Aristotle wrote that in every Greek city-state there were a few rich people and many poor. Rich and poor often quarrelled, and the Greeks called this class conflict 'stasis'.
Out of this conflict, there developed in 6th century BC Athens the unique form of government known as Democracy ('Demokratia') - people-power.
Constitutional reforms by Solon around 594 and Cleisthenes in 508 BC, and other constitutional changes in the 5th century instituted by Themistocles, Ephialtes and Pericles, placed political power in the hands of all adult male citizens of the state of Athens, rich and poor alike, some 30-40,000 in number.
Meeting forty times a year, it was they who controlled the main decision-making bodies, the law courts, and the assembly. Holders of most public offices, such as those of magistrates, were chosen from among the citizen body by casting lots.
Rich Athenians worked within this system and, due to their education, did well in politics and public speaking. They could influence the people, but power nonetheless rested with the people, who voted on all the major issues such as war, taxation, public spending, and the banishment of citizens suspected of excessive political ambition.
The latter was done by writing the name of a citizen on a piece of pot (an 'ostracon') and these were then counted. If more than 6,000 votes were cast in total, the individual who had received the largest number then had to leave Athens for ten years, nevertheless retaining his citizenship and property throughout his period of banishment.
Athens was the most prominent democracy in Greece but others also emerged, often under Athenian influence; the spectre of democratization was one of the main reasons for oligarchic Sparta's antagonism towards Athens.
