Classes and the Legal System - Ancient History: Greece

The two men most responsible for establishing democracy in Athens are Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon is known as the great reformer of Athenian history. He ruled as archon in Athens at a time when most of the citizens of Athens were effectively enslaved by the aristocracy. Solon established that all Athenian citizens were free, at the very least, to participate in the political process; however, Solon’s reforms were soon undermined when the tyrant Peisistratos seized power in 510 BCE. In the chaos that followed it fell to another aristocrat, Cleisthenes, to firmly establish the democratic principles that would guide Athens for the next century.

The Greek legal system during the Archaic Era was based around the concept of communal harmony. The most important aspect of justice to the Archaic Greeks was to maintain or repair peaceful social relations within a community. To this end, the punishment for a crime was not necessarily harsh (people might not even be executed for murder if the family of the victim accepted payment), the important thing was that the community could heal and move forward.

Women were not able to compete in the Olympic games, although there was a separate game for women called the Heraean games. Women were able to attend and observe the Olympic games only if they were not yet married. Married women were prohibited from attending the games on penalty of death.

Solon was an Athenian lawmaker and politician in the sixth century BCE. He was primarily a legal reformer who made several key changes to the Athenian legal code. These reforms are credited with paving the way for the development of democracy in Athens.

The Greek concept of kyrios refers to the belief that a man had to act as a legal, moral, and practical guardian over an individual woman. This idea was a manifestation of the extremely paternal nature of ancient Greek society. In practical terms, this meant that every female citizen, particularly in Athens, was required to have a recognized male guardian. This, naturally, infringed upon the rights of women in many, many ways. Women, for example, were completely excluded from the political process and could not attend democratic assemblies. Furthermore, women were not able to speak for themselves in court, instead a man would have to speak on their behalf.

Female citizens in most Greek city-states were considered inferior to men and excluded from the political process (they could not vote nor attend assemblies). Nevertheless, female citizens were still citizens and enjoyed rights that would have been unfamiliar to women in most of the rest of the world (including noncitizen residents of ancient Greece). Female citizens were afforded protection from kidnapping and enslavement (a common practice in this time period). They were able to participate in religious ceremonies and could even lead cults as priestesses; and, crucially, they had access to courts and the judicial system which allowed them to protect their property and their rights. It is worth noting, however, that women could not actually represent themselves in court — men would have to speak on their behalf. So, whilst female citizens enjoyed many important rights and privileges, they were nonetheless still considered inferior to men.

In the early Archaic Era, many Greek city-states were coalescing and forming distinct identities. Although we tend to think of democracy as the major Greek development of this time period, it was only practiced in a few city-states. The real political innovation of the Archaic Era Greeks was the idea of citizenship. That is to say, that all native and free members of a community are equal and have a right and duty to participate in the governing of the community. This was not an idea that was practiced in the other parts of the world familiar to the ancient Greeks.

The emergence of the idea of citizenship, during the early years of the Archaic Era in ancient Greece, was vital to the development of city-states and representative government. The degree to which citizenship was implemented varied significantly from city-state to city-state, but generally it conferred the right to vote for legislative assemblies, access to courts and protection of the law, protection from enslavement by other peoples, and the freedom to speak one’s mind. It did not, usually, guarantee the right to hold public office. This was generally limited by wealth, social status and property. It is worth noting that although women were considered citizens just like men, the freedoms and privileges afforded to them were less complete. Women, for example, generally could not vote or participate in the political process.

During the Archaic Era in Greece, around 650 BCE, the so-called “hoplite revolution” took place. Hoplites were infantrymen who organized themselves into a tight military formation, called the phalanx, and fought to defend their city-states. Hoplites were generally militiamen, drawn from the ranks of the lower classes in Greek society. These individuals threatened to withhold their military service if they were not granted equal rights to the elites.

Doulos, in ancient Greek society, were slaves. During the Archaic Era, slavery grew dramatically in ancient Greece, to the point that close to the majority of the population living on the Greek mainland were slaves. Doulos had no rights of their own and were considered as “living property.”

It is generally the case, that where the treatment, protection, and status of women is concerned in ancient Greece, Sparta will be the exception. Spartan women had much more social and political influence than their contemporaries in other city-states. Spartan women could seek divorce much more readily than Athenian women, for example. Spartan women could even commit adultery, so long as their own husband was incapable or unwilling to provide a child.

Periander ruled the city-state of Corinth as a tyrant in the seventh century BCE. He is generally recognized as a particularly capable ruler who presided over Corinth at the height of its economic and political power.

Slaves in ancient Greece originated from all of these sources, but the majority of slaves were purchased from international slave traders. The Greeks enslaved defeated enemies, members of neighboring Greek communities, so-called “barbarians” to the north, and even, in some places, those who could not pay their debts. Slavery was extremely common in Greek society, particularly during the Archaic and Classical Eras.

Slave uprisings were fairly uncommon in ancient Greek society. This is probably because in most Greek city-states, slaves never quite made up the majority of the population and were drawn from so many different backgrounds as to make communication and organization near impossible. The notable exception to this rule is Sparta. There were far more slaves in Spartan society when compared to other Greek city-states and slaves in Sparta were generally treated far more brutally. As a result, and not surprisingly, Sparta experienced several violent slave uprisings.

Many slaves were freed by their masters at some point during their lifetime. The reasons for this are extremely variable, and probably had to do with the personal relationship between master and slave. A freed slave in ancient Greece tended to become a "Metic" — a free, foreign-born resident of the city who had no citizenship rights.

The introduction of political rights for all citizens and republican institutions was neither sudden nor abrupt. It took place over a period of several centuries, beginning in the Archaic Era and lasting all the way through the Classical Era. Athens, for example, notably withdrew and extended rights and citizenship on numerous occasions based on the social and political environment of each generation.

In many Greek city-states the poor were excluded from the political process until some tyrant seized power from the usual ruling elites. These tyrants would not generally be able to rely on the support of these displaced elites, so they had to turn to the common people to reinforce their regimes. Many tyrants began to extend political rights to the poor in exchange for the poor supporting their regime.

According to most reliable accounts of the time period, Solon was appointed to a position of near-tyrannical power in Athens during the Archaic Era because the Athenian people felt he possessed the wisdom and judgment to resolve their social and economic tensions. Solon enacted a series of reforms that contributed to the emergence of republican ideals in Athenian society.

All of these statements about helots (communally owned slaves) in Spartan society are accurate. Helots (like almost all slaves in the Greek world) were allowed to own some possessions and allowed to practice their religion. They were also encouraged to have families of their own (to keep up the numbers). But, they were subject to harsh and horrific treatment at the hand of the Spartan rulers. Most notably, helots were forced to always wear distinctive clothes and to practice debauched behavior so as to emphasize their “otherness” from Spartans.