The ancient Greek citizens' assembly originated from 1 1 to Homer's era in the 9th century BC, and was then called the People's Assembly. At the call of the king or parliament, all adult men (soldiers in wartime) participated in the discussion and decided on major issues of the tribe. Usually vote by raising your hand or shouting. After the establishment of the city-state, most Greek city-states set up such congresses. In Athens, it is called the citizens' assembly, which is open to all male citizens over the age of 20. It was convened by a special committee of 500 people. It is divided into 10 meetings every year, and each meeting is held 1 time (later increased to 4 times) to discuss and solve major national issues, such as war and peace, food supply in the city-state, election of senior officials, court proceedings, etc. Usually a show of hands. In the 5th century BC, when Pericles was in power, participants received a small amount of subsidies. After the establishment of Antioch dynasty in Macedonia in 276 BC, the congress gradually lost its meaning. The 500-member parliament is the core of the democratic political system in Athens, the ancient Greek city-state. Its duty is to implement the decisions of the citizens' assembly, and it is an administrative organization that manages all affairs. It was established in the late 6th century BC during the Christian Reform and lasted until the 3rd century BC.
Composition of members of parliament
In the reform of Cleisthenes, ten new tribes replaced the original ones. The 500-member conference consists of 500 citizens over the age of 30, and each tribe sends an average of 50 members. Because the population of each Tritis and Demo is not equal, the representatives sent by each Tritis and Demo are not equal, but the total number of seats of the three Tritis belonging to each tribe must be 50.
The geographical distribution of parliamentarians is mostly concentrated in the suburbs. Cleisthenes divided Athens into three different regions, including coastal areas, inland areas and urban areas composed of Athens and its suburbs. The number of parliamentarians in inland areas is about 174, while there are 196 in coastal areas and 130 in urban areas. In urban areas, the city of Athens has 28 members and the surrounding countryside has 29 members, so the city of Athens has 57 members and the port of Piraeus has 10 members.
Like other administrative officials, the 500-member board of directors has a one-year term and cannot be re-elected. Every citizen can only serve as a member of parliament twice in his life. Like the 400-member conference, 500 members of the medimnoi class pentakosiomedimnoi, the knight class hippeis and the yoke class zeugitai can stand for election, and the working class thetes is excluded.
operate
The meeting of 500 people is held every day in the central hall of Agora, Athens, and all meetings will be held except festivals and ominous days. Members living in remote areas outside the city are allowed to attend the meeting intermittently. However, if they are often absent, they will be criticized by other members. Moreover, in order to let all the delegates living in cities or remote areas assume the responsibility of the meeting, the meeting further set up a 50-member group, and members of various tribes took turns to take charge of Athens affairs, similar to the Standing Committee. 10 tribes as a group of 50 people will be decided by drawing lots. The time limit for the first four delegations is 36 days, and that for the remaining six delegations is 35 days. The whole group of 50 people must live in the building next to the General Assembly Hall during the group meeting to ensure that each member attends at least one tenth of the meeting. Every day, a group of 50 people needs to select one person as the moderator, and the moderator must be on standby all day to deal with emergencies and preside over the meeting of 500 people that day. If a citizens' meeting is held that day, he must also be responsible for presiding over the citizens' meeting.
accountability
The most important power of the 500-member parliament is to arrange all the agendas of the parliament, including drafting bills submitted to the parliament (called probouleumata) and pre-examining bills submitted to the parliament. They are also responsible for some foreign affairs, such as receiving diplomatic envoys, and the most important duty of the meeting is to implement the resolutions of the citizens' assembly.
privilege
Members of parliament have some privileges during their term of office, including exemption from military service, special seats in city-state celebrations, and wearing a crown made of myrtle to show their identity. After 450 BC, members of parliament can also receive two obos every day (six obos are equal to one drachma, and a craftsman's daily salary is about one drachma).
conclusion
In the allocation of seats, it reflects that the whole Athens city-state is basically a rural society, because the seats in the whole Athens city and Piraeus port only account for a small part of the whole conference. It also reflects that the proportion of non-citizens in Athens is higher than that in other parts of the city, because it is estimated that the population of ancient Athens should account for 20% of the population of the whole city-state. However, according to the proportion of the population, only 12% is from the city-state, reflecting that there are more foreigners and slaves living in cities than in other regions.
Moreover, the meeting was composed of three classes: pentakosiomedimnoi, hippies and zeugitai, which reflected that the reform in Cleisthenes still contained some conservative colors. In the end, frequent meetings and the rotation of 50-member groups, the special positions selected by lottery, and the impermanence of each tribe from three different regions made it impossible for any interest group to control the meetings, reflecting that the composition of the meetings avoided the evil consequences of factional struggles to some extent. (Ten Policy Committees), the highest military institution in Athens, ancient Greece. It was established at the end of the 6th century BC, during the reform period of the chief executive of Athens, Christini. Every year, 1 generals are selected from 10 tribes, and can be re-elected. Citizens' congresses often stipulate the functions and powers of generals by voting, and generals should report their work to the citizens' congresses and be supervised by them. Generals enjoy the privilege of attending the 500-member conference. Sometimes they are appointed as national representatives to negotiate and conclude treaties with other city-states, but the treaties must be approved by the citizens' assembly. In peacetime, all generals have equal power and take turns to take charge of military command; In wartime, besides commanding Lu Haijun, he was also responsible for the country's foreign affairs and some finances.
In the first half of the 5th century BC, the Ten Generals' Association gradually strengthened its role in the Greek-Persian War, replacing the power of the original consul and becoming an important institution of the democratic politics of the slave owners in Athens. In the second half of the 5th century BC, Pericles was elected as the general, and held the highest military and political power for 15 years, becoming the de facto head of state. The jury court was the highest court in ancient Athens, which was founded by the consul Cleisthenes. It not only hears litigation cases, but also manages qualification examination, disciplinary inspection and voting to abolish national laws. The judges of this court are called jurors, who are drawn by lots by citizens over the age of 30. Their term of office is one year and they cannot be re-elected. The number of judges in this court is * * * 6000. Summarize the main consuls of many ancient Greek city states. One or more people. Greek originally meant leader and ruler. Since 682 BC, Athens has published the list of consuls every year. By the middle of the 7th century BC, the executive power was in the hands of nine consuls, who shared the religious, military and judicial responsibilities monopolized by the king in the past. The chief consul is the main civil and judicial official. He may also serve as the chairman of the 500-member meeting and the citizens' assembly, and he is the annual consul, and his term of office is named after him. Followed by the overseers, they served as commanders in the war and as judges in litigation cases involving foreigners. The third is to maintain the priesthood of the royal family, which is the main religious office and serves as the chief judge of murder cases at the aristocratic meeting. Finally, there are six civil judges to deal with trivial judicial issues. At first, the consul was only held by people of noble birth, and it was for life. The final term of office was reduced to 10 year and then to one year. At the end of his term, he is no longer elected, but he can become a life member of the aristocratic meeting. About 594 BC, Solon stipulated that the two classes with the most property and the second class could be elected as consuls, and the monopoly position of nobles was interrupted before that. According to the constitution of Clety, the consul is directly elected by the general assembly; Later, 500 pre-selected candidates were selected by drawing lots. Later, the right to vote was extended to the third and fourth grades. By the 5th century BC, the consul's power was greatly weakened. Influenced by Athens, the consul system spread widely in the Aegean islands, and then spread to Anatolia during the Hellenistic period.
pretor
In ancient Rome, the chief executive of the Republic, also known as the consul, elected two people every year. They are actually heads of state, responsible for commanding the army, presiding over the meetings of the Roman Senate, implementing the laws passed by the Senate and representing the country in foreign affairs. There is a "throne" in their office, and there are 12 attendants with wands around them. Archons usually come from wealthy aristocratic families. As two people, they are both heirs to the kingship, and both have complete "ruling power". As colleagues, they have equal control power. In this way, every consul can fully exercise his ruling behavior unless his colleagues stop him by exercising veto power. First, the way of appointing consuls before the reform in Cristini.
The method of appointing consuls in the history of Athens can be traced back to Solon's reform, and our main basis is Aristotle's Athens Political System. According to the book, Solon's former aristocratic parliament "appointed" consuls from tribal candidates according to family status and wealth, and assigned their own positions. Here, he did not specify when the tradition of appointing consuls by the aristocratic parliament began. Perhaps after the end of the royal government, the aristocratic parliament naturally gained this power. In ancient times, Greece experienced a large-scale movement to abolish the royal power. About the middle of the 8th century BC, Athens entered the period of aristocratic rule, and the aristocratic parliament became the real authority of the polis at that time. The predecessor of this parliament is probably an advisory body composed of prominent family leaders convened by the king during his reign, which is called the Council of Elders in Homer's epic. With the decline of kingship, this institution gradually gained the status of independence from the king and became the representative of the will of the emerging nobility. Aristotle pointed out that the aristocratic parliament has the power to protect laws, supervise officials and manage important domestic affairs. This position is partly due to the prestige established by the Presbyterian Church for a long time, but it is more the result of the overthrow of kingship and the rise of aristocratic power. At the end of the reign, the nobles carved up the power of the king and gained the privilege of consul. According to the traditional view, the aristocrat first gained the power to be the consul of the famous year, and he took over the executive power of the king, taking his name as the famous year; The military consul was the second stage when the nobles restricted the royal power, and the king was deprived of the military power; Finally, the hereditary kingship ended, and the king became one of the three rulers, retaining religious privileges. After retirement, the consul automatically entered the aristocratic parliament and served for life, so the two institutions formed a closed fortress, effectively preventing the decline of aristocratic power. The aristocratic parliament is not only the spokesman of the nobility, but also the highest authority of the city-state, and the power to elect consuls belongs to it. However, Hignett objected to this view, arguing that in the process of the transition from kingship to aristocratic politics, as compensation for acknowledging this change, the citizens' assembly gained the power to appoint consuls, and other junior officials might be appointed by the aristocratic parliament. This reasoning lacks strong evidence. When the kingship is getting weaker and weaker, it is the general trend and the will of the people to abolish the kingship. The leader of the movement, the aristocrat, probably doesn't need to make any commitment to the civilians for this kind of behavior. After the end of the monarchy, the nobles became the rulers of the city-state. In order to ensure the monopoly of political power, they can't hand over the appointment of the highest position in the city-state to the citizens' assembly. On the other hand, we found that at least before the end of the 7th century BC, the function of the citizens' assembly did not change much compared with Homer's, and there was no real right to vote, which also confirmed the monopoly of the nobles on the power of the city-state. Even if citizens who can bring their own weapons get the right to vote in delacour's legislation, this right to vote is probably only for junior officials. As for its role in the consul election, it is likely to be a formal vote after the appointment of the aristocratic parliament.
Second, the reform of the consul election in 487 BC.
In 487 BC, the appointment of consuls began to adopt the election method of candidate drawing lots, but it was similar to Solon's period, because the political environment in Athens changed greatly after the Greek-Persian war. As for the initiator of this reform, some scholars speculate that it is Timmy stokely or Aristide, but there is no conclusive evidence. The implementation of the reform is probably not the role of one person. Judging from the political environment in Athens at that time, there were two basic motives for the reform:
(1) Expand the scope of consuls and change the situation that the aristocratic parliament is mainly composed of pro-Pei Cytra diagrams.
(2) Improve political and military efficiency and prepare for resisting Persia.
After the tyrant politics was overthrown, most people in the aristocratic parliament were supporters of the tyrant. They can not only attract cronies to influence the consul election, but also serve as consuls themselves. The consuls in 5 10 BC, Scarmendrios in 509 BC, Risagras in 508 BC and Isagoras in 508 BC were all related to tyrants. In 496 BC, Chipard Kush, a relative of the tyrant, was elected consul. At this time, it has been 10 years since Cristini's reform, which shows that the pro-tyrant faction still has some influence. Their activities first ran counter to the trend of democratization in Athens after Cristini's reform. If they collude with the fugitive tyrant Scipio, it will affect Athens' anti-Persian plan. By drawing lots, it is an effective way to improve the enthusiasm of non-noble members of the five hundred knights to participate in the election, expand their chances of being elected, and gradually change the composition of the consul and even the aristocratic parliament. For the same purpose, in 488 BC, the Athenians also introduced the exile law of pottery pieces that had been put on hold for many years. The two-pronged approach is enough to show the seriousness of the situation at that time. In addition, the marathon campaign made the Athenians realize the importance of improving political and military efficiency. Before the reform, the consul of 10 and the general of 10 were directly elected, and the functions of the two institutions also overlapped. The difference is that generals can be re-elected, but consuls can only serve 1 year. Athens will face the invasion of powerful Persian enemies in the future, and war will become the theme of city-state life. A general with certain military skills can not only improve the chances of success, but also ensure the continuity of policies. The current situation pushed the general to the front of Athens politics, and this result was at the expense of the decline of the consul's power. After the archon was drawn by lot, the power and honor of the official position itself decreased with the decrease of the requirement for his ability, and it was no longer the goal pursued by the most capable people in the city-state. This is the essence of this reform, and it is also the biggest difference from Solon's reform of consul election, because Solon mainly used lottery to help the rich enter the consul group that has been monopolized by nobles, and the position of consul was not affected, and it remained the highest office of the city-state. After this reform, the generals became hot figures, not only taking over the military power of the consuls, but also gradually replacing their chief position in internal affairs. Therefore, the reform in 487 BC was the beginning of the power transfer between generals and consuls, and once this process started, it developed in an accelerated form. Judging from the content of the reform, this reform contains some new factors. After Cristini's reform, the idea of equality began to appear and develop in Athens. But as far as consuls are concerned, the 10 tribe has always elected nine consuls, which means that there must always be a tribe willing to play the role of foil. Therefore, in this reform, the Athenians set up the position of secretary of the judicial consul, and the consul committee was composed of 10 people to ensure that each tribe had its own representatives. But the problem still exists. Imagine one tribe serving as a senior official in succession and another tribe serving as a secretary in succession. Although each tribe has representatives, it is inevitable that there will be objections. In view of this, the Athenians introduced the principle of rotation into the electoral mechanism while adding official positions. On the basis of ensuring that each tribe is represented, it is stipulated that each consul should come from a different tribe every year, that is, 10 is a cycle, and members of the same tribe cannot hold the same post twice. This principle is probably realized by drawing lots. In the first year of each cycle, 10 tribe draws lots: the first round draws officials; In the second round, the other nine tribes elected the king's consul, and so on. In the next eight years, every time an official position is decided by drawing lots, the tribes who have held this official position will be excluded, so nine tribes will participate in the first round of drawing lots. In the last year of 10, it is self-evident which position each tribe should take, and there is no need to draw lots. Tribal representation principle and rotation principle ensure equality among tribes, and lottery ensures equal opportunities among candidates. Therefore, this reform embodies an important concept of democratic politics-equality, which is an important step taken by Athens on the road to democracy.
In 487 BC, the reform of consul election was not accompanied by the change of official qualifications. Qualified people were still limited to the first two grades, but the use of lottery prepared conditions for the consul to expand to a wider range. According to the law of In 457 Bc, the third rank can also serve as consul. This provision should have been the proper meaning after the archon's status was reduced, but from Aristotle's words, it is more likely to be an expedient measure in Athens. This year, Athens was caught in a two-front battle with Persia and Sparta, and asked the third-level infantry to be continuously supplemented, probably to improve their fighting enthusiasm, so the official ignored the legal provisions and allowed them to serve as consuls. Perhaps by the end of the 5th century BC, the fourth-level running for consul was acquiesced. At this time, although Solon's property qualification was not officially abolished, it was no longer strictly enforced.
At the same time, the appointment method of consuls has changed. The previous direct election was changed to draw lots, and the election procedure was changed to draw lots twice: first, the 10 tribe drew lots to select 100 candidates; Then, the candidates draw lots again, resulting in 10 consul. The election still follows the principle of tribal representation and rotation. In the 5th century BC, this process may still be completed with the help of soybeans. In the 4th century BC, due to the widespread use of lottery machines, the consul's lottery tickets may also be switched to lottery machines. The lottery machine is carved from a rectangular stone with 10 rows and 10 rows of grooves, and there is a copper tube on the left. First, insert 100 candidate famous brands into the groove according to the rule of one column for each tribe, and then randomly put 9 black 1 white 10 balls into the test tube. When the white ball appears, the designated ball. When assigning posts, two lottery machines are used, one is the famous brand of consul 10, and the other is the small brand with the official name. In order to ensure the principle of rotation, every time the white ball on the lottery machine chooses a consul, the other lottery machine must first exclude the position held by his tribe before releasing the ball. At this point, the evolution of the consul election system has come to an end. This change should be said to be the natural result of the development of democracy in Athens. The two lotteries have further improved the opportunities for ordinary citizens to serve as consuls, which is another embodiment of the idea of "rule by man" under the democratic system.
From direct election to pure lottery, the evolution of the consul election system has gone through a long three centuries. This process is not only a microcosm of the change of consul's power, but also a microcosm of the democratization process in Athens. It didn't go straight, but it had twists and turns: at first, the consul was the highest office of the city-state, and the nobles gave his appointment right to his spokesman, the aristocratic parliament, which formed a monopoly on the consul. Solon introduced the lottery to the consul election for the first time, which expanded the qualification of being an official and broke the aristocratic monopoly, but did not shake the position of the consul. In order to maintain the rule, the tyrant changed the lottery election to direct election, and the consul was controlled by the tyrant. After the reform, Cleisthenes's position was restored. In 487 BC, the lottery system was revived, and the status of the consul declined irretrievably. At the end of 5th century BC, the combination of election and lottery was replaced by double lottery, and the consul was reduced from the highest official position in the city-state to an ordinary official position open to almost all citizens. From this process, we can see that the Athenians realized the increasing popularity of consuls mainly by changing the electoral system. Under the impact of Ephialtes reform in 462 BC and several consul reforms, the aristocratic parliament, which was closely related to it, was no longer the spokesman of the nobility. After the baptism of the wave of democracy in the 5th century BC, the consul and the aristocratic parliament, which used to be the fortress of nobility, were finally democratized.