Democracy
Rule by the people — power in the hands of the dēmos rather than a king or a wealthy few.
Democracy (dēmokratia, 'people-power') is the system in which sovereign power rests with the whole body of citizens. In classical Athens they wielded it through the assembly, officials chosen by lottery, and large citizen juries. Pioneered in Athens after the reforms of Cleisthenes (c. 508 BCE) and named by the mid-5th century, it was debated by Herodotus, praised by Pericles, and attacked by Plato and Aristotle as prone to demagoguery. Athenian democracy is the historical root of the modern democratic tradition.
How it traveled
- HistoriesThurii (Magna Graecia) · -425explains
- History of the Peloponnesian WarAthens · -400explains
- Concerning the Team of HorsesAthens · -397explains
- On the MysteriesAthens · -390explains
- On the Peace with Sparta [attributed]Athens · -390explains
- Defense Against a Charge of Subverting the DemocracyAthens · -380explains
- Funeral OrationAthens · -380explains
- RepublicAthens · -375explains
- StatesmanAthens · -358explains
- AreopagiticusAthens · -355explains
- On the PeaceAthens · -355explains
- HellenicaAthens · -354explains
- Against AndrotionAthens · -354explains
- On OrganizationAthens · -354explains
- For the Liberty of the RhodiansAthens · -351explains
- ExordiaAthens · -349explains
- Against TimarchusAthens · -346explains
- On the False EmbassyAthens · -343explains
- On the EmbassyAthens · -343explains
- PanathenaicusAthens · -339explains
- RhetoricChalcis · -335explains
- Against CtesiphonAthens · -330explains
- In Defence of EuxenippusAthens · -330explains
- Res Publica AtheniensiumChalcis · -325explains
- PoliticsChalcis · -322explains
- Against TimocratesAthens · -322explains
- Against LeptinesAthens · -322explains
- Against MeidiasAthens · -322explains
- Divisiones AristoteleaeChalcis · -322explains
- HistoriesMegalopolis · -118explains
Key passages(20)
Septem sapientium convivium · Plutarch
History of the Peloponnesian War · Thucydides
In Aristotelis artem rhetoricam commentarium · Anonymi in Aristotelis Artem Rhetoricam
Divisiones Aristoteleae · Pseudo-Aristotle