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Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C. in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica and is the first known democracy in the world. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the Athenian model, but none are as well documented as Athens. It was a system of direct democracy, in which participating citizens voted directly on legislation and executive bills. Participation was not open to all residents: to vote one had to be an adult, male citizen who owned land and wasn't a slave, and the number of these "varied between 30,000 and 50,000 out of a total population of around 250,000 to 300,000."〔Thorley, J., ''Athenian Democracy'', Routledge, 2005, (p. 74 ).〕 The longest-lasting democratic leader was Pericles. After his death, Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolutions towards the end of the Peloponnesian War. It was modified somewhat after it was restored under Eucleides; and the most detailed accounts of the system are of this fourth-century modification rather than the Periclean system. Democracy was suppressed by the Macedonians in 322 BC. The Athenian institutions were later revived, but how close they were to a real democracy is debatable. Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), an aristocrat, and Ephialtes (462 BC) contributed to the development of Athenian democracy. ==Etymology== The word "democracy" (Greek: δημοκρατία) combines the elements ''dêmos'' (δῆμος, which means "people") and ''krátos'' (κράτος, which means "force" or "power"). In the words "monarchy" and "oligarchy", the second element ''arche'' (ἀρχή) means "rule", "leading" or "being first". It is unlikely that the term "democracy" was coined by its detractors who rejected the possibility of a valid "demarchy", as the word "demarchy" already existed and had the meaning of mayor or municipal. One could assume the new term was coined and adopted by Athenian democrats. The word is attested in Herodotus, who wrote some of the first surviving Greek prose, but this might not have been before 440 or 430 BC. We are not certain that the word "democracy" was extant when systems that came to be called democratic were first instituted, but around 460 BC〔Raaflaub, Kurt A. (2007): ''The Breakthrough of Demokratia in Mid-Fifth-Century Athens'', p. 112, in: 〕 an individual is known with the name of 'Democrates', a name possibly coined as a gesture of democratic loyalty; the name can also be found in Aeolian Temnus.〔Xenophon, ''Anabasis'' 4.4.15〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Athenian democracy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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