From the Dark Ages to Alexander the Great (c. 1000–323 BC): How the Greeks invented, practiced, and struggled with self-governance
Map of the Greek World
The democratic experiments of ancient Greece took place across a wide geographic area, from Sicily in the west to the coast of Asia Minor in the east. Click on any city to learn about its political system.
Athens (primary focus)
Syracuse (primary focus)
Peloponnesian city-states
Ionian / Island cities
Macedonian capital
Interactive Timeline
Key events in the development of Greek democratic institutions, from the rise of the polis to the end of Athenian independence. Filter by city-state.
Origins of Greek Democracy
The story of Greek democracy does not begin with a single moment of invention but with centuries of gradual political evolution. During the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100–800 BC), following the collapse of Mycenaean palace civilization, Greece fragmented into small, independent communities. Power rested with local chieftains and warrior-aristocrats whose authority derived from lineage, land, and martial prowess.
By the eighth century BC, the polis (city-state) had emerged as the fundamental unit of Greek political life. Each polis was fiercely independent, and their small scale — most had only a few thousand citizens — made political experimentation possible. The transition from aristocratic rule to broader participation happened differently in each city, but several common pressures drove change: growing populations, colonization, the rise of hoplite warfare (which empowered ordinary landowners who served as soldiers), increasing trade, and the resulting tensions between old landed aristocracies and newly wealthy merchants.
The Hoplite Revolution
The shift from aristocratic cavalry warfare to the hoplite phalanx (c. 700–650 BC) was politically transformative. When the state depended on massed ranks of ordinary citizen-soldiers for its defense, those citizens gained political leverage. As the historian Victor Davis Hanson argues, men who fought together in the phalanx came to expect a share of political power.
Many poleis passed through a cycle of aristocracy, tyranny, and then some form of broader governance. Tyrants — unconstitutional sole rulers who seized power, often with popular support — frequently served as transitional figures who broke the grip of aristocratic factions and paved the way for wider citizen participation. This pattern played out prominently in both Athens and Syracuse.
Athens: The Birthplace of Democracy
Athens developed the most extensive and best-documented democracy in the ancient world. Its evolution from aristocratic rule to radical direct democracy took roughly two centuries of reform, revolution, and counter-revolution.
Draco's Laws (621 BC) — Written Law Replaces Custom
Draco produced Athens' first written law code, replacing oral aristocratic custom with publicly accessible written rules. While his laws were notoriously harsh — the death penalty applied to even minor offenses, giving rise to the term "draconian" — the act of writing law down was itself revolutionary. It meant that the rules applied equally, could be consulted by anyone, and could no longer be bent by aristocratic judges interpreting unwritten tradition to suit their interests.
Draco's code also formalized the distinction between intentional and accidental homicide, establishing specialized courts for each — an important step toward a rational legal system.
Solon's Reforms (594 BC) — The Foundations
Appointed as archon and mediator during a severe social crisis, Solon enacted sweeping reforms that laid the groundwork for later democracy:
Economic Reforms
The seisachtheia ("shaking off of burdens") cancelled existing debts and freed Athenians who had been enslaved for debt. He banned debt slavery permanently — a momentous act that established the principle that a citizen's body could not be seized as collateral.
Political Classes
Solon replaced birth-based aristocratic privileges with a system of four wealth classes: pentacosiomedimnoi (500-bushel men), hippeis (cavalry), zeugitai (yoke-men/hoplites), and thetes (laborers). Political office was tied to wealth rather than lineage, and even thetes could attend the Assembly and serve on juries.
Council of 400 (Boule)
A new council of 400 members (100 from each of the four Ionian tribes) was created to prepare business for the Assembly and serve as a check on aristocratic power in the Areopagus.
The Heliaia
Solon established or reformed the Heliaia, a people's court where any citizen could serve as a juror and where judicial decisions by magistrates could be appealed — a foundational principle of democratic justice.
Cleisthenes' Reforms (508/7 BC) — The Birth of Democracy
After the fall of the Peisistratid tyranny (510 BC), Cleisthenes — himself an aristocrat from the Alcmaeonid family — enacted the reforms that are generally considered the founding of Athenian democracy (demokratia, "rule of the people").
The Ten Tribes (Phylai)
Cleisthenes' masterstroke was reorganizing the citizen body. He replaced the four old Ionian tribes — which were dominated by aristocratic kinship networks — with ten new tribes. Each tribe was composed of citizens from three different regions: the city (asty), the coast (paralia), and the inland area (mesogeia). This deliberately mixed citizens from different geographic and social backgrounds, breaking the power of regional aristocratic factions and creating a new civic identity based on the deme (local district) rather than on clan.
Key institutional innovations:
Council of 500 (Boule): 50 members from each of the 10 tribes, chosen by lot, serving for one year. Prepared the agenda for the Assembly.
Prytaneis: Each tribe's 50 councillors served as the standing committee (prytany) for one-tenth of the year, with a new chairman (epistates) chosen by lot each day.
Demes: 139 local districts became the basic unit of political identity. Citizens were registered in their deme and identified as, e.g., "Socrates of Alopece."
Ostracism: Introduced (though not used until 487 BC) as a mechanism to exile any citizen judged too powerful for ten years, without loss of property.
Isonomia: The principle of equality before the law became the defining ideal of the new system.
Ephialtes' Reforms (462/1 BC) — Radical Democracy
Ephialtes completed the democratic revolution by stripping the aristocratic Council of the Areopagus of nearly all its political powers. The Areopagus had retained the authority to "guard the laws" and try serious cases. Ephialtes transferred these powers to three democratic bodies:
The Ekklesia (Assembly) — gained full sovereign authority
The Boule (Council of 500) — took over many administrative functions
The Dikasteria (People's Courts) — gained jurisdiction over most legal cases
Ephialtes was assassinated shortly after, but his reforms survived and were extended by his associate Pericles, who introduced pay for jurors (enabling poorer citizens to serve) and the citizenship law of 451 BC (limiting citizenship to those with two Athenian parents).
The Age of Pericles (c. 461–429 BC)
Pericles dominated Athenian politics for over thirty years, elected strategos (general) repeatedly. His era is often called the golden age of Athenian democracy, though it also reveals a paradox: a democratic system dominated by a single charismatic leader.
"Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy."
— Thucydides, quoting Pericles' Funeral Oration (431 BC)
Under Pericles, Athens achieved its greatest cultural and political achievements, but also pursued aggressive imperialism through the Delian League, demanding tribute from allied states while denying them any democratic voice — a contradiction that did not escape contemporary critics.
Crises and Restorations (411–403 BC)
Athenian democracy proved remarkably resilient. It survived two oligarchic coups:
The Four Hundred (411 BC)
During the crisis of the Peloponnesian War, oligarchs overthrew democracy and installed a council of 400. The regime lasted only four months before being replaced by a moderate oligarchy of 5,000, which soon gave way to full democracy.
The Thirty Tyrants (404–403 BC)
After Athens' defeat by Sparta, a Spartan-backed junta of thirty oligarchs terrorized the city, executing 1,500 citizens and exiling 5,000. Democrats led by Thrasybulus returned from exile, defeated the oligarchs at Piraeus, and restored democracy, passing a remarkable amnesty that historians regard as one of the earliest examples of transitional justice.
Fourth-Century Democracy (403–322 BC)
The restored democracy of the fourth century was more institutionally sophisticated than its fifth-century predecessor. Key developments included:
Codification of laws: A clear distinction was drawn between nomoi (fundamental laws, changeable only through special legislative panels called nomothetai) and psephismata (decrees of the Assembly).
Graphe paranomon: Prosecution for proposing unconstitutional decrees became a central check on Assembly power.
Theoric Fund: State payments enabled poorer citizens to attend festivals and, later, Assembly meetings (Assembly pay was introduced c. 392 BC).
Professionalization: Trained orators and financial officials (like Eubulus and Lycurgus) played larger roles, reflecting a trend toward greater expertise in governance.
Athenian democracy continued to function until 322 BC, when the Macedonian general Antipater imposed a property qualification for citizenship after defeating Athens in the Lamian War, disenfranchising roughly 12,000 of the city's 21,000 citizens.
Syracuse: Democracy in the West
Syracuse, founded by Corinthian colonists around 734 BC on the southeastern coast of Sicily, became one of the largest and most powerful Greek cities. Its political history illustrates a particularly dramatic oscillation between tyranny and democracy.
From Oligarchy to Tyranny (734–466 BC)
For its first two centuries, Syracuse was governed by the Gamoroi, a landed aristocracy descended from the original Corinthian colonists. Around 485 BC, the general Gelon seized power and made Syracuse the most powerful city in the Greek west, defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Himera (480 BC). His brother Hieron I succeeded him, but Hieron's son Thrasybulus proved so cruel that the Syracusans overthrew him in 466 BC and established a democracy.
Syracusan Democracy (466–405 BC)
The democracy established in 466 BC drew on Athenian models but had distinctive features:
The Assembly
A popular assembly of all male citizens held sovereign power, meeting regularly to vote on legislation, war and peace, and major policy decisions.
Petalism
Syracuse adopted its own version of ostracism called petalismos, in which citizens wrote the name of the person they wished to exile on olive leaves (petala) rather than pottery shards. The exile lasted five years rather than Athens' ten. However, the practice was quickly abandoned because it drove prominent citizens out of public life, leaving the city without capable leaders.
Generals and Officials
Like Athens, Syracuse elected military commanders (strategoi). However, the democratic institutions appear to have been less developed than Athens', with a smaller bureaucracy and less systematic use of sortition.
Dionysius I and the End of Democracy
In 405 BC, amid a Carthaginian invasion, the general Dionysius manipulated the Assembly into granting him extraordinary powers. He used a bodyguard voted to him by the Assembly to seize the fortress on Ortygia and became tyrant — a classic example of how democratic institutions could be subverted from within during a crisis.
Timoleon's Restoration (344–337 BC)
After decades of tyranny under Dionysius I and his son Dionysius II (interrupted by Plato's famous and failed attempts to create a philosopher-king), the Corinthian general Timoleon was invited to liberate Syracuse in 344 BC. He defeated both the tyrants and a Carthaginian army, then established a moderate democratic constitution and remarkably retired from public life. Timoleon's constitution included:
A restored popular assembly
An annually elected chief magistrate (the amphipolos of Olympian Zeus)
A council of 600 drawn from the citizen body
Independent law courts
This settlement lasted until Agathocles seized power in 317 BC, inaugurating another cycle of tyranny.
Other Experiments in Self-Governance
Sparta: The "Mixed Constitution"
Sparta's political system, traditionally attributed to the legendary lawgiver Lycurgus, combined monarchic, oligarchic, and democratic elements in a way that later theorists like Polybius admired as a "mixed constitution."
Two Kings
Sparta uniquely had two hereditary kings from the Agiad and Eurypontid dynasties, who served as military commanders and religious leaders. They could be tried and deposed — King Demaratus was deposed in 491 BC, and Pausanias was recalled and eventually starved to death.
Gerousia (Council of Elders)
Twenty-eight men over the age of 60, elected for life, plus the two kings. The Gerousia prepared legislation, served as a supreme court, and could override the Assembly. Election was by acclamation: candidates walked through the Assembly, and judges in a sealed room determined who received the loudest shouting.
Apella (Assembly)
All Spartiates (full citizens) over 30 could attend. Voted by acclamation (shouting), not by individual ballot. Could only approve or reject proposals from the Gerousia — could not amend or initiate legislation. A rhetra (amendment) allowed the Gerousia to dismiss the Assembly if it voted "crookedly."
Ephors
Five ephors elected annually by the Assembly held enormous power: they could prosecute and fine even kings, controlled foreign policy and education, and supervised daily life. Two ephors accompanied each king on campaign. The ephorate was the most democratic element of the Spartan system.
Key difference from Athens: Sparta's system gave the Assembly a voice but no initiative. Citizens could shout yes or no but could not propose, amend, or debate legislation — making it fundamentally more constrained than Athenian democracy.
Corinth: Oligarchy, Tyranny, and Back
Corinth was ruled by the Bacchiad clan, an exclusive aristocracy of some 200 families who intermarried only with each other, until Cypselus overthrew them around 657 BC. The Bacchiads had governed through an annual elected prytanis (president) and a council, but restricted all power to their own kin.
Cypselus' tyranny, and that of his son Periander (one of the Seven Sages), lasted about 73 years. After the tyranny fell (c. 584 BC), Corinth established a moderate oligarchy with a council of eighty and broader citizen participation than the Bacchiad regime, though never approaching Athenian-style democracy. Corinth remained oligarchic and was consistently hostile to democratic movements in other cities, making it a natural ally of Sparta.
Argos: Athens' Democratic Ally
Argos, in the northeastern Peloponnese, developed democratic institutions at least partly in deliberate contrast to its rival Sparta. After the catastrophic loss of much of its citizen body at the Battle of Sepeia (c. 494 BC) against Sparta, Argos appears to have enfranchised perioikoi (surrounding peoples) to replenish its citizen body, broadening the political community.
By the mid-fifth century, Argos had a functioning democracy with an assembly, council, and elected magistrates. The city maintained a long alliance with democratic Athens. Notably, Argos practiced a form of constitutional review: a board of magistrates called the artynai could bring charges against officials accused of exceeding their authority, functioning similarly to Athens' graphe paranomon.
Chios: Possibly the Earliest Democracy
The island of Chios in the eastern Aegean has a strong claim to some of the earliest democratic institutions in Greece. An inscription dating to approximately 575–550 BC describes a "people's council" (boule demosie) with the power to hear appeals against magistrates' decisions — a strikingly democratic concept for this early date.
The inscription also mentions a system where each tribe elected representatives to the council, and citizens could appeal judicial decisions to the people's council. This is roughly contemporary with Solon's reforms and may represent an independent development of democratic ideas rather than Athenian influence.
Historical significance: The Chios inscription challenges the Athenocentric narrative of Greek democracy, suggesting that democratic ideas may have emerged in multiple places roughly simultaneously, perhaps driven by similar social pressures (trade, colonization, hoplite warfare) across the Greek world.
Further Cases
Megara
Megara experienced a brief but violent democratic revolution in the sixth century BC. The democratic faction confiscated aristocratic property and even forced the wealthy to refund interest on past loans — a radical act of economic redistribution. Aristotle later cited Megara as an example of democratic excess, but the episode illustrates how deep class tensions ran in Greek poleis.
Mantinea
This Arcadian city maintained a democratic government allied with Athens and Argos. Sparta destroyed Mantinea's walls in 385 BC and forcibly dispersed the population into villages to eliminate the democracy — a stark reminder that democratic self-governance existed under constant external threat.
Elis
Elis, host of the Olympic Games, had democratic institutions including an elected council and popular assembly. After a democratic revolution around 471 BC, Elis conducted a synoecism (merging of surrounding communities into a single polis), expanding the democratic citizen body.
Rhodes
In 408 BC, the three cities of Rhodes (Lindos, Ialysus, and Camirus) merged into a single city with democratic institutions, including an assembly, a council of 500, and a board of prytaneis. Rhodes' democratic constitution was noted for its stability and survived with modifications for centuries.
Voting Rules & Procedures
Greek city-states developed a variety of voting methods, each with distinctive implications for political equality and the expression of collective will.
Athens
Assembly: Show of Hands (Cheirotonia)
In the Athenian Assembly (Ekklesia), most votes were taken by a show of hands (cheirotonia). The presiding officer estimated which side had more hands — there was no exact count. This method was fast and suited to the large gatherings (up to 6,000 or more) on the Pnyx hillside, though it meant that close votes depended on the chairman's judgment. For certain matters requiring a guaranteed quorum — such as grants of citizenship or ostracism — a count was taken.
Courts: Secret Ballot (Psephoi)
In the law courts, jurors voted by placing bronze ballots (psephoi) into urns. Each juror received two ballots: one with a solid axle (for acquittal) and one with a hollow axle (for conviction). Jurors held the ballots by their axles so that no observer could see which was which, then deposited the ballot of their choice into a bronze urn (the one that counted) and the other into a wooden urn (discarded). This was a remarkably sophisticated secret ballot system designed to prevent intimidation.
Other Methods Across Greece
Sparta: Acclamation (Boai)
The Spartan Assembly voted by shouting (boai). Judges sealed in a nearby building determined which side shouted louder. Thucydides records that this method was sometimes uncertain — in one famous case regarding the Peloponnesian War, a division (physical separation of sides) was required because the shout was too close to call.
Ostracism: Inscribed Pottery
Each year, the Assembly voted on whether to hold an ostracism. If approved, a special vote was held in which each citizen scratched a name on a potsherd (ostrakon). A minimum of 6,000 votes was required for validity, and the person with the most votes was exiled for ten years.
Who could vote? In Athens, only adult male citizens (over 18 for the Assembly, over 30 for juries) could participate. Women, enslaved people (perhaps 80,000–100,000 in Attica), and resident foreigners (metics) were excluded. Estimates suggest that of Athens' total population of roughly 250,000–300,000, only about 30,000–40,000 were eligible citizens, and typical Assembly attendance may have been 6,000–8,000.
City-State
Voting Method
Where Used
Notable Features
Athens
Show of hands
Assembly (Ekklesia)
No exact count; chairman estimates majority
Athens
Secret bronze ballots
Law courts (Dikasteria)
Hollow vs. solid axle; deposited in urns
Athens
Inscribed potsherds
Ostracism votes
6,000 minimum; annual decision to hold one
Sparta
Acclamation (shouting)
Assembly (Apella)
Judges assess volume; no individual count
Syracuse
Olive leaves
Petalism votes
5-year exile; abandoned as counterproductive
Sparta
Acclamation (shouting)
Gerousia elections
Candidates paraded; loudest cheers win
Courts & the Administration of Justice
The Athenian court system was one of the most distinctive features of its democracy, placing judicial power directly in the hands of ordinary citizens rather than professional judges.
The Athenian Court System
The Heliaia and Dikasteria
The Heliaia, traditionally attributed to Solon, was the supreme people's court from which the various dikasteria (jury-courts) were drawn. Each year, 6,000 citizens over age 30 were enrolled as potential jurors (dikastai). On trial days, jurors were assigned to specific courts by an elaborate lottery machine called the kleroterion.
Jury Size
Athenian juries were enormous by modern standards: typically 201, 401, or 501 for private cases, and 501, 1,001, or even 1,501 for public cases. The odd numbers prevented tied verdicts. In exceptional cases, juries of 6,001 were convened. The large numbers served two purposes: they made bribery impractical and ensured that the jury represented a broad cross-section of the citizen body.
The Kleroterion (Allotment Machine)
This marble machine, several examples of which survive, was used to randomly assign jurors to courts on the day of trial. Jurors inserted their identification tickets (pinakia) into slots. Black and white balls were then randomly released down a tube; rows aligned with white balls were selected. This prevented advance knowledge of which jurors would hear which case, further discouraging bribery.
Trial Procedure
Athenian trials were strikingly different from modern practice:
No professional lawyers: Litigants were required to speak for themselves, though they could hire speechwriters (logographoi) like Lysias or Demosthenes to compose their arguments.
Time limits: Speeches were timed by a water clock (klepsydra). Each side received equal time.
Two-stage verdicts: In some cases (including Socrates' trial in 399 BC), the jury first voted on guilt. If convicted, each side proposed a penalty, and the jury chose between them — they could not impose an intermediate sentence.
No appeal: The jury's verdict was final, with no mechanism for appeal.
Pay: Jurors received a daily stipend of 2–3 obols (later raised by Cleon to 3 obols), enabling poorer citizens to serve.
Types of Legal Action
Dike (Private Suit)
Only the injured party (or their guardian) could bring the case. Covered property disputes, assault, breach of contract. The prosecutor risked no penalty for losing.
Graphe (Public Prosecution)
Any citizen could prosecute on behalf of the public interest. Used for offenses like impiety, hybris (outrage), and proposing illegal decrees. Prosecutors who failed to win at least one-fifth of the jury's votes were fined 1,000 drachmas and barred from bringing similar cases — a deterrent against frivolous prosecution.
Eisangelia (Impeachment)
A procedure for prosecuting treason, corruption, and other serious offenses against the state. Could be brought before either the Assembly or the Council of 500. Many prominent leaders faced eisangelia, including generals who lost battles.
Ostracism & Petalism
Athenian Ostracism
Ostracism was a unique Athenian institution that allowed the citizen body to exile any individual for ten years without trial or formal charges. It was a preventive measure — not a punishment for past crimes, but a safeguard against the concentration of power.
How Ostracism Worked
Each year, during the sixth prytany, the Assembly voted on whether to hold an ostracism that year.
If approved, the ostracism vote was held approximately two months later, in the eighth prytany.
On the appointed day, citizens gathered in the Agora, which was fenced off with ten entrances (one per tribe).
Each citizen scratched the name of the person they wished to exile on a potsherd (ostrakon).
A minimum of 6,000 votes was required for the vote to be valid (scholars debate whether this was 6,000 total votes or 6,000 against a single person).
The person whose name appeared most often had ten days to leave Attica.
The exile lasted exactly ten years. The exiled person retained their citizenship and property; their family could remain in Athens.
Famous Ostracisms
Person
Year (approx.)
Reason / Context
Hipparchus (son of Charmus)
487 BC
First person ostracized; relative of the Peisistratid tyrants
Megacles
486 BC
Alcmaeonid aristocrat; possibly seen as too ambitious
Xanthippus
484 BC
Political rival of Themistocles; later recalled for Persian War
Aristides "the Just"
482 BC
Opposed Themistocles' naval policy; famous story of illiterate voter
Themistocles
c. 471 BC
Victor of Salamis; later suspected of pro-Persian sympathies
Last ostracism; Nicias and Alcibiades colluded to exile him instead of each other
The end of ostracism: The farcical ostracism of Hyperbolus — who was a minor demagogue rather than a genuinely threatening figure — discredited the institution. When the intended targets (Nicias and Alcibiades) colluded to redirect votes against Hyperbolus, Athenians recognized that the process had been subverted, and ostracism was never used again.
"An illiterate countryman handed his ostrakon to Aristides, not knowing who he was, and asked him to write the name 'Aristides' on it. When Aristides asked what harm the man had suffered, the voter replied: 'None. I do not even know him. But I am tired of hearing him called "the Just."'"
— Plutarch, Life of Aristides
Syracusan Petalism
Syracuse adopted its own version of ostracism called petalismos around 454 BC. The mechanics were similar to Athenian ostracism, with two key differences:
Names were written on olive leaves (petala) rather than pottery shards
The exile lasted only five years instead of ten
However, petalism was abandoned after only a short period. According to Diodorus Siculus, the practice caused the best and most capable citizens to withdraw from public life entirely, fearing exile. With competent leaders refusing to serve, the city was left in the hands of less capable men. The Syracusans recognized this self-defeating dynamic and abolished petalism — an instructive example of how a democratic safeguard can backfire.
Sortition: Selection by Lot
For the Athenians, selection by lot (sortition) was the most democratic method of filling offices. They regarded election as an aristocratic principle — it favoured the well-known, wealthy, and eloquent — while the lottery gave every citizen an equal chance of serving, embodying the democratic ideal of isonomia (political equality).
Aristotle on Sortition
"It is thought to be democratic for offices to be assigned by lot, and oligarchic for them to be filled by election."
— Aristotle, Politics IV.9 (1294b)
How Sortition Was Used in Athens
Council of 500 (Boule)
Fifty members were selected by lot from each of the ten tribes every year. Councillors served for one year and could serve a maximum of twice in their lifetime. Each tribe's fifty councillors served as the presiding committee (prytaneis) for one-tenth of the year.
Most Magistrates
The vast majority of Athens' roughly 700 annual magistrates were selected by lot, including the nine archons (after 487 BC), market inspectors (agoranomoi), grain inspectors (sitophylakes), and many others. After selection, candidates underwent dokimasia (scrutiny) to verify their eligibility.
Jurors
The 6,000 annual jurors were selected by lot from volunteers, then further sorted by the kleroterion on each trial day. This double randomization made jury-packing virtually impossible.
The Exception: Elected Officers
Positions requiring specialized expertise were filled by election, not sortition. Most importantly, the ten strategoi (generals) were elected — one from each tribe (later changed to at-large election). Financial officers like the tamias (treasurer) of the military fund were also elected. These positions could be held repeatedly; Pericles was elected strategos for over 30 consecutive years.
Safeguards on Allotted Officials
The Athenians paired sortition with robust accountability mechanisms:
Dokimasia (scrutiny): Before taking office, every official underwent examination before a jury. Their citizenship, tax record, family background, and military service were reviewed. Any citizen could challenge their fitness.
Euthynai (audit): At the end of their term, every official submitted their accounts for audit. Ten logistai (auditors), chosen by lot, examined financial records. Any citizen could file a complaint about an official's conduct during the audit period.
Epicheirotonia: At the principal Assembly meeting of each prytany, a vote was taken on whether each category of official was performing satisfactorily. If voted down, the official was suspended and referred to the courts.
Term limits: Most offices could be held only once (or twice for the Boule), preventing entrenchment.
A radical idea: The Athenian commitment to sortition was far more radical than any modern democracy has attempted. The premise was that any citizen — farmer, potter, fisherman — was competent to govern. The system of scrutiny, audit, and short terms was designed not to filter out incompetence but to ensure accountability. In practice, this meant that ordinary Athenians gained direct experience of governance at a rate unmatched in any other political system before or since.
Dismissing Leaders & Holding Power to Account
The Athenians developed a comprehensive toolkit for removing, punishing, or constraining leaders — reflecting a deep institutional suspicion of concentrated power born from their experience with tyranny.
Ostracism
A preventive measure: exile for 10 years without formal charges. Used against citizens seen as too powerful, not necessarily guilty of anything. See the Ostracism section for full details.
Eisangelia (Impeachment)
The most serious procedure, used for treason, attempting to overthrow the democracy, corruption, and military incompetence. Could be initiated in the Assembly or the Council. If the Assembly heard the case itself, it acted as both prosecutor and jury. Penalties could include death, exile, confiscation of property, and denial of burial in Attica.
Graphe Paranomon
A prosecution for proposing an unconstitutional decree. Any citizen could charge the proposer of a decree — even after it had been passed — with having violated the laws. This was a powerful check on demagogues: speakers who proposed radical measures in the heat of the moment could be prosecuted afterward by cooler heads. The penalty could include a fine or loss of political rights (atimia). After three convictions for graphe paranomon, a citizen was permanently disenfranchised.
Apocheirotonia (Vote of Confidence)
At the principal Assembly meeting of each prytany (roughly every 36 days), a formal vote was taken on whether the current strategoi (generals) and other elected officials were performing adequately. If a majority voted against an official, they were immediately suspended from office and referred to trial. This provided regular, institutionalized accountability — not just a one-time election.
Euthynai (End-of-Term Audit)
Every departing official submitted to a financial and general audit of their conduct in office. Auditors chosen by lot examined their accounts. Any citizen could bring complaints during the thirty-day review period. Officials found guilty could face fines, loss of rights, or worse.
Dokimasia (Pre-Office Scrutiny)
Before taking office, all officials — whether elected or chosen by lot — appeared before a jury that examined their qualifications. Any citizen could object. This served as a preliminary filter and could bar unfit individuals from taking office.
Examples of Leaders Brought Down
Leader
Mechanism
Outcome
Miltiades (hero of Marathon)
Eisangelia
Fined 50 talents for failed expedition to Paros (489 BC); died of wounds before paying
Themistocles
Ostracism, then eisangelia (in absentia)
Ostracized c. 471 BC; later condemned for alleged treason, fled to Persia
Cimon
Ostracism
Exiled 461 BC for pro-Spartan policies; recalled early during crisis
Pericles
Removed as strategos, fined
Deposed and fined 15–50 talents (430 BC) after plague struck; re-elected the next year
Alcibiades
Eisangelia (for profanation of Mysteries)
Recalled from Sicilian expedition (415 BC); defected to Sparta
Generals at Arginusae
Group trial by Assembly
Six generals executed (406 BC) for failing to rescue shipwrecked sailors — later regretted
Socrates
Graphe (public prosecution for impiety)
Convicted and executed (399 BC); jury of 501 voted 280–221 for conviction
Athens vs. Syracuse: A Comparison
Athens
Democracy evolved gradually over ~200 years
Sophisticated institutional checks and balances
Extensive use of sortition for magistrates
Ostracism: 10-year exile on potsherds; used 487–416 BC
Large-scale jury courts (201–6,001 jurors)
Assembly met ~40 times per year
Pay for jurors, councillors, and (later) Assembly attendance
Graphe paranomon as constitutional safeguard
Democracy lasted ~185 years (508–322 BC, with interruptions)
Overthrown by external force (Macedon)
Syracuse
Democracy emerged suddenly after fall of tyranny
Simpler institutional framework
Less systematic use of sortition
Petalism: 5-year exile on olive leaves; quickly abandoned
Courts less well-documented
Assembly structure similar but less formalized
No evidence of state pay for political participation
Fewer constitutional safeguards
Democracy lasted ~60 years (466–405 BC), with later revival
Overthrown by internal subversion (Dionysius I)
Test Your Knowledge
See how much you've learned about ancient Greek democracy.
1. What was the minimum number of votes required for an Athenian ostracism to be valid?
2. In Syracusan petalism, names were written on what material?
3. Which philosopher famously stated that sortition is democratic and election is oligarchic?
4. How did Spartan citizens vote in the Apella?
5. What was the kleroterion used for?
6. Who was the last person to be ostracized from Athens?
7. What mechanism allowed any Athenian citizen to prosecute someone for proposing an unconstitutional decree?
Sources & Further Reading
Ancient Sources
Aristotle, Politics and Constitution of the Athenians