The Golden Age of Athens
Short History Of...
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Democracy in Athens
By the mid 400s, democracy had become the government in Athens. It wasn't a republic, it was a direct democracy where major decisions are voted on by citizens who just hold up their hands and decide. This is not to say that women didn't have political opinions, they did, and men would hear about it, but only men could vote. Foreigners are also barred from any part in decision making, and the hardest work in the city is performed by slaves. Not only are they bought and sold in the market, they can even be killed by their masters at will and rarely rebel because they live so far from their original homelands.
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