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Political Reforms - Coggle Diagram
Political Reforms
Pericles
after the death of Ephialtes, Pericles became the leading reformist and a very significant political figure in Athens for years to come
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Pericles was likely involved in a change made in 457/6 that meant the zeugitai were now eligible for achonships
He also introduced payment for citizens who served as jurors, meaning more poor people could serve as they were compensated for their time
Pericles also legislated that an Athenian citizen had to have an Athenian mother as well as a father which prevented the citizen population form groin too much and gave more importance to women in Athens
This also made citizenship more valuable and important - anyone who registered falsely was sold into slavery
Solon
In 594/3, the Athenians elected Solon as the senior archon, a position that played a major political role in the city
In his year of archonship, Solon reformed the political system to encourage social mobility in the hope of preventing a revolution from the lower classes
He divided Athenian citizens into four classes according to the amount of wet or dry goods each man could produce - his wealth
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Solon also gave all citizens the right to sit in a people's assembly, the right to appeal to a jury for any conviction and the right to serve as a juror
However, even after these reforms, power still remained in the hands of the nine archons, and a council of ex-archons, the Council of the Areopagus
Ephialtes
Two factions rose at this time, one conservative and one reformist. Ephialtes led the reformist group.
In 462/1 he reformed the Council of Areopagus by limiting their powers heavily, now they only had jurisdiction over murder and certain offences against the Gods
The other responsibilities were transferred to either the assembly, the law courts or the boule
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Cleisthenes
after Solon there came Peisistratus - a tyrant - followed by his unpopular son Hippias who was driven out of Athens in 510. After this a power vacuum ensued, and Cleisthenes came out on top
approx, 15 percent of Athenian residents were citizens, and Cleisthenes found a way to organise them
He divided the citizens into 10 tribes, and each village or city-district was known as a deme. Each tribe was comprised of a number of demes from all over Attica
There was a new council of 500 men, the boule. Each year 50 men were selected by lot from each of the 10 tribes to serve on the boule, which prepared business for the assembly
The ten tribes also made up ten regiments of the Athenian army, and most citizens were expected to serve in time of war. Each year, 10 strategoi were elected, one to lead each tribe
When Themistocles encouraged the development of Athenian naval power, it meant that the poorer men in the city were required to be rowers, thus men of the lower classes held greater influence
Council of Areopagus
in 487/6, the Athenians started to select the archons by lot from a list of 500 canditates which meant by 462, the council of Areopagus was more diverse in wealth