Democracy and the Athenians: the definition of Athenian citizenship and the citizenship law of 451 BC, the rights and duties of citizens, and the exclusion of women, metics and slaves, and the tension between democratic ideals and social reality.

What this dot point is asking

Athenian democracy was a democracy of citizens, and the definition of who counted as one is central to judging it. For this option you must understand the definition of citizenship and the law of 451 BC, the rights and duties of citizens, and the exclusion of women, metics and slaves, and the tension between democratic ideals and social reality. The paper tests precise knowledge (AO1), analysis and evaluation of sources (AO2 and AO3) and your own argument.

The answer

The definition of citizenship and the law of 451 BC

The rights and duties of citizens

Citizens enjoyed substantial rights and bore real duties:

• Rights: to speak and vote in the Assembly, sit on juries, hold most offices (by lot), and own land.
• Duties: above all military service (as hoplites or rowers), and, for the rich, the funding of public works and festivals through liturgies (such as equipping a warship or a chorus).
• This combination of political rights and civic obligations defined the citizen as one who shared in ruling and being ruled in turn.

The excluded majority: women, metics and slaves

The tension between ideal and reality

There is a sharp tension between the democracy's ideals and its reality:

• The ideal, voiced by Pericles in Thucydides' Funeral Oration, was one of equality (isonomia) and openness, where advancement depended on merit and all shared in the city.
• The reality was that full political rights belonged only to a minority (adult male citizens), while women, metics and slaves were excluded.
• Both judgements are true depending on the frame: among citizens the democracy was radically inclusive (the poorest could speak and vote), but in defining that body it was deeply exclusive.

This tension is a central theme of the option and a favourite essay focus.

Examples in context

A strong 10-mark idea answer on exclusion would name the excluded groups (women, metics, slaves), explain their position, and give the reasons (descent, gender, status).

Try this

Q1. Explain the position of metics in Athenian society. You must refer to specific examples. [10 marks]

• What the marker wants. AO1 with AO3: describe metics (resident foreigners who could not vote or own land and needed a sponsor, but paid taxes, traded and served in the army) and explain their contribution and their exclusion.

Q2. 'The exclusion of women is the greatest limitation of Athenian democracy.' To what extent do you agree? [marked out of 20; real H408/34 tariff is 30]

• Cue. Argue both sides: the total political exclusion of women (half the citizen population) was a profound limitation, though the exclusion of metics and slaves and the narrowness of citizenship also mattered. Reach a judgement supported by named examples.