Skyros, and it was difficult for them to come to Athens. Typically, the regulars at public assemblies were citizens living in Athens, Piraeus or their environs, so that out of a total number of citizens of 30–40 thousand, usually about 3–5 thousand people were present at public assemblies. That is why, in order to resolve particularly important matters, for example, to carry out ostracism, a quorum of at least 6 thousand people was required, and this number was collected not without difficulty.