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Ancient Athenian Social Classes

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Ancient Athenian Social Classes

Use the source notes and comparison grid to investigate how legal status, gender and wealth shaped life in classical Athens. Support your explanations with specific evidence. The short source extracts below are modern paraphrases, not direct quotations.

Source notes: status and citizenship

In fifth- and fourth-century BCE Athens, legal status affected a person's rights and obligations. Adult male citizens could attend the Assembly, vote, speak there and serve in many public roles, subject to rules and eligibility. A citizenship law passed under Pericles in 451/0 BCE generally required a citizen father and citizen mother for citizenship. Women of citizen families were citizens by family status, but they did not vote or take part in the Assembly. Their lives and legal roles were shaped by gender and household expectations. Metics were free residents who had moved to Athens from elsewhere in the Greek world or beyond. They could work, trade and contribute to the city, but generally could not vote or own land and houses in Attica. They paid a resident tax and had a citizen sponsor, called a prostates. Some metics became wealthy or served Athens in war. Enslaved people were legally unfree. They could be owned, bought and sold, and their work took place in households, workshops, agriculture and public settings. Their experiences varied, but they did not have the political rights of citizens. Enslaved people were not one uniform social group: their work, living conditions and treatment differed. Wealth also mattered. A poorer male citizen had the same formal vote as a wealthy male citizen, but wealth could make it easier to devote time to politics, acquire equipment for military service, or hold certain offices. Athenian democracy was therefore participatory for a defined group, not universal.

Group

Legal position

Political participation

Economic and social position

Adult male citizens

Citizens with recognised civic status

Could vote and speak in the Assembly; eligibility for offices varied

Wealth varied; citizens could work, own property and owe civic or military duties

Women of citizen families

Citizen family status, with rights and duties shaped by gender

No vote or Assembly role

Household and religious roles; legal and economic agency was constrained in ways that varied over time and circumstance

Metics

Free residents without Athenian citizenship

No vote or Assembly role

Could work and trade; generally paid a resident tax and could not own land in Attica

Enslaved people

Legally unfree; treated as property under Athenian law

No political rights

Work and conditions varied; people could be compelled to labour in households, workshops, fields or public settings

Source extracts: competing ideas

Extract A — Athenian democratic practice, paraphrased: “Those who qualify as citizens take part in public decisions; a person's poverty alone does not remove his formal right to participate.” Extract B — Aristotle, Politics, paraphrased: “Some kinds of manual and commercial work leave too little time for the activities Aristotle considered necessary for civic virtue.” Aristotle was a philosopher writing in the fourth century BCE. His argument reflects his own values and is not a neutral description of every Athenian's experience.

1.Which statement best describes who could participate directly in Athenian democracy?

All adults living in Athens, including metics and enslaved people
Adult male citizens who met the citizenship requirements
All men, including metics
Only wealthy male citizens

2.Complete the claim using the source notes: under the citizenship law passed in 451/0 BCE, a citizen generally needed a citizen and a citizen .

3.True or false? A woman from a citizen family could have citizen status but could not vote in the Assembly. Explain your choice in one sentence.

4.Match each group to the description that best fits it.

Metics
Enslaved people
Adult male citizens

People legally unfree, whose labour and conditions varied
Free residents who could work and trade but lacked citizenship
The group eligible to vote in the Assembly

5.Name two rights or opportunities metics generally had and two political or property restrictions they faced.

6.A poorer male citizen and a wealthy male citizen both qualify for the Assembly. Using the notes and grid, explain one way their formal political position could be similar and one way their practical ability to participate could differ.

7.Extract B argues that manual and commercial work could obstruct civic virtue. Identify one assumption behind this argument and explain why a historian should treat it as a perspective rather than a neutral fact.

8.Compare the position of metics and enslaved people. Include one important difference in legal status and one way their experiences could differ.

9.The phrase “Athenian society had three social classes” can be misleading. Explain one reason, using evidence from the notes or grid.

10.Write a short historical judgement: to what extent was classical Athens democratic? Use at least two specific details from the sources and acknowledge a limitation or counterpoint.