politics

In Ancient Greece there were many rules for who could participate and influence politics. Things such as social class, wealth, and The amount of property you owned were all major rules. in Athens only wealthy citizens could participate in discussing and voting on laws. Then in 621 BCE Draco changed the laws into the pathway of the democracy we have today. In his changes he declared all athenians are equal under law and debt slavery is ok. Before only crimes against the wealthy called for harsh punishment which was usually death. But under this law if someone of a lower social class committed a crime against a wealthy person they would get the same punishment as if the wealthier person committed the crime against the lower class person. This was very important because it paved the way for equal rights among different social classes. Then is 594 BCE solons reforms were created . IN these reforms Solon stated the debt slavery is illegal, all athenian citizens can speak at the assembly and any citizens can press charges against any wrongdoers. This was important because it meant people of lower social class could speak out their opinions on certain laws and issues that need to be addressed. Then in 500 BCE more reforms were passed  which stated that all citizens can submit laws for debate at the assembly. This meant even more issues can be discussed and that laws that could make things better for lower class people could be passed. The council of 500 which were 500 citizens randomly selected to pass laws on the assembly. Clearly the greeks were very political.