all athenian citizens were allowed to vote in ancient athens.
all athenian citizens were allowed to vote in ancient athens.
who was allowed to vote in ancient athens?
all athenian citizens
estimates of the population of ancient athens vary. during the 4th century bc, there might well have been some 250,000–300,000 people in attica. citizen families could have amounted to 100,000 people and out of these some 30,000 would have been the adult male citizens entitled to vote in the assembly. in the mid-5th century the number of adult male citizens was perhaps as high as 60,000, but this number fell precipitously during the peloponnesian war. this slump was permanent, due to the introduction of a stricter definition of citizen described below. from a modern perspective these figures may seem small, but among greek city-states athens was huge: most of the thousand or so greek cities could only muster 1000–1500 adult male citizens each; and corinth, a major power, had at most 15,000.
athenian democracy
athenian women had limited right to property and therefore were not considered full citizens, as citizenship and the entitlement to civil and political rights was defined in relation to property and the means to life. however, women could acquire rights over property through gifts, dowry and inheritance, though her kyrios had the right to dispose of a woman's property. athenian women could enter into a contract worth less than the value of a "medimnos of barley" (a measure of grain), allowing women to engage in petty trading. slaves, like women, were not eligible for full citizenship in ancient athens, though in rare circumstances they could become citizens if freed. the only permanent barrier to citizenship, and hence full political and civil rights, in ancient athens was gender. no women ever acquired citizenship in ancient athens, and therefore women were excluded in principle and practice from ancient athenian democracy.
women in greece