Our next stop on our journey through ancient Greece will describe the government of Greece. Ask yourself the following questions and read the answers to learn more about how ancient Greece was ruled and who made the laws that you would have followed.

What is a city-state?

photo courtesy of Department of Classical Studies, Indiana University

Ancient Greece was divided into many small areas called city-states. The above picture is of Athens, the largest city-state in ancient Greece. Since the land was very mountainous, city-states were separated from each other, and it was very difficult to travel from one to another. Although Greeks within the city-states had similar traditions and trusted the same gods, they often fought with one another. Everyone was stubborn and believed that their city-state was better than all other city-states.

Who ruled the city-states?

Since city-states were separated from each other, each had its own government. When city-states were first formed, they were ruled by a few wealthy men. However, they moved toward democracy.

What is democracy?

Democracy is the form of government that we have in New Zealand. The word means rule by the people. In a democracy, the people vote on who they want to be their leaders. In Athens, the people were divided into three groups:

1. Upper class - male citizens of Athens since birth
2. Middle class - males who were not born in Athens
3. Lower class - slaves

How did they make the laws?

Only men who were born in Athens were allowed to vote. They did this at public assemblies where upper class citizens discussed laws that might benefit Athens. These assembly meeting often got very noisy and led to many arguments between the men who were there.