(jazz piano) Voiceover: We're overlooking the Agora, the most important public space in Athens in the 5th century BCE. Voiceover: If up the sacred
way, at the top of the Acropolis were the sacred sites of Athens, here at the base was the
place of public discourse, the heart of the Athenian
experiment in democracy. Voiceover: In the 5th century
we see this opening up of the ability of the
citizenry to participate in the government. But Athens was not the kind of democracy that we think of in the West. The citizens of Athens didn't
vote for their representatives in the government, but
participated directly. With an election, anyone
who's a great speaker, or someone who's particularly
wealthy could become politically powerful,
and so offices were held by rotation, instead of by election. Voiceover: There were few
positions that were voted on. Those were positions where
particular skills were required. For instance, Pericles was reelected to be the general some 15 times. Voiceover: He was essentially
the leader or the president of Athens during about a 30-year period. But it's important to
remember what we mean by the ideas of democracy
that were started and formulated here. Voiceover: Well, they
were extremely limited. In order to be able to
take part in public life, to take part in governmental
decision making, you had to be a citizen, and
in order to be a citizen, you had to be male, and
you had to be Athenian. In fact, Pericles, the
great Athenian general, would tighten up the rules,
so both of your parents had to be Athenian in order for you to be able to participate. Voiceover: Right inside the museum, we can see examples of
democracy in action. There are primitive machines for choosing who would sit on the juries. Voiceover: We also see
inscriptions in small pieces of pottery that were
used to vote to ostracize public leaders that were
seen to have become corrupt. Voiceover: And so if one citizen was seen to be usurping power,
the citizens could vote to ostracize him, and he would have to actually leave Athens. So this is a good reminder that there were a lot of checks in place
against any one person assuming too much political power. Voiceover: But importantly,
it was during the 5th century, that the philosophy behind
democratic rule was set forth, and probably the most famous
expression of that was written by the historian Thucydides,
who chronicled the Peloponnesian Withar,
that is the war between the Athenians and the Spartans,
and Thucydides recounts in his history a funeral
oration Pericles gave during the early stages
of the war with Sparta. Voiceover: "If we look
to our laws, they afford "equal justice to all in
their private differences. "If to social standing
advancement in public life "falls to reputation for
capacity, class considerations "not being allowed to
interfere with merit. "Nor again does poverty bar the way. "If a man is able to serve the state, "he is not hindered by the
obscurity of his condition." Voiceover: So what Pericles
by way of Thucydides is laying out here, is this
notion of a meritocracy, and that no able person's ability is lost due to having been born without wealth. Voiceover: And the idea of
equality before the law. These are fundamental principles to western ideas of democracy. It's no wonder that we look back to Athens in the 5th century BCE and heroize it maybe a
bit too much sometimes. Voiceover: Well, especially considering how fragile it was,
and how limited it was, and how short-lived it was. Voiceover: So this is a space
that started out as a place for market, as a place of buying
and selling, and gradually during the archaic and
then the classical period, became a place of government
with administrative buildings, and also some sacred spots as well, although the primary sacred spot was of course on the Acropolis. Voiceover: We also have
increasingly substantial structures built in the 5th century in the Agora, and one of the most
important is called the Stoa. People would have conducted business here. Political discussions might
have taken place here. All kinds of civic life. Once a year, a great
procession would make it's way through the Agora and
up to the sacred mount. Voiceover: This is the main
religious festival in Athens, dedicated to Athena, the goddess who is the protectoress of the city. So we can imagine as
we look over the Agora, a procession of Athenians making their way up to the Parthenon. Voiceover: I love to look over the Agora, and to imagine the great
philosopher Socrates walking through here, causing
trouble, asking questions. Voiceover: Asking uncomfortable
questions that would ultimately make him an
enemy of the Athenian state. Voiceover: And lead to his execution. (jazz music)