The Roles of the Main Social Classes in the Periclean Athens

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Throughout the Periclean Age (461 - 429 B.C.) Athens was ruled by their most influential statesman, Pericles. Thucydides went as far as to describe him as “the first citizen of Athens”. Pericles introduced important changes to Athenian democracy and formulated a new definition of citizenship. There were different social classes, they consisted of six groups: - male citizens - female citizens - the slaves - the metics - the thetes - the aristocrats also known as the nobles. These social classes were ranked according to their wealth and their social statuses. Athenian Society was mainly broken up between free citizens and slaves, who were owned by the free people. A primary source, an extract from a decree in 401-400 BC, quoted by Ferguson & Chrisholm, shows that Athenians seemed to be a secluded city that wanted only their own kind to be involved in their citizenship, and also the people that helped there city thrive were granted equal laws as the Athenians in return. To be a male citizen you had to have citizen parents, be free-born and be over 18 years old. The social classes applied to men only, as women all took their social and legal status from their husband or their male partner. Male citizens in Athens could vote on all the decisions that affected the city and serve on juries in the Polis. After a compulsory service in the war there were obligatory duties, such as service on juries as councillors and officials. This brought the people dependant on the state their income. For the adult citizen body, 50% were employed this way. The typical farmer worked his small holdings with his family and perhaps some slaves. Female citizens had to have citizen parents. However, unlike the male citizens, the women had absolutely no rights. The lives of the women were closely tied to domestic work, spinning, weaving and other domestic duties. - Priestesses
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