Classical Greece · 594-430 BC

Athens invents democracy

In 508 BC the Athenians began an experiment: the people themselves would vote on laws, war and peace. Students trace the steps from Solon to Cleisthenes to Pericles, visit the hill where 6,000 citizens met, and ask who was left out.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, 594 BC to 460 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 508 BC the Athenians began an experiment: the people themselves would vote on laws, war and peace. Students trace the steps from Solon to Cleisthenes to Pericles, visit the hill where 6,000 citizens met, and ask who was left out.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Order the reforms of Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508 BC) and Pericles (around 450 BC) and say what each changed.
  • Describe how the Assembly, the Council of 500 and the courts worked, including choosing officials by lot.
  • Explain who counted as a citizen in Athens and who did not.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

594 BC

Solon stops a civil war

Open the map in 594 BC on Attica, the territory of Athens, with the Cities layer on. Poor farmers were being sold into slavery for debt. Solon cancelled the debts, banned debt slavery and let every citizen attend the Assembly. Zoom out to see the farmland and hills of Attica that Athens ruled.

Open this view on the map
b

508 BC

Cleisthenes, 508 BC

Stay on Athens in 508 BC and turn on Historical Events (Political). Find "Athenian Democracy Established". Cleisthenes mixed citizens from the city, the coast and the hills into ten new tribes, so that old clans could not control the vote. Why would mixing people by region weaken the nobles?

Open this view on the map
c

460 BC

The Pnyx and the Agora

Zoom in as far as the map allows on the center of Athens in 460 BC. West of the Acropolis lies the Pnyx, the hill where the Assembly met about forty times a year, and below it the Agora with the courts and the Council house. Imagine 6,000 men on a hillside deciding on war.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. In Athens every citizen could speak and vote in the Assembly, and most officials were chosen by lot, not elected. Why did the Athenians think a lottery was more democratic than an election?
  2. Citizens were free men over 18 with Athenian parents: perhaps 30,000 to 50,000 people in a population of around 300,000. Was Athens a democracy?
  3. Each year the Assembly could vote to exile one man for ten years by writing his name on a piece of pottery (ostracism). What was this for, and how could it be abused?
  4. Pericles introduced pay for jurors so that poor citizens could afford to serve. Why does democracy need more than the right to vote?
  5. Athens's navy was rowed by its poorest citizens, who then demanded a say in politics. How are war and democracy connected?
4

Game round

10 min

Rule History has only kings and emperors. Play one round as Alexander the Great, then run the same decision as an Athenian Assembly: the class debates and votes by show of hands. Which process was faster, and which do you trust more?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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