ancient democracy
Classical citizen rule
Ancient democracy refers to systems of government in classical antiquity where citizens participated directly in political decisions, most notably in Athens during the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
Unlike modern representative democracy, citizens gathered in assemblies to vote on laws and policies themselves.
Citizenship was restricted—typically to free adult males—excluding women, slaves, and foreigners from participation.
- AthensGreece's capital city
- agoraGreek civic square
- public squareOpen urban gathering place
- citizensMembers of a nation
- votingFormally registering a choice
Pericles · assembly · show of hands · voice vote · senate · republic · polis · orators · toga · marble · columns · forum · philosophers · rule of law · Socrates · Greece · city state · Rome
ancient democracytyranny
Oppressive, absolute governance
monarchy · autocracy · oligarchy · despotism · Persian Empire
ancient democracymodern democracy
Elected governance by citizens
liberal democracy · representative democracy · constitutional democracy · parliamentary democracy · American democracy
ancient, anciently, ancientness, democracy, democrat, democratic, democratically, democrats, democratize