InstitutionClaim Cited
Athens, 508/7–403 BCE
Between the popular uprising of 508/7 and the democratic restoration of 403 BCE, Athenians turned demes, rotation, sortition, pay, and public deliberation into a durable practice of citizen rule; naval empire, slavery, restricted political membership, and two military-crisis oligarchies reveal both the capacity and the boundary that practice created.
How did Athenians make direct citizen rule an everyday practice, and how did they rebuild it after war enabled two oligarchic seizures of power?