Opposition to Democracy
For its place and time, Athens' emerging democracy was remarkable, even at this early
stage in its development, because it granted all male citizens the possibility of
participating meaningfully in the making of laws and the administration of justice. But
not everyone found the system admirable.
A visiting foreign king is reputed to
have expressed the scornful opinion that he found Athenian democracy ludicrous.1 Observing the procedure in the Athenian assembly, he expressed his amazement
that leading aristocratic politicians could only recommend policy in their speeches,
while the male citizens as a whole voted on what to do: “I find it
astonishing,” he remarked, “that here wise men speak on public
affairs, while fools decide them.”
Some Athenians who agreed with the
king that aristocrats were wise and the poor foolish did their best to undermine
Solon's reforms2 after
their creation in 594 B.C., and such oligarchic sympathizers continued to challenge
Athenian democracy at intervals throughout its history.
