Athenian Citizenship

The government of ancient Athens concerned itself with many aspects of the lives of its citizens. In the pure democracy of Athens the government was not only of the people and for the people but also by the people to a far greater extent than is possible in the large representative democracies of the present. Because of the scope of governmental activity and the mass participation of the citizens, much machinery and paraphernalia of government were needed. It is through the material remains of this machinery found in the center of civic life, the Agora (1), that the pure democracy of ancient Athens can be most vividly illustrated.

1. The Agora and northwest Athens in the second century A.D.

Fortunately for us, the stone, metals, and pottery which the Athenians used are relatively imperishable, so that we have much of this primary evidence to supplement and illustrate the literature and history written by ancient authors. These material remains, as illustrated here, fall into several classes: records inscribed on marble or lead, currency, standard weights and measures, paraphernalia of the lawcourts, tokens, ostraka, and buildings. Most important of these, perhaps, are the laws and other records published on stone for the ancient Athenians themselves. From these we may learn, through the Athenians’ own words, “what seemed best to the People.”

Nothing can better sum up the Athenian ideal of citizenship than the words which Thucydides makes Perikles speak in the Funeral Oration at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War:

