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Paper Abstract: A discussion of Athenian Democracy under Pericles as made possible by the existence of slavery. The massive slave population in Ancient Greece during this time underpinned the bulk of Greek society and drove the economy that allowed this state to flourish. Paper Introduction: The ascendancy of the Greek polis in the Ancient World culminated inAthens in the fifth century BC under the leadership of the great statesmanPericles Never holding an office higher than that of general Periclesnonetheless dominated the political landscape of Athens for more than fortyyears Under his sure hand Athens became emblematic of all that many inmodern times believe to epitomize Classic Greek culture a shining glamorous city boasting the acropolis the Parthenon and countless othermarvels of architecture a paragon of participatory democracy Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. According to most, the booming Athenian economy under Pericleandemocracy was near-fully dependent upon slave labor. Slaves appear to have been present in almost allof the most significant developments in the history of Athenian democracy(Kyrtatas 44). "The Athenian Democracy and Its Slaves." History Today. The Periclean democracy that history renders is rife with the presenceof slavery, so much so that it is difficult to envisage an Athens in thetime of Pericles that was not tainted by its presence. The above statement may just as easily be made about many other slave-holding societies throughout Ancient Greece. Conversely, it wasthe explicit purpose of the slave to provide the labor that would allow themaster-citizen the time to contemplate and govern in accordance with hisstation. Never holding an office higher than that of general, Periclesnonetheless dominated the political landscape of Athens for more than fortyyears. Sparta's own troublewith her helot population was a source of enduring agitation within thatcity-state, and may have led directly to her eventual undoing (Meltzer 83-84). Likewise, today political theorists are wrong if they assume thatPericlean Athens had less to do with slavery than it did with greattragedies, or great speeches, or great architecture. Compared with the 6 , citizens ofAthens, these numbers show that at the height of Periclean democracy,Athens was fully "the largest slaveholding state of its time (Meltzer 65)." Already, it becomes difficult to conceive of a Periclean Athens thatdid not contain slavery. It is not prudent to askwhether a true democracy can exist upon a foundation comprised largely ofslaves, for clearly the answer to this question will be a resounding "NO".Even in the modern age, the most "democratic" societies can provide littledefense against barbs from the proponents of "true" or "pure" democraticpractice, as the modern nation-state is simply too large to bear thehallmark of inclusion that democracy demands. In PericleanAthens, the existence of slavery was a distinctive feature of thatdemocracy, and to argue that such a society might have existed had not overhalf its population been enslaved would border on the ridiculous. Such a statementwould be akin to the suggestion that modern American political society doesnot depend upon the existence of the dollar, or that the Native Americanscould have done without the buffalo. Perhaps more unique to the Greek philosophical method, however, wasthe strict dialectical approach that defined so much of Greekconsciousness. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1991. The Classical Athenian Democracy. Straw Dogs. But how instrumental? If it were true that the slave population duringthis time was inconsequential or even negligible when compared to the free,or citizen population, it would perhaps be possible to conceive that thisstate could have existed similarly (or at all) had these slaves not beenpresent. Expanding on this idea, a brief extrapolation of the Aristotelianphilosophy is useful. A Periclean democracy in which citizens also underpinned the economicworkings of the state by dint of their own toil would never have sustaineditself, as a citizen-laborer would not, could not, logically be thought tohave the time, energy or disposition necessary to engage in both the loftymechanisms of government and the grueling demands of building or mining.Different people were thus meant to do different things. It has been noted that by 4 6 BC(more that 2 years after Pericles' death) slaves and metics, having beenpromised freedom, fought valiantly on Athenian ships. The ascendancy of the Greek polis in the Ancient World culminated inAthens in the fifth century BC under the leadership of the great statesmanPericles. "War, Piracy and Slavery in the Greek World." In M. On the contrary, muchas the existence of currency underpinned and, in many ways motivated thepolitical developments of the 2 th century, so too the enslaved masses ofAncient Greece underpinned that era's economy and also its political bent. Perhaps one day currency itself will no longer benecessary, and human beings will have found some other mechanism to drive ahulking, monolithic economy. Finley's,Classical Slavery. Slavery Through the Ages. For it mustbe noted that the heritage of the Greek polis before the time of Pericleswas always slave-based; the sources of Greek slavery date back to the timeof the Iliad and beyond; prisoners of war as well as kidnapped children andinfants were used as slaves, and the Greeks had, by the time of Pericles,long since accepted that there was hardly a role in life that did notutilize the slave on some level (MacMunn 18). This ideaencapsulates a philosophical approach to humankind that is not endemic toGreek culture. The prudent question concerns whether or notdemocracy in the Periclean sense could have possibly existed withoutslavery. The reasons for this answer,however, are more manifold and complex. Not to be overlooked, however, is that lurking in the shadows of thisrosy image of Ancient Greece was a massive slave population, wholly devoidof citizenship in the city-state and therefore, lacking any politicalrights at all. Should this day come, the historian thatsurveys the 2 th century will commit a grievous error if he or she neglectsthe role that cold, hard cash played in the dealings and developments thatemerged from and influenced this era. Everyday Life in Ancient Greece, 2nd Ed. What makes the Athenian example under Pericles so compelling is thatit was here that true democracy is understood to have originated, and it isto this era that modern political theorists trace the democratic heritageso essential to the Western tradition. This was certainly so in the time of Pericles,when enlightened statesmen contemplated policy, justice and virtue on oneside of a dialectical coin as slaves toiled in the market, fields or mineson the other. It is possible that at some distant point in the future of humansociety, there will be one vast economy that blankets the globe, and onecurrency in circulation. (Garlan 8)" The object, of course, was in many respects not to become a slave, asthe constantly warring Greek city-states did nothing to procure a stablebalance of power in the Aegean. Often a slave'sbest chance for manumission, the opportunity to defend Athens appealed toslaves throughout the Periclean Age. True, Periclean democracy utilizedits slave population to achieve impressive economic ends, but to whatextent were these slaves really necessary? Indeed, it was the sheer pervasiveness of the slave population thatdemanded that this be so. Oct 1993.V 4 (2): 163.Garlan, Yvon. In this, it was understood in Periclean Athens that the slave was notdisposed to be naturally loyal to the city-state, even if he was"naturally" intended for bondage. In Ancient times, this was not the case. Other figures, though more conservative, nonetheless put the number ofslaves in Periclean Athens before the Peloponnesian War (431 BC) at 7 , ,with an additional 25, metics (resident aliens without political rights)rounding out the non-citizen mix. New York: De Capo Press, 1993.Robinson, C.E. Politically, thestyle of democracy utilized during this period extended the rights ofparticipation to male citizens only. On this view, the slave's life ought to consist ofthree elements: "work, punishment, and food (Meltzer 82)." Aristotle doesnote that it was important that the "hope of freedom should be held out toa slave as a reward of service (MacMunn 2 )". As such, it is entirely accurate toobserve that without slavery, Periclean democracy could simply not havebeen. If themodern democracies of the United States and other nations are not truedemocracies, it is nonetheless possible to suggest that they are more truethan their predecessors, beginning with the Periclean model. An accurate picture of Periclean democracy indicates that the slavepopulation was indispensable to the economic workings of the city-state,and it thus it becomes impossible to assign to the slave population anancillary role to the existence of the democracy as a whole. If nothingelse, this illustrated two things: that man, not nature, makes slaves andthat in Periclean Athens, slavery could be a volatile, pressing issue. Citizensshould tend to one set of problems, slaves to others. The point, however, is a simple one: slavery was a fact of life inPericlean Athens, and this enduring fact was instrumental in building astrong economy. To ask whether Pericleandemocracy was actually democratic given its enormous slave population wouldtherefore be wasteful. It is absolutely true that under Pericles, Athens became the economicand cultural center of the Greek world (Meltzer 61). Under his sure hand, Athens became emblematic of all that many inmodern times believe to epitomize Classic Greek culture: a shining,glamorous city boasting the acropolis, the Parthenon, and countless othermarvels of architecture; a paragon of participatory democracy and thebirthplace of the art of rhetoric and oration; a place where city streetsteemed with merchants and philosophers and where theaters showcased thetalents of the finest tragedians and dramatists of the age (Robinson 51). The master and slave dialectic comprised just one of manyhierarchical, polarized distinctions in Ancient Greek society; these poleswere neat, simple and mutually exclusive. It would be folly to suggest that Periclean democracy wasnot founded upon, or could have existed without slavery. London: Granta Books, 2 2.Kyrtatas, Dimitris. Given the above, it is not surprising that the answer to thisquestion is likewise a resounding "NO". It is well documented inhistorical accounts dating back from this period that slave populationswere nearly ubiquitous in Ancient Greek societies. However, an examination of Periclean Athens must not discountthe troubling fact that it was slavery-an abominable, profoundlyundemocratic institution-that made these staggering contributions possiblein the first place. Political oration from that timeindicates that slaves were thus regarded as "natural enemies of thepolitical order," precisely because they could be "expected to hate thesystem that maintained their servile status (Kyrtatas 44)". Work CitedCartledge, Paul. Our enjoymentof this legacy need not be lessened for the existence of slavery duringthat time. Bydefinition, the existence of slavery must be an anathema to any and alldemocratic sensibilities. Nor should we tryto envision such a place, for to do so would be dishonest, and would fly inthe face of history. On the contrary, the democratic Athens of Pericleswas obviously highly contingent upon it, and it is reasonable to assumethat the "zero-sum, winner-takes-all competitive antagonism" of AncientGreece colored the proceedings of all things political at that time(Cartledge 22). History, of course, has done little to bear outthis theoretical truism, as many subsequent prima facie democraticsocieties have taken no pains to conceal, much less abolish, a dependenceupon slave labor. Tempting as it is to de-emphasize the role that slavery couldhave played throughout the rise of democratic, Periclean Athens, the sheerlogistics of the Athenian economy will not permit it. As a result, it was not unheard of for anentire city-state to find itself in chains. V 44(2): 43.MacMunn, Sir George. The contribution of the Periclean Age to modern Western thought,government, art, architecture and literature is formidable. In many respects, the continuingpride of Western Civilization is itself a nod to the example of AncientGreece as it was encapsulated in the Athens of Pericles, and the playersduring this era are the quintessential forebears for modern politicaltheorists. Called upon for a myriad of services, slaves were evencalled up to military duty when Athens was under threat. To conceptualize a Periclean democracy that did not utilizeand enforce this dialectic is a useless exercise. A state "of the people, by the people, and forthe people" cannot in any part be comprised of slaves and also beconsidered democratic. Indeed, the very notion that a democratic society may be founded upon,or contingent upon, a slave class is philosophically incongruent. The Athens of Pericles was no different. In this, it was thought abetter fate (for some) to be enslaved than to be butchered and left fordead. In modern times, much is made of the plight of the poor, even if toolittle is done about it. Hence many "basic culturalproblems" were resolutely solved by way of "jointly comprehensive binaryoppositions: Greeks and Barbarians, Men and Women, Citizens and Aliens,Free and Slave (Cartledge 22)." Any effort to extract this element of Greek thought from the time ofPericles will undermine the reality of the age; as such, it becomesincreasingly difficult from a philosophical perspective to make the casefor a Periclean democracy that was somehow above, or separate from, theMaster-Slave dialectic. [a] large servile work-force which made it possible for even the less well-off citizens to devote so much time to public business, or for the city itself to call on so many of those citizens to serve in the military and naval operations on which much of her power and prosperity ultimately depended (18)."What is clear is that the rigors of citizenship in Periclean Athens did notpermit (or smile upon) the added rigors of actual labor. As Sir George MacMunn explains in Slavery Throughthe Ages, Aristotle "held slavery to be just and natural if properlycarried out (19)". It was theexplicit purpose, or telos, of the citizen to engage in good governance andsurrender himself to the city-state in times of war. New York: AMSPress, 1977.Stockton, David. This policy would, by consequence,disenfranchise the majority of the Athenian population, as it has beenestimated that during the Periclean Age, nearly 1 , slaves of bothsexes lived in Athens; it is probable that no more than two in five adultmales would have enjoyed the right to vote and hold office (Stockton 17-18). Feb 1994. "A Heterology of Greek Slavery." Greece & Rome. Cambridge: Frank Cass & Co., Ltd., 1987.Gray, John. As David Stocktonwrites in The Classical Athenian Democracy, the casual observer of AncientGreece must be wary of becoming too "'starry eyed' about her democracy,"for, it must be noted that: "It was only... As Aristotle noted, slaves were inferior, "humaninstruments" that should perform like machines so that enlightened masterscould occupy themselves with the problems of state (Meltzer 71). By the time of Pericles, onesophist wondered: "How could it not be just to enslave enemies and, when itis possible, to sell a whole city after conquering it? In the modern era, it is considered a virtue to workhard. Those that survivedwere duly rewarded with citizen status (though ultimate Athenian defeat atthe hands of the Spartans was imminent, and Athens would subsequently neverbe the same) (Kyrtatas 43-45). For the ancients, to laborday after day was to be a slave; a life of leisured reflection was the aimof the citizen (Gray 196). Connecticut: NegroUniversities Press, 197 .Meltzer, Milton. Little indicates that suchhopes materialized very often, however, as even those proponents of theAristotelian view in Periclean Athens were also quite fearful that the"just and natural" character of the Master-Slave dialectic would likely belost on the slave. And without slavery, could the Pericleandemocracy have existed? This perhaps is one of the distinctive featuresof the modern democratic tradition, and some have argued that it is becausethe poor exist that democracy as we know it is possible. Slavery: A World History. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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