=The Assembly.=—­The Athenians called their government a democracy (a government by the people).  But this people was not, as with us, the mass of inhabitants, but the body of citizens, a true aristocracy of 15,000 to 20,000 men who governed the whole nation as masters.  This body had absolute power, and was the true sovereign of Athens.  It assembled at least three times a month to deliberate and to vote.  The assembly was held in the open air on the Pnyx; the citizens sat on stone benches arranged in an amphitheatre; the magistrates before them on a platform opened the session with a religious ceremony and a prayer, then a herald proclaimed in a loud voice the business which was to occupy the assembly, and said, “Who wishes to speak?” Every citizen had the right to this privilege; the orators mounted the tribune according to age.  When all had spoken, the president put the question; the assembly voted by a show of hands, and then dissolved.

=The Courts.=—­The people itself, being sovereign, passed judgment in the courts.  Every citizen of thirty years of age could participate in the judicial assembly (the Heliaea).  The heliasts sat in the great halls in sections of five hundred; the tribunal was, then, composed of one thousand to fifteen hundred judges.  The Athenians had no prosecuting officer as we have; a citizen took upon himself to make the accusation.  The accused and the accuser appeared before the court; each delivered a plea which was not to exceed the time marked off by a water-clock.  Then the judges voted by depositing a black or white stone.  If the accuser did not obtain a certain number of votes, he himself was condemned.

=The Magistrates.=—­The sovereign people needed a council to prepare the business for discussion and magistrates to execute their decisions.  The council was composed of five hundred citizens drawn by lot for one year.  The magistrates were very numerous:  ten generals to command the army, thirty officials for financial administration, sixty police officials to superintend the streets, the markets, weights and measures, etc.[69]

=Character of This Government.=—­The power in Athens did not pertain to the rich and the noble, as in Sparta.  In the assembly everything was decided by a majority of votes and all the votes were equal.  All the jurors, all the members of the council, all the magistrates except the generals were chosen by lot.  The citizens were equal not only in theory, but also in practice.  Socrates said[70] to a well-informed Athenian who did not dare to speak before the people:  “Of what are you afraid?  Is it of the fullers, the shoe-makers, the masons, the artisans, or the merchants? for the assembly is composed of all these people.”

Many of these people had to ply their trade in order to make a living, and could not serve the state gratuitously; and so a salary was instituted:  every citizen who sat in the assembly or in the courts received for every day of session three obols (about eight cents of our money), a sum just sufficient to maintain life at that time.  From this day the poor administered the government.