Democracy in Action

Question 1

As Persian power increased, what was happening politically in Athens?

Answer 1

Democratic government was being established. (A useful comparison of poltical systems)

Question 2

TIMELINE QUESTIONS

In what year did the Ionian Revolt start?

Answer 2

499 BC

Question 3

How did Athens respond to the Ionian Revolt?

Answer 3

Initially, Athens sent 20 triremes, but withdrew their support after the Persians beat them after they had destroyed Sardis.

Question 4

Timeline

When did the Battle of Lade take place and what was the outcome?

Answer 4

494 BC
Persian victory over the Ionians.

Question 5

In what year did Mardonius permit the Ionians to have democratic cities?

Answer 5

492 BC

Question 6

In what year did Darius send heralds to the Greek states demanding submission?

Answer 6

491 BC

Question 7

Timeline

What year was the first Persian invasion of Greece under Hippias’ advisory status?

Answer 7

490 BC

Question 8

Timeline

When did Darius die and Xerxes I become King of Persia?

Answer 8

486 BC

Question 9

Timeline

What year did Xerxes crush an Egyptian revolt?

Answer 9

484 BC

Question 10

As Persian power grew in the 6thC, why did Athens think they could intially benefit?

Answer 10

They could ask the Persians for support in their own political problems. E.g., they called on Persia for support against Cleomenes and the Spartans.

Question 11

What was the standard Persian request of cities or peoples asking for help?

Answer 11

• to give earth and water to the King as a symbol of their subservience to Persia in return for its assistance.
  Refusal would cause repercussions,

Question 12

What was a strategos and what was their role in the developing Athenian democracy?

Answer 12

a board of ten generals;
each tribe elected one strategos - they could be re-elected, unlike most offices which were chosen by lot.

Evidence: this was mentioned by “The Old Oligarch” in the Constitution of the Athenians probably one of Aristotle’s pupils (circa 332-322 BC)

Question 13

Who is the best source for the Ionian Revolt?

Answer 13

Herodotus.
No contemporary accounts survive.

Question 14

Why, according to Herodotus, did the Greeks initially support the Ionians?

Answer 14

1) Hippias the Athenian tyrant had initially fled to the Persians.
2) The Athenian citizens (30,000) gave their support to Aristagoras, a Persian appointed tyrant of Miletus, who instigated the rebellion after his failed attempt to take Naxos.

Question 15

What critical comment of democracy does Herodotus give regarding Athenian support of Aristagoras’ rebellion in the Ionian colonies?

Answer 15

“It would seem that it is easier to deceive many than it is easy to deceive one; he could not deceive Cleomenes alone, but [Aristagoras] could fool 30,000 Athenians.”

Herodotus, 5.97

Question 16

Why were the Athenians keen on supporting the rebels in Ionian regarding Hippias’ refuge in Persia?

Answer 16

Hippias had persuaded a Persian satrap, Artaphernes, to demand that Athens be subject to Persian rule.

Artaphernes told the Athenians that they should reinstall Hippias as tyrant.

The Athenians rejected the demand - public opinion had turned against tyranny and despite the giving of earth and water, the political atmosphere had changed in Athens.

Question 17

Where and what was Miletus?

Answer 17

It was a wealthy Greek colony on the west coast of Asia Minor and was captured by the Persians in the 6thC BC.

Question 18

When did the Athenians withdraw support for the Ionians?

Answer 18

After the second battle at Ephesus;

Question 19

Why did the Ionian rebels continue to rebel after losing Athenian support?

Answer 19

Possibly to throw off Persian rule but also to rid themselves of local tyrants backed by Persia - the rebellion was gathering momentum across the Greek poleis in the area.

Question 20

What is a general assessment of the Ionian Revolt?

Answer 20

Aristagoras’ campaign failed. Persia took back all of the cities that had revolted. But there were longer lasting consequences beyond the initial failure:

On the one hand, Darius sent Mardonius to remove the tyrants and to allow the Greeks to develop their own democratic cities.
On the other hand, Darius was seeking to placate the Greeks as a political manoeuvre to maintain or secure Persian influence.

However, for Herodotus, without the revolt, the Persians would not have invaded Greece, but scholars believe that Darius had expansionist ambitions before the revolt took place.

But the Athenians also learned, following the fall of Miletus, that the Persians represented an on-going threat, a belief that grew and which they knew that they would have to deal with.

Question 21

Post Miletus

After the fall of Miletus, in whom did the Athenians invest power?

Answer 21

Militiades
Themistocles
Aristides

Question 22

Who was Militiades?

Answer 22

Aristocrat of the Philaidai family, who had been wealthy under the Peisistratids, ruling tyrants of Chersonese.

As the Persians advanced during the Ionian Revolt, Militiades fled to Athens, where he was tried for tyranny.

Some believe his trial was set up by enemies seeking to remove him from political influence. Nonetheless, he was elected strategos and played a role in the Athenian victory at Marathon.

Question 23

Who was Themistocles?

Answer 23

Not of old aristocratic stock.
He was elected chief archon in 493 and built up the Greek navy and the building of a new harbour at Piraeus (it had three harbours and was easy to defend).
He was a champion of the people in the 480s, which pitted him against the old aristocratic families.

Question 24

Who was Aristides?

Answer 24

Opponent to Themistocles.
Division between authors Plutarch and Nepos as to whether Aristides was wealthy or not, Nepos not mentioning anything, Plutarch having him side with the aristocrats and presuming he was from wealthy stock. (Plutarch supports Aristides in his writings).
Sided with Cleisthenes
According to Plutarch, uncapable of being mean
Always opposed Themistocles since a youth

Question 25

Why was Mardonius keen to take revenge on Eretria and Athens?

Answer 25

They had supported the Ionian revolt.

Question 26

What was the Greek position like before the Battle of Marathon?

Answer 26

No support from Sparta.
Plataeans had agreed to send hoplites.
The ten strategoi were divided 5:5 as to whether or not to fight.
The polemarch Callimachus was persuaded by Militiades to cast the deciding vote. Persuasion was criticial in the new democratic polity
-Herodotus as a source: he was not there but the speech he writes may reflect how generals would have sought to persuade others of their policy ideas.

Question 27

How important was Miltiades role at Marathon?

Answer 27

He persuaded Callimachus to vote for battle and he also devised the winning tactics.

Question 28

Aristides at Marathon

Answer 28

Plutarch claims his actions as general were crucial

Question 29

Who ran the first Marathon?

Answer 29

Pheidippides

Question 30

Alcmaeonids after Marathon

Answer 30

Herodotus says that the Alcmaeonids were accused of trying to signal the Persians in the battle’s aftermath.

He is a little too vigorous in his defence of them, and states they had been in exile for the duration of the Peisistratid tyranny – which was not true.

Question 31

The End of Miltiades

Answer 31

The Roman biographer Nepos thought that the Greeks were modestly appreciative, but he was writing in an age of excessive praise, and wanted to compare it to what he saw as the modest restraint and dignity of an earlier age

In reality, the Greeks gave Miltiades command of 70 ships to attack the Persian supporting islands in the eastern Mediterranean; however, his adventure was a failure and he returned to Athens in disgrace. **He was found guilty of taking a bribe from the King of Paros, **and was thrown in prison as he could not pay the fine, wher he died of his wounds.

He was found guilty because he was drawn to power, despite being just with it when it was in his hands, and the Athenians feared him.

With respect to the new democracy, it showed that all were accountable.

Question 32

Detail the process of ostracism

Answer 32

Plutarch’s account:
From ostraka (plural of ostrakon) - pieces of pottery with a person’s name.

• 10 years.
• No loss of property
• Family not affected by the ostracism
• Regained full rights on return
• Still received income from his property while away

Archaeologically, ostraka have been found in the agora and kermeikos (ceramics) districts.

Historians are unsure if it was created by Cleisthenes
Historians call it a ‘cooling off period’ for potentially troublesome politicians

Question 33

Identify notable ostracisms

Answer 33

Aristotle relates the first recorded ostracism:

487: Hipparchus, son of Charmyus, who seemed to have links with the Peisistratids and a potential tyrant.

The next three were linked either to the Alcmaeonids or Persian supporters.

Question 34

When the Persian threat intensified what happened to the ostracism process?

Answer 34

It was put on hold and those ostracised were called back; the last ostracism prior to the Persian wars being Aristides in 483.

Question 35

How reliable and useful is this source?

“The story goes that as the voters were writing the names on the ostraka, an illiterate and bad mannered man gave his ostrakon to Aristides, and asked him to write, ‘Aristides’ on it. Aristides was astonished and and asked the the man what harm Aristides had possibly done to him. ‘None at all,’ was the reply, ‘I don’t even know the man, but I am fed up of hearing everyone calling him, ‘The Just!’ When he heard this, Aristides did not answer, but he wrote his name on the ostrakon and gave it back.” Plutarch, Life of Aristides.

Answer 35

1) Plutarch was writing over 500 years later.
2) He was copying others’ retelling (e.g., Nepos’ account) but no contemporary sources exist.
3) Plutarch was a biographer, not a historian, as such he was more interested in his characters’ personalites, values, virtues.
4) As such, he was also keen to show his characters in a positive light, and may have made the story up.

Question 36

What were the problems with ostracism?

Answer 36

1) Plutarch’s account of Aristides does highlight an issue: the poorest and illiterate could still take a part in the process, but they could not write the name of the person they wanted ostracised
2) The system was open to abuse - an individual targeted for ostracism may not have committed any crime - hence Aristides ended up being ostracised.
3) Voters have a tendency to vote with the crowd without consideration of the issues. [And Athenians were renown for regretting their actions, as Aristotle once said - they condemned Socrates to death and then regretted killing one of their great men]
4) One person could write many ostakra - as was found comparing handwriting to ostracise Themistocles [nonetheless, that ploy did not work at the time]

Question 37

Themistocles and ostracism

Answer 37

2,264 ostraka have been found with ‘Themistocles’ written on from the 480s.
190 of them are written by the same 14 people
How they were used is not known, maybe distributed among citizens, or smuggled into the counting area of the agora.
What is known is that it did not work – he was not ostracised until the 470s.

Question 38

What happened politically after Marathon?

Answer 38

Miltiades was charged and died of his wounds after his failed expedition to punish Persian supporting islands.

Themistocles and Aristides vie for power in the power vacuum that is left (cf. Plutarch’s writings).

Question 39

Plutarch’s bias on Aristides and Themistocles

Answer 39

Plutarch, as a monarchist, has a bias in his retelling of the stories against Themistocles – who he says refused to judge fairly in court. Aristides he held as being just - he was from the aristocracy.
May be because he is looking at the Athenian demacracy through the eyes of someone living in the Roman empire.

Plutarch’s description of the rivalry between them in the assembly gives an insight into the ways in which politicians might manipulate the institutions of the demacracy to carry out their own personal feuds.
Plutarch gives a full account of Aristides’ behavior in court, so as to support the title of ‘Aristides the Just’

Question 40

Who secured the Athenian Navy’s strength and why was it important for its democracy?

Answer 40

In 483, the Athenians found a new seam of silver at the Laurion mines. (Plutarch is our source).

As the mines were publicly owned, the people wanted the wealth distributed equally. Themistocles persuaded them to invest in 100 new triremes for potential use against the strong naval power of the island of Aegina. (Nepos has it against Coreya - but scholars think that he was mistaken - Herodotus, e.g., has it against Aegina too - (hence the importance of cross-referencing)

Themistocles’ policy seems to have been a ruse as a defence against Persia - he had been building up the navy for a decade.

Plutarch believes that Aristides was ostracised for arguing against Themistcoles - had Themistocles encouraged the people to remove the threat to building his navy?

Question 41

What were the wooden walls that the oracle of Apollo at Delphi suggested to the Athenian envoys?

Answer 41

No one know, but Themistocles thought of a answer to the cryptic message.

Themistocles argued that more of the poorer citizens should serve in rowing for the navy, altering the power of the navy relative to the hoplites: the navy was more important to Athenian strength - the oars were the ‘wooden walls.’

His ploy also reflected a shift towards a more democratic polis, since the poor could always become rowers, while being a hoplite required some means to afford the armour and weaponry. More political power was thus transferred to the lower classes.

Question 42

How did the archonship change?

Answer 42

Under the Peisistratids, Athens had elected nine archons for ten years to supervise religious, cultural, legal and economic affairs.

After Cleisthenes’ reforms, each archon could hold office for only a year - a measure designed to avoid tyranny. In 487, Aristotle wrote, the selection changed to random lot from a pool of 500, those entered were scrutinized to make sure they were fit for the office.

Other magistrates for different lower level functions had alreadby been drawn from different social ranks though.

Question 43

Overall evaluation of Athenian democracy

Answer 43

Women and slaves could not vote.

Yet Pericles is said to have spoken at about the power of the stat being in the hands of the ‘whole people.’

This was quoted by Thucydides, who may have attended Pericles’ funeral oration celebrating the lives of citizens who had died for Athens in the first year of the Peloponnesian war.

So was Pericles hinting that all Athenians had some role to play in its politics, even though that role may not have been formalised into voting and representing?