OCR Classical Civilisation Democracy and the Athenians: a complete overview of the option

OCR Classical Civilisation Democracy and the Athenians (H408/34) is a Beliefs and Ideas option that studies the concept and practice of democracy in Classical Athens, using literary sources in translation. This overview ties together the main themes. Each section has a matching dot-point page.

How the paper works

The option is examined in 1 hour 45 minutes for 75 marks (30% of the A-level). It uses the standard five question types: a short-answer question, a 10-mark stimulus question on a printed source, a 10-mark idea question, a 20-mark essay and a 30-mark essay. The evidence is mainly textual, so you must know prescribed sources such as Thucydides, the Old Oligarch, Plutarch, Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia, Plato and Aristophanes.

The development of the democracy

Athenian democracy developed cumulatively: Solon (foundations, ending debt-slavery, property classes), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC, the demes, tribes and Council, often called the founder), Ephialtes (462/1, stripping the Areopagus) and Pericles (pay for office, the citizenship law of 451). Its key concepts were demokratia, isonomia and isegoria.

The institutions

The sovereign body was the Assembly (ekklesia), open to all adult male citizens. The Council of 500 (boule), chosen by lot, prepared its business. The law courts (dikasteria) had large, paid citizen juries. Most magistracies were allotted, though the generals (strategoi) were elected. Sortition embodied equality, and ostracism let the people exile a citizen for ten years.

Citizenship and exclusion

Full citizenship was restricted to adult male citizens (from 451 BC, with two Athenian parents). Women, metics and slaves were excluded from political rights. The democracy was thus radically inclusive within the citizen body but deeply exclusive in defining it, the central tension of the option.

Rhetoric and the criticisms

Because citizens decided directly, rhetoric was the key to power, and the sources contrast the responsible Pericles with demagogues like Cleon (seen in the Mytilene debate). The democracy had powerful critics, the Old Oligarch, Plato and Aristophanes, who charged it with mob rule, incompetence and instability. These criticisms identify real weaknesses but come from hostile elites, so they must be weighed critically.

How to revise

Know the prescribed sources in detail and what each says. Build a grid of themes against the sources, use the correct concepts accurately, and always evaluate sources critically.