A City Is Not a Place
When Persians burned Athens in 480 BCE, Themistocles declared Athens was on the ships. The polis was never walls; it was a citizen-community: a club of members who fight and decide together.
Athenian democracy was radical yet exclusive:
| Group | Roughly | Political rights |
|---|---|---|
| Adult male citizens | ~30,000 | Full: vote, speak, hold office |
| Citizen women & children | ~100,000 | None, citizenship passed through them |
| Metics (foreigners) | ~40,000 | Taxes and military, no vote |
| Slaves | ~100,000+ | Property |
Pericles' citizenship law of 451 BCE required both parents to be citizens. Yet it handed direct power to its poorest members, the thetes. Aristocrats hated this, but the poor ruled.
The Machinery of Not Trusting Anyone
Athens used machinery to prevent politicians: the Assembly for direct voting, the Council of 500 set by lottery, and massive juries with no lawyers.
The Greeks held that election is aristocratic, selecting the rich, while the lottery is democratic.
The kleroterion randomized jury selection so no fortune could buy it. Officials faced the dokimasia (entry scan) and euthynai (exit audit).
When a man grew too big, ostracism exiled him for ten years, no trial, no confiscation.