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Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part, [41] and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition .
It was a centre for democracy, the arts, education and philosophy, [11] [12] and was highly influential throughout the European continent, particularly in Ancient Rome. [13] For this reason, it is often regarded as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy in its own right independently from the rest of Greece. [14] [15]
These activities were often handled by a form of direct democracy, based on a popular assembly. Others, of judicial and official nature, were often handled by large juries, drawn from the citizen body in a process known as sortition. By far the most well-documented and studied example is the Athenian democracy in Athens.
The Pnyx (/ n ɪ k s, p ə ˈ n ɪ k s /; Ancient Greek: Πνύξ; Greek: Πνύκα, Pnyka) is a hill or hillside in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC ( Fifth-century Athens ), the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus making the hill one of the earliest and most important sites ...
A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution, organization, or state, in which members have a share of power. [2] Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities of their citizens that differentiate them fundamentally from earlier forms of government: to intervene in society and have their sovereign (e.g., their representatives) held ...
The name of Athens, connected to the name of its patron goddess Athena, originates from an earlier Pre-Greek language. [1] The origin myth explaining how Athens acquired this name through the legendary contest between Poseidon and Athena was described by Herodotus, [2] Apollodorus, [3] Ovid, Plutarch, [4] Pausanias and others.
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A police force of 300 Scythian slaves carried red ochre-stained ropes to induce the citizens who loitered in the agora of Athens to attend the meetings of the assembly. Anyone with red-stained clothes who was not in the meeting was liable to a penalty. [2] [3] A quorum of 6,000 members was required sometimes to do business.