V century BC e. entered the history of ancient Greece under the name of "golden". This is the heyday of democracy - the power of the people, realized through the holding of public meetings. It was on them that laws were passed, rulers were elected, and the citizens of the republic were adjudicated. Similar forums were in all the ancient states. Among the Germans it was a ting, in ancient Russia - the veche, among the Turks - kurultai, in ancient Rome - comitia. What was the name of the popular assembly in ancient Greece and what is its essence?
Members
It all started with tribal gatherings, which in city-states grew into assemblies of citizens who solved the basic issues of life. Their beginning dates back to the VI century BC. e. Forums were convened at intervals of up to 10 times a year, and later became regular, and took place at least three times a 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 the age of 20 years. Slaves, metecs (immigrants), women and children were not allowed.
The approximate calculations of historians are as follows: of the 450 thousand inhabitants of Attica, only 35 enjoyed civil rights at their peak. At the meetings, only a few thousand were present. The ancient Greeks did not comply with the quorum, but at least 6 thousand citizens were required to make important decisions.
The main achievement of democracy was the lack of property qualifications. Moreover, at the end of the “golden age” small sums were paid to the participants of the national assembly. This was done so that peasants, small traders and artisans could break away from work without harming themselves. At the main forum, it was possible to meet at the same time noble and rich citizens in luxurious hymatias and poor peasants in mantle, felt hats and with staves in their hands.
Place of public assembly in ancient Greece
Three places are known where the most important gatherings took place in Athens:
- Pniks hillside 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 by a red rope. The most powerful slaves, armed with daggers and whips, served as police officers. Special controllers checked the entrants for the cordon and checked against the lists. Outsiders, on their orders, the slaves were driven away. Benches were set up on the Pniks hill, but more often people were seated right on the ground, where they drank and ate during the day, because the public meeting in Ancient Greece began in the early morning and ended with dusk. By tradition, the ritual of sacrificing to the gods was performed. Priests carried among the gathered dead piglets, after which a prayer was read, announcing the beginning of the forum.
Main questions
An epistat was elected for every day. This was the chairman of the meeting, who kept the keys to the treasury and the seal, hosted the reception of ambassadors. You could not be elected to this post twice. From 510 BC e. the leadership of city-states during the break between meetings was carried out by the “five hundred council”. Executive power was elected by lot. From each of the 10 districts - fil, lists were formed for 50 people. What other questions did the ancient Greek people consider?
Among his main powers were the following:
- Adoption of laws. Any citizen could make a proposal, but it was a very responsible step. If in the course of its consideration at the “five hundred council” it turned out that it was contrary to previously adopted legislation, the author could be fined.
- Decisions on major issues related to hostilities, the signing of treaties and the conclusion of unions. These issues were discussed most vigorously and sometimes led to brawls.
- Issues of ostracism - exile for 10 years of people dangerous to the Athenian republic.
- Resolving emergency situations related to charges against officials. In this case, the final decision always remained with the court.
Meaning of the word
The popular assembly in ancient Greece was called ecclesia. Forum credentials serve as a clue as to how a given word is translated from Greek. This is “appeal”, “assembly”, and, in fact, is the main authority of a democratic republic. During its heyday, the leaders had to turn into real speakers, because they had the task of convincing and leading Athenian citizens. The true master of eloquence was Pericles. They talked about him: being put by the enemy on both blades, he would still be able to convince the audience that he had won. In his tenure, payment was introduced for certain government posts so that poor people could be elected to the authorities without fear of losing their main source of income.
In the succeeding oligarchic republics, what was the popular assembly in ancient Greece? The definition gives the answer that it still remained one of the attributes of power. Although by no means its highest organ. The rights of the assembly were limited to councils and colleges, where the noble and wealthy citizens played the main role. Real democracy ended with the end of the Golden Age.